The Supplementary Radio System (known as Suprad) was one of the highlights of my military career. I served as Operations Officer in Masset (the Queen Charlotte Islands on the west coast of Canada), in Gander, Newfoundland, and twice in Alert, Northwest Territories, at the Northern tip of Ellesmere Island on the Arctic Ocean. Alert is so far north that the compass points southwest! It is the most northerly permanently inhabited settlement in the world. At the time I served, the job was very hush hush, but today it is known that we were conducting Signals Intelligence operations. What else would we be doing up there?
This was the Supplementary Radio System crest.
This sign was at the runway and was the first thing most arrivals saw. It was one of the most photographed items in Alert.
An aerial view of CFS Alert (Photo by Jim Troyanek 1989)
This was the sign on the messhall which was called the "Igloo Gardens". There were no women in Alert at this time (1978). The first women arrived in Alert in 1980.
This was a view of the Ice Caves, from the outside looking towards the entrance. In the summer, the river thaws and breaks through, cutting the caves.
Inside the Ice Caves, looking back at the entrance.
The water cuts the tunnel through the caves. The sides remain solid ice.
The adult Arctic Fox's coat is white in winter but in the summer he sheds the winter coat.
The baby fox is born in summer with brown fur for camouflage. It soon turns white, as the summer is short!
The Arctic Hare. They are carnivores and their main food source is the lemming.
The Arctic Hare runs very quickly, up on his hind legs, and fast enough to get away from the fox if it gets a bit of a head start.
Here is a lemming, looking for his favorite food -- which, of course, is Lemming Meringue Pie ;-)
The sign says it all!
A photo of the Operations Site at Masset, in the Queen Charlotte Islands, British Columbia.
In the winter (snow and ice) you wear fleecy boots; in the summer (mud and rain) you wear rubber galoshes. To avoid any mess, there are boot racks at the entrance to every building. The grafitti on this rack sums up one philosopher's view of Alert.