Канадская авиабаза Трентон: История и современность

Canadian Forces base

Canadian Forces Base Trenton (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 and most southerly air 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. 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. 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.

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. 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. Along with the training schools, the No. 6 Repair Depot was based at Trenton. During the war the relief landing field for Trenton was located at Mohawk. Trenton was home to RCAF 102 KU Flt Central Air Command (CAC) Composite during the war. It flew Harvard, Mustang, Dakota, Expeditor, H 5.

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. After World War II 102 Composite Unit became a search and rescue unit. It flew Piasecki H 42A and H 44. 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. 102 would eventually merge into the reactivated 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron in 1968. 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.

CFB Trenton's former commander, David Russell Williams, was arrested in 2010, and convicted of serial rape and murder in 2010; some of his crimes were committed while in command of the base.

Due to the COVID 19 pandemic in Canada of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by SARS CoV 2 that detected in Wuhan, China, on February 7, 2020, 215 Canadians (176 from the first plane, and 39 from a second plane chartered by the U. S. government) were repatriated from Wuhan, and brought to CFB Trenton to be quarantined for two weeks. On February 11, another plane of repatriated Canadians (185) from Wuhan landed at CFB Trenton. On February 21, a chartered flight of 131 Canadians who were quarantined on the Diamond Princess after an outbreak on the cruise ship in Japan, and who all tested negative for the virus, were brought to CFB Trenton for additional screening before being transported by bus to NAV Centre in Cornwall, Ontario, to be quarantined. On March 10, a chartered flight of 228 Canadians who were on the Grand Princess after an outbreak on the cruise ship in California, and who all did not test positive for the virus, were brought to CFB Trenton for a 14 day quarantine period. By March 24, 13 positive cases for the virus of the repatriated citizens at CFB Trenton were reported.

On 28 August 2023 Colonel Leif Dahl, the commander of the base and the 8th Wing, was charged by the Ontario Provincial Police with charges related to firearms and illegal hunting. On 30 August 2023, MGen Iain Huddleston, Commander, 1 Canadian Air Division, temporarily removed Col Dahl from his command.

The recapitalization of the northeast ramp was completed in summer 2008, and reconstruction of the southeast ramp was completed in the summer of 2009. Construction of a new air traffic control tower was completed in July 2010. 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. 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. A Electrical and Mechanical Engineering (EME) and transportation garage valued at $75 million was completed in 2012. The Air Mobility Training Centre project saw the construction of a facility that houses the equipment and personnel required to train operators and maintainers of the CC 130J Super Hercules aircraft. Building construction was completed in 2011 and operations began in 2012. The building is now located on the south side of the base across the highway from the runway.

The base could host CH 149 Cormorant Search And Rescue helicopters if Canada increases the CH 149 fleet as planned.

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, though 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." Throughout 2020, it was unclear whether or not there would be an air show any time in the future due to CFB Trenton being at the forefront of Canada's efforts to gain control over the COVID 19 virus.

The 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 detachment is also home to the Mountain View Cadet Flying Training Centre, cadet training centre for the Royal Canadian Air Cadets.

The Trenton Cadet Training Centre (CTC) is one of the oldest cadet training centres in Canada. At this CTC, there are cadet courses offered for all three elements of Army, Sea and Air that are offered all year around. This portion of the base, located on the south side of the airbase, has multiple buildings for cadets to reside in during their summer training.

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.