WAINWRIGHT — Masked in artillery smoke and heralded by the sound of gunfire, the troops and tanks of Edmonton's 1 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group rumble over a ridge towards the enemy.

The radio crackles for only an instant, when an urgent voice screeches "---Gimme a 3-2 right, Alpha 2 now flanking---". The voice vanishes and the radio stays quiet.

At the bottom of the ridge, engineers in massive armoured bulldozers punch through the enemy's anti-tank ditch, allowing the tanks to begin bombarding enemy forces with artillery fire.

In the heart of the prairies south of Wainwright, over 30 Leopard tanks and Light Armoured Vehicles (LAVs) thunder towards the action of Exercise Warrior Ram's Combat Team Commander's Course.

As the rear doors of the LAVs drop open, infantry soldiers rush to secure the area and successfully destroy the enemy: a small platoon of 1 Princess Patricia's Canadian Light Infantry playing the forces of the fictional enemy nation of West Isle.

The course is an annual training mission designed to groom the best and brightest of the Canadian Forces for future positions in command. The men and women chosen for the course are rising stars in Canada's military, and will most likely be future leaders of battle-groups and units.

Each day, one candidate is chosen to lead a series of "hasty attacks," planned on the fly in the face of imminent danger. They train to coordinate and command attacks on enemy forces that are prepared very quickly based on reconnaissance information received in battle.

Candidates operate under the watchful eyes of the Tactical School Directing Staff from the Canadian Forces Base in Gagetown, New Brunswick. Acting as mentors, they provide feedback to all the candidates after each simulated assault.

"The training is invaluable," course candidate Capt. Stephen Burke said, his face camouflaged in green and brown paint, beaded with sweat after coordinating the attack. "This is the army's flagship course, and it's probably the single best training event I've been able to do in my career."

When asked about the lack of radio transmission during the attack, Burke said the attack suffered from the "frictions of war" when every radio frequency he tried to use for command went haywire, leaving most soldiers' radios mute.

Forced to give some orders verbally, Burke congratulated his team for executing a "supurb" attack amidst intermittent radio contact. He said the team's ability to work partially without communications is a testament to the training they receive during Warrior Ram.

"All the other tank regiments, all the other infantry regiments here, they're going right into sub-unit command. They need this," Burke said. "This way they have a good, firm base of experience to go forward to do their jobs effectively and train their troops effectively."

Fresh from commanding an "all-arms" team of 15 tanks, as well as a full company of infantry, Major Eric Angell called the course "complicated" but vital for sharpening the forces' skills at conventional warfare.

"We have to be ready to defend the freedom of Canada, that's our job. That's why we exist," said Angell, a career soldier and "tanker" by trade who commanded a smaller combat team of tanks in Afghanistan.

"The training has been awesome in a word," said Angell. "I feel honoured that I've been chosen to come and do this course and this summer I'm going back to the Lord Strathcona's Horse Royal Canadians in Edmonton to command a tank squadron."

Over 1,600 soldiers participated in the brigade level exercise, bringing over 600 vehicles onto the Canadian Forces-owned land south of CFB Wainwright where 85% of the area is usable for live fire training.

"It's the best training area in Canada for these types of maneuvers," explained Angell. "We have sand hills, flat plains, crazy terrain with trees and knife edges. We also have Battle River which we can use for river crossings and seizing bridges."

As operations in Afghanistan wind down, the Canadian Forces are training soldiers for the more conventional tank-on-tank, man-on-man, full spectrum military and guerilla warfare where the enemy's capabilities are both unknown and unpredictable.

Course candidate Capt. Victor Bertrand has served two tours in Afghanistan working in counter-insurgency. Bertrand said the training helps build the confidence needed to command in the face of a real threat.

"The training gets us to a really good level before we go and do the job for real with the troops we have," said Bertrand. "Eventually if we ever have to make those hard decisions, I feel we will have gone through the best training available."

While the "hasty attacks" are the brunt of Warrior Ram, candidates also train in coordinating searches, convoy escorts, stability operations and area defence. Coordinating all those elements, from making a quick plan to destroying the enemy, was a challenge Bertrand will never forget.

"I'll remember this course for the rest of my career," Bertrand said. "If one day, I have to command several combat teams, I'll be able to remember how it's been done before. This is really the building block for the rest of my career."

Tank comparison

Leopard C2

Smaller and weighs 36 tons

Purchased by Canadian Forces in 1978 and stationed in Germany during the Cold War.

Refurbished in 1999 with new thermal imaging, upgraded ballistics computer and upgraded gunnery system

Can reach up to 65km/h and has a range of 600 km on road or 450 km cross-country

Main gun is a British L7 105-mm Royal Ordnance L7A3 L/52 rifled gun that holds 42 rounds

Secondary guns are two 7.62 mm MG 3 or FN MAG. Can hold 5,500 rounds.

Deployed overseas in Afghanistan in 2006

Will remain in service until 2015 while they’re phased out by Leopard 2A4M.

Leopard 2A4M

Larger and weighs 52 tons

Purchased by Canadian Forces from the Royal Netherlands Army in 2010 as a part of the Tank Replacement Project and deployed to Afghanistan.

14 Leopard 2A4M tanks received by Lord Strathcona’s Horse Royal Canadians armoured regiment in late January 2012.

Upgraded in Germany with additional armour to meet Canadian Forces standards.

Despite it’s larger size, Leopard 2A4M can reach 72km/h with a range of 550 km

Main gun is a 120 mm Rheinmetall L55 smoothbore gun that holds 42 rounds.

Secondary guns are two 7.62 mm MG3A1 guns. Can hold 4,750 rounds.

Warrior Ram was the first training exercise in Canada to utilize Leopard 2A4M tanks

The 14 tanks are the first of 42 expected to complete the squadron.