1. History
    1929–1939 Prewar  1939–1945 World War II  Historical aerodrome information  1945–1990 Cold War  Heritage buildings 

2. Facilities
    Current  Future 

3. Present operations

4. Quinte International Air Show
     Quinte International Air Show 2016  

5. Other operations

6. Economic impact on Trenton community

7. Arrest and conviction of former base commander

8. See also

9. References

10. External links

Canadian Forces Base Trenton {{Airport codes|YTR|CYTR}} (also CFB Trenton), formerly RCAF Station Trenton, is a Canadian Forces base located within the city of Quinte West, Ontario. It is operated as an air force base by the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) and is the hub for air transport operations in Canada and abroad. Its primary RCAF lodger unit is 8 Wing, commonly referred to as 8 Wing Trenton. CFB Trenton is Canada's largest Air Force base.

The airport is classified as an airport of entry by Nav Canada and is staffed by the Canada Border Services Agency. The use of the airport for civilian aircraft is permitted for emergencies or MEDEVACs only and the CBSA officers can only handle general aviation aircraft with up to 15 passengers.^[1]

History

1929–1939 Prewar

In 1929, {{convert|960|acre|abbr=on}} of farmland near Trenton were purchased by the federal government to establish a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) station to be called RCAF Station Trenton. The base was officially opened in August 1931. Lord Bessborough, the Governor General in 1931, laid the commemorative cornerstone of the airbase, which had the motto, "Per Ardua ad Rem," or "Through Adversity to the Good" . This motto was the long-standing unspoken motto of the airmen of CFB Trenton.^[3] Trenton was intended as a smaller supporting base to RCAF Station Borden, which was the home of Canadian military aviation and a major training base at the time. By June 1937 it had replaced Camp Borden as the primary flying training centre; the older station was given over increasingly to technical and trades training.^[4] The location was chosen for being the midpoint between Ottawa and Toronto. It also provided the possibility of using the facility for seaplanes operating on Lake Ontario.

1939–1945 World War II

No. 1 Fighter and No. 3 Army Cooperation Flights, flying Siskin and Tiger Moth aircraft, were the first air elements to be hosted at Trenton. Trenton was the largest training centre of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) during the Second World War.^[5] Schools included the RCAF Central Flying School, No. 1 Air Navigation School (to 1942), No. 1 Flying Instructor School, and No. 1 Composite Training School.^[6] Along with the training schools, the 6 Repair Depot was based at Trenton. During the war the relief landing field for Trenton was located at Mohawk

Historical aerodrome information

In approximately 1942 the aerodrome was listed as RCAF Aerodrome - Trenton, Ontario at {{coord|44|07|N|77|32|W|region:CA-ON}} with a variation of 12 degrees west and elevation of {{Convert|240|ft|abbr=on}}. The field was listed as "All hard surfaced" and detailed four runways as follows:^[7]

1945–1990 Cold War

Following the war, Trenton became home to transport and fighter aircraft, with transport aircraft from the base taking part in the Korean Airlift, as well as numerous other missions throughout the 1950s and 1960s.

On February 2, 1959, RCAF Station Trenton became the destination for CF-105 Arrow 25204, flying from the Avro Canada manufacturing facility at Malton Airport. A Trans-Canada Air Lines Vickers Viscount had crash landed during 25204's flight, temporarily closing the runways at Malton.^[8]

Canada upgraded its transport and search and rescue fleets during the 1960s when the RCAF purchased the CC-137 Husky, CC-130 Hercules, CH-113 Labrador and CC-115 Buffalo aircraft. RCAF Station Trenton became the home of training facilities for these aircraft.

RCAF Station Trenton was renamed Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Trenton after the February 1, 1968 merger of the RCAF with the Royal Canadian Navy and Canadian Army to form the Canadian Forces.

