Canadian Rangers


The Canadian Rangers are a 5,000-strong sub-component of the Canadian Armed Forces reserve that provide a limited military presence in Canada's sparsely settled northern, coastal, and isolated areas where it would not be economically or practically viable to have conventional Army units. Formally established on May 23, 1947, a primary role of this part-time force is to conduct surveillance or sovereignty patrols as required. Some Canadian Rangers also conduct inspections of the North Warning System sites and act as guides, scouts, and subject-matter experts in such disciplines as wilderness survival when other forces are in their area of operations.

About

The Canadian Rangers are a unit of the Canadian Armed Forces Army Reserve made up of Inuit, First Nations, Métis and other Canadians. There is a misconception that the organization is a First Nations entity. The ethnic make-up of the numerous patrols across Canada is entirely an element of geography and while there is a heavy First Nations membership in many Canadian Ranger patrols, there also exist many mixed race patrols and some entirely non-aboriginal patrols, simply due to where the patrols reside.
The Canadian Rangers provide a limited military presence in Canada's remote areas and receive 12 days per year of formal training. They are considered to be somewhat always on duty, observing and reporting as part of their daily lives. Canadian Rangers are paid when formally on duty according to the rank they hold within their patrol and when present on operations or during training events. They are paid in accordance with the standard rates of pay for Class-A or Class-B Reserve forces, except when they are called out for search and rescue missions or domestic operations, when they are paid as Class-C Reserves and receive the full Regular Force pay and benefits.
The 5,000 Canadian Rangers are split between five Canadian Ranger patrol groups, commanded by lieutenant colonels and each allocated to a Canadian division. Each CRPG is unique in its make-up, according to its area of responsibility, its geography, and its ethnic make-up. For instance, 3 CRPG, headquartered in Borden, Ontario, has a single province as its area of operations, while 4 CRPG with its headquarters in Victoria, British Columbia, has four provinces. Thus the unit structures between 3 CRPG and 4 CRPG are very different. 3 CRPG has a unit HQ that contains all its full-time staff and has a number of Canadian Ranger patrols throughout the northern region of its province, whereas 4 CRPG has a unit HQ, a number of traditional sub-units, and each company has a number of Canadian Ranger patrols. In all cases, it is the job of the Army full-time staff allocated to the CRPGs to lead and administer the Canadian Ranger patrols in their unit. The patrols themselves are located in various remote, isolated, and/or coastal communities around Canada and each Canadian Ranger patrol is based on such a community. Canadian Ranger patrols are approximately 30 members strong and are led by sergeants. The patrols are further divided into the patrol HQ consisting of the patrol commander and the patrol second-in-command and 10-member sections, each commanded by a master corporal who is assisted by a corporal.

Pacific Coast Militia Rangers

Modern Canadian Rangers can trace their history back to the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers. Formed on March 3, 1942, the Pacific Coast Militia Rangers were volunteers who patrolled, performed military surveillance, and provided local defence of the coastline of British Columbia and in Yukon against the wartime threat of a possible Japanese invasion. At their height, the PCMR consisted of 15,000 volunteers in 138 companies under three major patrol areas, which were Vancouver Island, the lower Fraser Valley and the Bridge River area. Some of the principal officers of the PCMR were Lieutenant-Colonel C.W. Peck, Lieutenant-Colonel A.L. Coote and Major H. Ashby. The Pacific Coast Militia Rangers were disbanded on September 30, 1945, after Japan's surrender in the Second World War.

Equipment

Each Canadian Ranger is issued a red Canadian Ranger sweatshirt, CADPAT pants, combat boots, baseball cap, safety vest, rifle and navigation aids. They are expected to be mostly self-reliant regarding equipment. However, they are also provided with a small amount of patrol-level stores. They are reimbursed for the use of personal vehicles and equipment and are paid for this use according to the nationally established equipment usage rates. Items that a Canadian Ranger could be reimbursed for include snowmobiles, all-terrain vehicles, watercraft, trailers, pack horses, sled dog teams, and a variety of tools and equipment.

