National Defence Committee on Nov. 22nd, 2006

[VAdm Drew Robertson]

We've made decisions recently that we will base our Chinook helicopters in two locations. One location will be Edmonton, Alberta, and the other location will be Petawawa, Ontario. We found, after an examination, that this just makes the best case. They are located in close proximity to two of our large army formations and close to good training areas. There were a number of reasons why we selected those two locations, but that's the road we're going down right now.

[Cheryl Gallant, Conservative, Renfrew—Nipissing—Pembroke, ON]

Admiral Robertson, tell us what you can about the successes achieved during the exercise last Friday held off the coast of North Carolina, and how, if at all, it relates to our mission in Afghanistan.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

You have forty-five seconds, sir. Sorry.

[VAdm Drew Robertson]

It's a very tentative first step that was successfully executed with a company of soldiers operating from a safe, secure sea base and supported from there to conduct very straightforward operations ashore in North Carolina. It demonstrated that we certainly have the capability to do it, but it's going to take years to develop that capability, if that's the direction the government chooses to go.

[The Chair, Conservative, Rick Casson]

Thanks, Ms. Gallant.

Gentlemen, thank you very much for your good information and for your flexibility with our schedules. That's our life, I'm afraid. We answer bells at all times of the day. We appreciate it.

Please pass on to the men and women under your command how much we appreciate their efforts.

The meeting is adjourned.