Heritage buildings

CFB Trenton has several recognized and classified Federal Heritage buildings on the Register of the Government of Canada Heritage Buildings.^[9]

• Administration Building 29 Recognized – 1995
• Hangars 3 Buildings 51; 5 Building 49 Recognized – 1991
• Hangars 9 B112; 10 B52 Recognized – 2004
• Hastings Hall / Officer's Quarters, Building 111 Recognized – 1995
• Headquarters Buildings 22 & 23 Recognized – 1995
• Junior Quarters, Buildings 21 & 56 Recognized – 1995
• Officer's Mess Building 38 Recognized – 1995
• VIP Private Married Quarters Building 42 Recognized – 1995

Facilities

Current

The recapitalization of the northeast ramp was completed in summer 2008, and reconstruction of the southeast ramp was completed in the summer of 2009.^[10]

Construction of a new air traffic control tower was completed in July 2010.^[11]

The Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre is housed in a new building named after Air Marshal Clare Annis. Leed Gold Standard certification is underway from the Canada Green Building Council.^[12]

A new Material Distribution Centre opened on November 2, 2010. The $2.4-million project is an amalgamation and co-location of the Wing's Central Material Traffic Terminal of 2 Air Movement Squadron (2 Air Mov Sqn) with the material distribution centre of 8 Wing Supply.^[13]

Future

A {{convert|17500|m2|sqft|-2|adj=on|abbr=on}} Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) and transportation garage valued at $75 million is being built.^[14]{{update inline|date=May 2015}} The garage has still not yet been built to this day.

The Air Mobility Training Centre project will see the construction of a {{convert|17000|m2|sqft|-2|adj=on|abbr=on}} facility that will house the equipment and personnel required to train operators and maintainers of the CC-130J Super Hercules aircraft. Building construction will be completed in 2011 and operations will begin in 2012.^[14][15] The building is now located on the south side of the base across the highway from the runway.

The base could host seven CH-149 Cormorant Search And Rescue helicopters if Canada goes though with increasing the CH-149 fleet from 14 to 21 helicopters.^[16]

Special operations unit JTF2 is in the process of relocating to CFB Trenton and is expected to have facilities there by 2019.{{Citation needed|date=May 2015}}

Present operations

The RCAF operates the majority of its fixed-wing tactical airlift and all of its strategic airlift aircraft from CFB Trenton.

CFB Trenton plays a key support role for the National Search and Rescue Program, being home to Joint Rescue Coordination Centre Trenton (JRCC Trenton) which is jointly staffed by the RCAF and Canadian Coast Guard personnel who have responsibility for coordinating aircraft and marine rescue incidents in central and Arctic Canada. The RCAF also operates the Canadian Mission Control Centre (CMCC) from the base, which is tasked with monitoring the Cospas-Sarsat system that detects transmissions from emergency locating beacons on aircraft or marine vessels in distress through Canada's search and rescue area of responsibility.

The Canadian Army also operates the Canadian Army Advanced Warfare Centre, formerly known as the Canadian Parachute Centre.

8 Wing operates several aircraft types, including CC-130 Hercules, CC-150 Polaris and CC-177 Globemaster III transport aircraft, the CH-146 Griffon search and rescue helicopters, and the CC-144 Challenger VIP transport aircraft. The Challenger fleet, used to fly the Governor General, members of the Royal Family (when visiting Canada), the Prime Minister and members of the federal cabinet, is based at Ottawa Macdonald–Cartier International Airport but supported from CFB Trenton.

Current squadrons under 8 Wing include:

• 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron (424 Tiger Squadron) – Flying the CC-130E/H and CH-146
• 426 Transport Training Squadron (426 Thunderbird Squadron) – Training for CC-130H, CC-150, CH-146
• 429 Transport Squadron (429 Bison Squadron) – Flying the CC-177
• 436 Transport Squadron (436 Tusker Squadron) – Flying the CC-130J
• 437 Transport Squadron (437 Husky Squadron) – Flying the CC-150
• 412 Transport Squadron – Flying the CC-144 (Ottawa, ON)
• 2 Air Movement Squadron (2 Air Mov Sqn)
• 8 Air Communications and Control Squadron (8 ACCS)
• 8 Air Maintenance Squadron (8 AMS)

Temporary storage facilities were built at the base for the CC-177 Globemaster III. Permanent hangars (Hangar 2 and 6) were built from 2012 to 2017.

