Barret Weber, a PhD Candidate in Sociology, spent August 9-13 in Resolute Bay observing the set-up of the sovereignty exercise in the Canadian North conducted annually by the Canadian Forces. Operating under the Canada Command and Joint Task Force North (Yellowknife), OP Nanook 11 is a Joint operation from August 4-20 involving the Navy, Army, Air Force, and Special Forces. It also includes a whole-of-government exercise that simulates a major air disaster and a maritime emergency. The exercise includes International participation from United States and Denmark/ Greenland while the Canadian Coast Guard responds to a simulated maritime emergency in Strathcona Sound near Resolute.
Flying from CFB Trenton to Resolute on a C-17 military aircraft, Weber along with 3 other academics and 2 members of the media acted as Stakeholders during the early stages of the event. They observed many operational aspects of OP Nanook 11 including the collaborative efforts required to construct the military camp, air patrol, and central headquarters, prepare the UAVs (Unmanned Arial Vehicle), medical facilities, gun range, as well as a host of other activities such as the training exercises of the Canadian Rangers.
Weber is using this valuable field experience to enrich his research on diverse forms of sovereignty in the 
Canadian north, including a prospective book chapter on how OP Nanook 11 relates to the Government of Canada's efforts to actualize sovereignty claims in its Statement on Canada's Arctic Foreign Policy: Exercising Sovereignty and Promoting Canada's Northern Strategy (2010). He is interested in how the Canadian Forces and Canadian Rangers perform sovereignty in the Arctic and how Inuit and other northerners receive these activities. His participation in this event was made possible by airfare, meals, and accommodations provided by Public Affairs of the Canadian Forces and the Sociology Doctoral Research Grant (University of Alberta).
Resolute Bay airport and main military camp
on Cornwallis Island in the Lancaster Sound area
A member of the Canadian Rangers overlooks
the ridge above Resolute Bay