Originally BLOG #12 – 25 Apr 2020 from davescoldwarcanada.com.
A few days ago I was asked a question about security at the Bunker: “Would it have been chosen military personnel posted at the base who acted as guards? Or was there a contingent of MP’s manning and patrolling the guard house/escorting personnel within the Bunker?”
This is an interesting query and in line with my habit of over-answering such questions, the following is my response:
As I understand it a small MP detachment was assigned to the bunker. A duty MP monitored and operated the blast doors, signed people in, etc. That MP was armed with a 9mm pistol. He (or she) would have had a cot in the small alcove adjacent to decontamination centre. I believe there was a bar type high desk located at the open end of that alcove (the hallway side) where they could closely monitor the in and out traffic. I think they could also do fingerprinting ( but I’m not sure). They were also given the responsibility of controlling the flow of folks needing to use the decontamination centre.
At one time in the early 2000s we had reconstructed this space for display purposes with the desk and the bed and a mannequin dressed up as an MP but of course somebody didn’t like that and got rid of it. Too scary I guess! Later when the environmental support control systems were no longer monitored and controlled from the black platform (with the advent of the ‘Myrtle computer-based system about the mid 80s), the MPs based themselves on the black platform. You can see the wall mounted ammo storage canister built into the far wall.
For internal control purposes there would likely have been a small Base Defence Force just like most military bases had. These were usually a secondary duty. All soldiers have basic training and so have a basic knowledge of the use of small arms. That is what the weapons in the lockup near the battery room were for.
Finally there were rumours that in case stronger security was needed,(from an outside source – rioters, Spatnetz, zombies, etc.) a small detachment of soldiers could have been deployed from Petawawa. Since there were no dedicated accommodations for them inside the bunker, they would have had to be based in the blast tunnel (and presumably) been temporarily ‘invited’ inside during an actual attack).
If anybody has anything to add to this please contact me.
