After CFB Cold Lake was established as a weapons training base
in 1954, members of NATO were invited to participate in training
exercises. The exceptional facilities provided at Cold Lake—
the very large area to fly over, the European topography, and
the use of over 600 targets—made it one of the most desirable
locations for fighter pilots to train.
The function of CFB Cold Lake and the RCAF in the NATO
organization has evolved out of Canada's overall role in the
organization since Canada joined eleven other countries in forming NATO in 1949. The original philosophy behind NATO in the
beginning was the mounting of a collective defence for the
member nations during the Cold War era. At that time, the
concern was over battle in a European terrain, hence the
importance of facilities like CFB Cold Lake, which allowed for
the training of RCAF and other NATO pilots in environmental
conditions similar to those in Northern Europe.
Such facilities as CFB Cold Lake have been critical to
Canada's contributions to NATO, and have allowed for Canada and
the RCAF to continue to play an important role within the
organization. |