The Calgary Highlanders 1946 to Present

On 1 April 1946, the unit was redesignated "The Calgary Highlanders"; reverting back to a one battalion Militia unit was complete. The unit received the Freedom of the City of Drumheller and the Freedom of the City of Calgary on 3 July 1964. The Regiment annually exercises its right to the Freedom of the City of Calgary by parading in commemoration of St. Juliens' Day in April, and Walcheren Causeway in October. Freedom of the City of Drumheller was last exercised 11 November 1990.

After the war, the Battalion had several active companies throughout southern Alberta. The Battalion, through the 1960's, 1970's and 1980's, has gradually, through changes in national defence policy, become centered solely in Calgary. The Battalion is currently composed of Battalion Headquarters, "A" Company, and  "B" Company, all garrisoned at Mewata Armoury.

Winter Exercise Suffield, Alberta

In April 1981, the Regiment took delivery of the first of several new vehicles.  At first referred to by the archaic "Car, Armoured, Personnel Carrier", the official designation changed to Armoured Vehicle, General Purpose (AVGP), and acquired the official nickname of "Grizzly."  The vehicles were amphibious (earning them also the sobriquet "boat") and self-contained in the event of nuclear, biological or chemical attack. 

Photo reproduced from CASR

The new vehicles reflected a commitment to having Reserve soldiers in Canada capable of augmenting the Regular Force in Europe.  At this period in time, the Cold War was very much a reality; Canada's best and most completely equipped brigade was stationed in West Germany (many Calgary Highlanders served brief tours with this brigade as individual augmentees).  Not only was speculative fiction about the next war in Europe extremely popular (witness books like "Team Yankee" by Harold Coyle or "The Third World War" by Sir John Hackett, movies such as "World War III", and any number of computer and wargames published by several companies based on a possible conflict between the Warsaw Pact and NATO in Germany) but in at least one case, speculative fiction based on massed armour battles on the North German Plain was actually turned into a Canadian Forces Manual.  Calgary Highlanders also trained with NATO units in Norway, Alaska and the Continental United States.

MILCON '87, from 15-22 August 1987, was conducted at Militia Training Centre Dundurn and divided into three phases; a mechanized combat team advance and quick attack, then a helicopter assault, and then a deliberate attack.  The last phase was done against positions dug according to Warsaw Pact doctrine, and the enemy force was "appropriately dressed in PACT kit" according to an article in The Thin Red Line the next Spring.

Two years later, in 1989, the Soviet Union began a period of rapprochement with the West.  The division between East and West Germany was tangibly removed with the removal of the Berlin Wall and eventual unification of the German states.   On Christmas Day 1991, the Soviet Union itself ceased to exist and the experiment that had started in the throes of Revolution in 1917 had come to an end.

With the fall of Communism in Eastern Europe, the need for large mechanized forces in the West had also come to an apparent end.  In Canada, there were also changes.  In September 1991, Southern Alberta Militia District and Prairie Militia Area were reorganized.  Alberta Militia District now reported to Land Forces Western Area.  In August 1991, the last of the MILCONs was held at Canadian Forces Base Wainwright. Nonetheless, at about this time the Regiment's four Grizzlies were exchanged for a newer version armoured personnel carrier, the Bison, which had eight wheels.  The Regiment continued to use these vehicles until 1994.

The New World of Peacekeeping and Light Infantry: 1991 - Present

Others had been deployed on UN missions, but never more than two or three at a time, and usually employed at ranks lower than they were qualified for.  By 1993, cuts to the Forces resulted in large scale Militia augmentation of overseas missions.  Reservists - many Calgary Highlanders included - made up almost 1/3 of the Canadian contingent in Yugoslavia, and were often employed in their rank. Roto 1 saw 21 Calgary Highlanders serving in Bosnia, and Roto 2, in the Summer of 1993, saw no less than 27 Calgary Highlanders serving with UNPROFOR as part of the 2nd Battalion, Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry.

As overseas commitments grew, and Regular Force units were reduced in size, the inevitable withdrawal of the Bisons turned the Calgary Highlanders back into, nominally, a "light infantry" battalion.

Emphasis turned to individual training; annual "Warrior" testing ensured that all ranks were tested regularly on TOETs (Tests of Elementary Training) with regards to the various infantry weapons, first aid, NBC (Nuclear/Biological/Chemical) Defence, Mine Awareness, Armoured Fighting Vehicle Recognition, and other basic military knowledge.  The older term TOET was later replaced with MLOC (Minimum Level Of Competency).

As a reflection of the Canadian Forces' commitment to reflecting the best of Canadian society and culture, sensitivity training in the form of SHARP (Sexual Harrassment And Racism Prevention) was instituted in the 1990s throughout the CF and represented another facet of individual training.

Light Infantry are not merely infantry who are lacking in vehicles, but are soldiers who must be prepared to carry out a myriad of tasks on the battlefield using specific skills sets.  The Calgary Highlanders began training towards these goals in the late 1990s; helicopter assaults, amphibious raids, and mountain operations began to form the centrepiece of unit training in the late 1990s and into the 21st Century.

The Regiment today continues to improve its skills as a Light Infantry unit capable of carrying out many types of missions that would not be unusual in modern battlefields such as those found in Afghanistan.