Archief 86/383 - 2 Combat Group fonds

The 2nd Infantry Brigade Group was renamed 2 Combat Group in 1966 and, on 26 February 1966, 2 Combat Group and CFB Petawawa were joined under one command which was responsible for both field and base service support. Although recently committed to the Canada Air Sea Transportable (CAST) role and scheduled to deploy to North Norway in the event of NATO-Warsaw Pact tensions, 1000 troops from 2 Combat Group were urgently moved to Ottawa by helicopter, on 11 October 1970, to protect federal government buildings and officials in the context of the FLQ Crisis. This was only one of the measures of Operation Ginger and Operation Essay, operations put forth respectively to assist the civil authorities and aid the civil power operations on behalf of the provincial government of Quebec. On 1st January 1977, 2 Combat Group was renamed Special Services Force, an air transportable brigade capable of executing peacetime missions and expanding to a full airborne regiment and brigade group in time of emergency mobilization. The Special Services Force was renamed 2 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group on 1st June 1995.