As many of you know, previously Heather Undershute arranged to send our Airdrie Army Cadets banner (provided by the Alberta Army Cadet League) to the South Pole with Ken Borek Air.  Now she has sent it North to Alert, 817 km from the North Pole.

First opened in 1958 CFS (Canadian Forces Station)  Alert Canadian Forces Supplementary Radio System.

The station’s mission is to maintain signals intelligence collection and geolocation facilities in support of the Canadian cryptologic program; to maintain radio frequency direction finding facilities in support of search and rescue (SAR) and other programs; and to provide support services to other organizations as directed.

CFS Alert, Nunavut is the most northern permanently inhabited settlement in the world. It is situated on the northeastern tip of Ellesmere Island in the Canadian Arctic, approximately 817 km from the geographic North Pole at coordinates 82°28′ N, 62°30′ W.

During the Cold War, Alert was strategically important because of its proximity to the Soviet Union. It was the closest point in North America to many Russian military installations. The Soviets used the Arctic for naval bases and missile testing, giving them first-strike capability against North America. Alert was near enough to pick up radio communications between the bases and submarines, ships and aircraft. In fact, Alert is closer to Moscow than it is to Ottawa.

Alert’s famous signpost, located at the airstrip, was constructed as a Centennial project in 1967. The original sign is the one in the very center. Everything else has been added by personnel wishing to personalize the signpost.

Alert was named after a British ship, HMS Alert, which wintered off Cape Sheridan, 9.7 km east of the present station in 1875-76. It was first settled in the early 1950′s as a weather station of the Joint Arctic Weather Station (JAWS) system and operated by the RCAF. In summer of 1950,  an RCAF Lancaster crashed during the establishment of the JAWS weather station when the parachute for resupplies being air dropped became entangled on the tail of the aircraft. All 9 crew members were killed and are buried west of the airstrip.

Kenn Borek Air Ltd.

Thanks to: Heather Undershute for arranging this and Doug MacKenzie and Pilots Jon Sipko and Dean Emberley of Ken Borek Air who braved the Arctic spring to get us these Alert photos.