Trust Fund created for AFP/MP Sentry Dog and Nuclear Security exhibit at the National Air Force Museum of Canada

LAC Fred Davis and “Dole” patrolling a CF-104 dispersal area, 4 Wing Baden-Soellingen, circa 1965. Photo: DND

​The CMPA is working with the National Air Force Museum of Canada, at 8 Wing/CFB Trenton ON, to create a new exhibit showcasing the role of RCAF Air Force Police and CAF Military Police in securing the nuclear weapons used by Canada’s air force during the Cold War.

​The exhibit project lead is Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret’d) Paul Thobo-Carlsen, CMPA Co-Director of History & Heritage.  The project technical advisors are Major (Ret’d) Wayne Kendall, CMPA Director of Membership (Veterans) and a former AFP sentry dog handler, and Lieutenant-Colonel (Ret’d) Andy Murtagh, who organized and implemented the Sentry Dog Program while serving as a staff officer at RCAF 1 Air Division Headquarters, Metz, France.

​The exhibit will be implemented in two phases:

• Phase 1, to be built in the next 12 months or so, will focus on the sentry dog program at Canada’s air bases in Germany (1963 to 1972) and will feature an AFP sentry dog/handler display (with full size mannequins and backdrop depicting a nuclear-armed CF-104 fighter-bomber in an alert area), along with accompanying storyboards and artifact display cases; and
• Phase 2, to commence once the museum’s new expansion annex is completed in approximately 3-4 years, will see the display moved to the planned Cold War section and enlarged to showcase the wider role of AFPs and MPs in securing all air force nuclear weapon systems: the CF-104’s nuclear gravity bombs in Germany, and BOMARC nuclear surface-to-air missiles and Genie nuclear air-to-air rockets in Canada.

Photo: DND

​The National Air Force Museum of Canada has established a specific trust fund to collect the money necessary to create a professional looking exhibit.  The money collected in this trust fund will be used only to build and maintain the AFP/MP exhibit, and donors will be provided charitable donation receipts for tax purposes.

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Donations to the trust fund may be made by cheque to the “National Air Force Museum of Canada.” Please ensure all cheques are clearly annotated with “Attn: Air Force Police Exhibit Trust Fund” to ensure they are appropriately directed.  Donation cheques should be mailed to:

  Executive Director
  National Air Force Museum of Canada
  220 RCAF Road
  Astra, ON
  K0K 3W0

Any former AFP or MP sentry dog handlers who wish to donate related artifacts in support of this exhibit should contact the CMPA ([email protected]) with the details of all items for consideration.  Any artifacts subsequently accepted into the NAFMC collection will also be eligible for income tax receipts.