Weapons

Since 1947, the Canadian Rangers have been issued the.303 British calibre Lee–Enfield No 4 rifle, with each user being provided with 200 rounds of ammunition every year.
At the outset of the Second World War, the rest of the Canadian Army was equipping with Enfield rifles, Bren guns, Webley revolvers, and Browning-Inglis Hi Power pistols and Canadian production of these weapons was badly needed for overseas service. The Pacific Coast Militia Rangers thus had to make do with what was readily available, often patrolling with their own rifles and shotguns. This led Canadian purchasing agents to look to American sources for rifles. At the time the most popular style of rifle in the North American West was the.30WCF lever action. As such, purchasers considered that the Winchester 1894 and Marlin 36 would be easy for the PCMR members to use, as they more than likely had experience with the type already. As a stop-gap until Enfield Rifles became available in numbers for issue, some 3000 Winchesters and an estimated 1800 Marlins were promptly acquired direct from North Haven. Guns were issued as needed to senior members of the companies, but stocks of.30-30 ammunition was so limited that only six rounds were issued with the rifle while the rest was locked up in the company's armoury, typically in the vault of the local bank.
The bolt-action Lee–Enfield was then issued to the PCMR as the standard rifle later during the war and it continued to be used by the Canadian Rangers when they were established in 1947. Due to the economy of the.303 and the robust nature of the rifle, it was not replaced for use even after being taken out of general service in the remainder of the Canadian military in the 1950s. It has remained in service with the Canadian Rangers for over 70 years and has proven to be most reliable in adverse conditions even in the Canadian Arctic environment.
With the issue of the C19 as their new service rifle in 2015, the Canadian Rangers were officially gifted their retired Lee-Enfields by the Canadian Armed Forces.

Rifle replacement

Owing to the decreasing availability of spare parts, the replacement of the Lee–Enfield rifle had long been expected, and in August 2011, after user requirements had been determined, the Canadian Forces officially issued a tender request for a bolt-action rifle compatible with 7.62×51mm NATO and.308 Winchester ammunition. Approximately 10,000 rifles were to be bought giving the system a service life of about 30 years. Project management is being provided by the Canadian Army's, Director Land Resources. The new rifles are a Finnish SAKO design, based on the subsidiary company Tikka's T3 Compact Tactical rifle. The rifle is being manufactured under licence by Colt Canada and to be in service by 2018. The tender was cancelled in October 2011 due to contractual issues and a new tender was issued in 2014 for replacement rifles with a selection competition in 2015 and the winning design entering service between 2015 and 2019. In April 2015, Colt Canada was selected to produce the rifle under licence. Thirty-three initial examples of the new rifle based on the CTR were delivered to the 4th Canadian Ranger Patrol Group in Victoria, British Columbia, in June 2015, while Canadian Ranger instructors from across all CRPGs concurrently attended "train-the-trainer" training at the Small Arms section at the Combat Training Centre, CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick. "Uncontrolled testing" was completed with 100 rifles in Nunavut in August 2015, while controlled testing was conducted in November 2015 in the British Columbia interior, facilitated by 4 CRPG. The rifles were tested to ensure they would fire properly and remain accurate at temperatures as low as , as well as remain robust and serviceable amidst the rigours of transportation in vehicles and in particular on all-terrain vehicles. They are expected to be able to stop all large predators, including polar bears. Feedback from the Canadian Rangers was generally very positive, with only minor adjustments required, and has been incorporated in the final production rifles.
The new rifle features a heavy-taper stainless steel barrel, a detachable 10-round double-stack box magazine, custom iron sights calibrated from 100 to 600 metres, a specially laminated wooden stock with a unique reddish-grey pattern in the wood grain, stainless steel construction with extra corrosion resistant coatings, and enlarged trigger guards and bolt handles so they can be used without removing gloves. The barrel, bolt and receiver will be made by Colt Canada under licence from SAKO. In addition to the rifle, the accessories package will include a custom-moulded Pelican hard transport case, plus a soft transport case for vehicles, such as snowmobiles and ATVs. The rifle will also be outfitted with a custom sling, extra magazines, a trigger lock and custom cleaning kit. The rifle's hard case and soft case, as well as the rifle butt stock feature the Canadian Ranger badge. The Ranger badge on the rifle stock will be engraved and in black relief. The rifle will be designated the C19 rifle. Ammunition for the C19 will be a proprietary.308 Winchester round made in Quebec solely for the C-19 and will consist of the pairing of existing Canadian Forces' match brass cases, paired with the Nosler Accubond bullet. The ammunition designation will be the C-180 round.
Associate Minister of National Defence Julian Fantino announced that the DND planned to buy 6,820 rifles. Including development costs, spare parts, and two million rounds of ammunition, the rifles are expected to cost $28 million.

