Soldiers with guns. In our cities. In Canada.

We did not make this up:

I think it would be refreshing if they were in Rosedale instead of at Moose Jaw:

Soldiers are to invade the city of Moose Jaw this weekend.

Before the alarm bells sound and mass panic ensues, Moose Javians can relax, because it's completely safe and just an exercise.

Saskatchewan army reserve units will be training in the Moose Jaw area today until Sunday. They will be practising scenarios on civilian secondary road networks based out of 15 Wing Moose Jaw ranging from Pense/Drinkwater in the east to Mortlach in the west.

According to Maj. Brad Hrycyna, commanding officer of the Saskatchewan Dragoons and the exercise director, army reservists from across Saskatchewan will be taking part in the training exercise.

"We're training in what we call the contemporary operating environment. We're training for tasks that we could be faced with in the immediate future, such as what we could (face) in Afghanistan," he said.

Hrycyna will have the troops practising convoys and convoy escorts. He will be conducting a scenario where 15 Wing Moose Jaw is a coalition air base that is under siege from insurgents in the surrounding area.

Officer Cadet Donna Riguidel, public affairs officer for 28 [38, actually] Canadian Brigade Group, ensures that residents of the area will not face any danger and have nothing to worry about.

"It's absolutely safe," Riguidel said. "Any ammunition they use will be blank ammunition and they are going to pick up anything after. They are not going to be using any live fire (or explosives) at all."

Residents won't have to worry too much about the noise either. Riguidel explained that it may sound like firecrackers going off, but the exercise will take place during daylight hours...

The troops will mainly be outside of Moose Jaw, driving on the rural roads. But it's likely that there will be civilians who will encounter military vehicles. Hrycyna asks residents who encounter these vehicles or military personnel to give them room. He warns the military vehicles won't exceed 60 kilometres per hour.

"For anybody who's out and about on the grid roads and comes upon our military vehicles, just give them a little bit of leeway and be cautious when passing. We will be in a tactical scenario, so we may be stopping or manoeuvring," he said.

He also said that soldiers will be picking up spent ammunition during the exercise, but he advises residents to report any blank ammunition they find to the nearest RCMP detachment.

"Moose Javians". Priceless.