CFB Suffield

CFB Suffield
CFB Suffield in Alberta. The upper part of the base is over 40 km (25 mi) long
IATA: YSD ICAO: CYSD WMO: 71128
Summary
Airport type	Military
Owner	Government of Canada
Operator	Department of National Defence
Location	Cypress County, Alberta
Built	1971
Commander	LCol C. D. Claggett
Occupants	Defence Research and Development Canada British Army Training Unit Suffield
Time zone	MST (UTC−07:00)
• Summer (DST)	MDT (UTC−06:00)
Elevation AMSL	2,525 ft / 770 m
Coordinates	50°16′24″N 111°10′30″W / 50.27333°N 111.17500°W / 50.27333; -111.17500Coordinates: 50°16′24″N 111°10′30″W / 50.27333°N 111.17500°W / 50.27333; -111.17500
Website	http://www.army-armee.forces.gc.ca/en/cfb-suffield/index.page
Map
CYSD Location in Alberta
Helipads
Number Length Surface ft m H1 130 x 375 40 x 110 Gravel
Source: Canada Flight Supplement Environment Canada

Canadian Forces Base Suffield (also CFB Suffield) is the largest Canadian Forces Base and the largest military training base in the Commonwealth. It is located in southeastern Alberta, 3 nautical miles (5.6 km; 3.5 mi) north-northwest of Suffield, 50 km (31 mi) northwest of the city of Medicine Hat and 250 km (160 mi) southeast of Calgary.

The base has its own radio station, BFBS, which airs programming for both the Canadian and British military personnel stationed at the base.

The lands comprising modern-day CFB Suffield were known as the "Suffield Block", resulting from the Dominion Land Survey, and comprised marginal agricultural land, given the perpetual semi-arid climate. Some settlement was attempted, but during the droughts of the 1920s most farms were abandoned, along with some horses, whose feral descendants now roam the region. The total area measures approximately 2,700 square kilometres (1,000 sq mi) and borders an area north of the South Saskatchewan River.

Following the fall of Algeria to Nazi Germany, the British Army required a new training facility for carrying out experiments in chemical warfare. In 1941, the federal government expropriated the Suffield Block, purchasing the majority of the land from the Canadian Pacific Railway and the Hudson's Bay Company; 452 residents were displaced. Experimental Station Suffield commenced operations on June 11, 1941.

British forces left the joint operation of Suffield to the Canadian Army in 1946. In 1947 the Canadian Army turned operation of Experimental Station Suffield over to the Defence Research Board, now Defence Research and Development Canada. In 1950 the facility was renamed Suffield Experimental Station, and in 1967 it was renamed to Defence Research Establishment Suffield (DRES). Throughout the period from 1947 to 1971, the Canadian Army continued occasional use of the Suffield ranges.