CFB Trenton is also home to lodger units independent from 8 Wing including Aerospace and Telecommunications Engineering Support Squadron (ATESS) and The Canadian Forces Aerospace Warfare Centre (CFAWC). ATESS provides specialized engineering, training, and production/manufacturing in aerospace and telecommunications. Its capabilities encompass avionics, non-destructive testing (NDT), integrated health monitoring (IHM/HUMS), aircraft structures and more.^[17] CFAWC is the centre of excellence for air power development, including Concept Development and Experimentation (CD&E) and lessons learned. In addition, CFAWC develops and maintains the Air Force air power knowledge repository and coordinates efforts to provide advanced synthetic environment and modelling and simulation services to assist CD&E, requirements definition, operational test and evaluation (OT&E) and mission rehearsal. The CFAWC is commanded by an RCAF Colonel.^[18]

The current commander of the base is Colonel Mark Goulden, who assumed his post 14 July 2017.^[19]

Quinte International Air Show

In 2016, the former base commander, Colonel Colin Keiver and Chief Warrant Officer Darcy Elder, had recreated the Quinte International Air Show which had not been held since 2003. There had been plans for the air show to be held biennially. There had been no air show in 2018. Mark Goulden, the commander at the time of the cancellation, stated "Operations at 8 Wing Trenton is our priority, whether it be helping Canadians during disasters such as the British Columbia wildfires, delivering humanitarian aid internationally, or supplying Canadian Armed Forces missions around the world. It is with these operational commitments in mind that 8 Wing Trenton has made the difficult decision to cancel the 2018 Quinte International Air Show."^[20]

Quinte International Air Show 2016

The 2016 air show attracted close to 80,000 visitors.^[21] The theme for that year was the commemoration of the British Commonwealth Air Training Plan (BCATP) with it being the 75th Anniversary since the BCATP had commenced^[22]. Aircraft from multiple Air Forces around the world attended including the United States Air Force, Royal Air Force and Mexican Air Force.^[23]

Some of the aircraft performing at the air show included:

• Avro Lancaster,
• Interstate Cadet,
• Lockheed C-130 Hercules,
• Lockheed Martin F-22 Raptor,
• McDonnell Douglas CF-18 Hornet,
• North American B-25 Mitchell,
• North American P-51 Mustang,
• North American T-6 Texan,
• Snowbirds,
• Yakovlev Yak-52 and many more aircraft parked on the ramp.

Other operations

• The National Air Force Museum of Canada is on the base.
• Mountain View Detachment, a former World War II RCAF airfield located south of Belleville, is utilized as a storage and overhaul facility of older aircraft. A new gravel runway was constructed in 2006 to train Canadian Forces CC-130 Hercules aircraft crew in landing on unprepared landing strips. The Canadian Forces have also established a drop zone nearby.
• The base is also home to Trenton Cadet Training Centre and Mountain View Cadet Flying Training Centre, cadet training centres for the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.
• Trenton Military VOLMET Military Aeronautical Communications System (MACS) on 6754 and 15,034 kHz USB call sign "CHR"
• The base hosts a bomb disposal team.^[24]

Economic impact on Trenton community

CFB Trenton, based on statistical data from the Fiscal Year 2004–2005, had an annual population impact (Regular Force members & dependants) of 8,185. The airbase also had an estimated local spending impact (direct and indirect) of $278,195,000 for that Fiscal Year. The airbase also directly employed 3,163 people and indirectly employed 437 people.^[25]

Arrest and conviction of former base commander

CFB Trenton's former commander, David Russell Williams, was arrested and convicted of serial rape and murder; some of his crimes were committed while in command of the base.^[26][27].

See also

• CFD Mountain View

References

• UNCLAS CANAIRGEN 025/06 (Canadian Air Force General Order)
• {{cite book |author=Staff writer|title= Pilots Handbook of Aerodromes and Seaplane Bases Vol. 1|url= |location= |publisher= Royal Canadian Air Force |page=|date= c. 1942|isbn=}}

External links

• No. 8 Wing Trenton
• 8 Wing Community
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070312074831/http://www.436sqn.ca/ 436 (Transport) Squadron]
• [https://web.archive.org/web/20070823075245/http://www.airforcemuseum.ca/ National Air Force Museum of Canada]

• American System Publications
• American Systems Invitational
• AMERICAN SYSTEMS Invitational
• American Tail
• American taleban
• American tango
• American tank
• American tanks
• American taxation
• American Taxation Association
• American tax distribution
• American taxes
• American tax rate
• American tax rates
• American Tea Party
• American Technology Corporation
• American Telegraph and Telephone
• American Telegraph Company
• American Telegraph & Telephone Co. Building
• American Telephone and Telegraph (AT&T)
• American Telephone and Telegraph Company Building
• American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Bldg.
• American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Building
• American Telephone & Telegraph Co. Building (Davenport, Iowa)
• American Telephone & Telegraph Company