Chain of command

The Canadian Rangers became part of the Canadian Army in October 2007, having previously been under the vice chief of the Defence Staff for the Canadian Armed Forces. The Commander of the Canadian Army is the Canadian Ranger National Authority, but this role is delegated down to the Army Chief of Staff Reserve, a brigadier-general. The commander of the Canadian Army has a small cadre of CRNA staff in Ottawa, headed by a Class-A lieutenant-colonel and consisting of a full-time major and a small number of captains and master warrant officers. The conduit between the CRNA staff and the ACOS REs is the Director Army Reserve, a full colonel. These CRNA staff act as a conduit for information, assist with general development and improvement, assist in generating, modifying, and maintaining policy that addresses the unique nature of the Canadian Rangers, and with the financing of the Canadian Rangers. These staff are not directly within the chain of command and have no authority over the CRPGs, but are instead seen as the technical and advisory link between the Canadian Ranger units and the Commander of the Canadian Army.
Command and control of the respective Canadian Ranger units is devolved from the commander of the Canadian Army down to his subordinate commanders of the various regional divisions. There are five CRPGs and each CRPG corresponds to one of the regional divisions. The CRPGs tend to be provincially oriented, apart from 1 CRPG, which covers the whole of northern Canada north of the 60th parallel, and 4 CRPG which covers the four western provinces. Each CRPG has a headquarters and a number of patrols, albeit that 4 CRPG's patrols are managed within a company construct, with provincially oriented companies each commanding their own patrols. The patrols tend to be centred on remote communities throughout Canada and are frequently named after the town or village they are from.

Patrol areas

There are five main patrol areas of the Canadian Rangers. Each patrol area is directly controlled by the headquarters unit of a Canadian Ranger patrol group or CRPG.
Patrol groupRegionPart ofPatrolsRangersJunior RangersHeadquarters
1CRPGNorthwest Territories, Yukon Territory, Nunavut3rd Canadian Division562,0001,500CFNA HQ Yellowknife, Northwest Territories
2CRPGQuebec2nd Canadian Division25696585CFB Saint-Jean, Quebec
3CRPGOntario4th Canadian Division15422440CFB Borden, Ontario
4CRPGManitoba, British Columbia, Saskatchewan, Alberta3rd Canadian Division431,400800CFB Esquimalt, British Columbia
5CRPGNewfoundland and Labrador5th Canadian Division32950375Gander, Newfoundland and Labrador

Junior Canadian Rangers

The Junior Canadian Rangers Programme was created on May 31, 1996, and consists of more than 3,400 members in 119 locations. Each CRPG is responsible for facilitating the JCRs and receive separate national funding for JCR activity facilitation. Each Canadian Ranger patrol has at least a couple of Canadian Rangers who directly look after the JCRs and JCR instructors are part of the CRPG's full-time staff Army personnel. At the national level, the Junior Canadian Ranger programme is maintained by the National Cadet and Junior Canadian Ranger Support Unit, commanded by a Reserve Brigadier General. The programme is open to young Canadians from ages 12 to 18.

Summary

Because Ranger activities allow Northerners to exercise jurisdiction and control, they demonstrate that traditional indigenous activities continue unbroken to the present and are supported by Ottawa. Their very presence is an affirmation of Canadian sovereignty.
Rangers remain an essential bridge between northern peoples, the military, and the federal government more generally - an essential liaison role that ensures that as the CAF expands its footprint in the North it does not crush local communities.
Rangers are not just the eyes and ears but also the voice of the military in their communities. They represent an ongoing conversation about what is happening in remote regions, about how the military can best operate in the North, and about the importance of connecting considerations of sovereignty and national security to a strong sense of place.
As the CAF improves its ability to operate in the North, the Canadian Rangers will continue to play an important role in gathering intelligence, teaching southern personnel, and demonstrating Canada’s sovereignty over the land and waters through their daily activities. They are a poignant reminder that, at its core, sovereignty is more than lines on a map. It is the human activities that occur within those lines.