Crews from 442 Squadron and the RCMP participated in marine exercises off the coast of Nanaimo on Wednesday, Dec. 14, drawing many curious onlookers from the Neck Point area. (submitted photo/Ron Bell)

By Alex Rawnsley

search and rescue

‘Train hard and fight easy:’ Nanaimo waters host marine response drills

Dec 19, 2022 | 4:00 PM

NANAIMO — Boats and a helicopter flying around the city’s north end last week caught more than a few interested onlookers.

Multiple boats and a helicopter were seen actively engaged in a situation off Nanaimo’s Neck Point in the early afternoon of Wednesday, Dec. 14 for around an hour, a scene which looked impressive from the shore but was routine training on board.

Lt. Col. Jean Leroux, commanding officer of the search and rescue squadron 442 at CFB Comox, told NanaimoNewsNOW his team was taking advantage of a rare opportunity to simulate a response with an RCMP marine unit, with a focus on “boat hoisting”

“We come very close to the boat then we lower our search and rescue technician onto the boat. We do multiple sequences with different variations of the extraction. For example, we put a rescue basket on the boat.”

Leroux said their typical training involves the Canadian Coast Guard vessels, but the chance to work with the RCMP allowed crews to simulate rescues on a different boat design.

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Typically, the exact nature of a rescue and how crews might handle it isn’t known until they’re on scene.

Different deck layouts and obstacles all throw a variety of wrinkles into a potential rescue situation.

“There are many different scenarios when we get on scene for a real mission, so the goal for us is to train as you fight and try and exercise as many different boats and platforms as possible.”

442 Squadron’s scope of operations includes all of British Columbia and the Yukon, but a majority of their water-based training occurs around Vancouver Island.

Trips to the Tofino-Ucluelet area batter crews in rough seas and drive home Leroux’s desire to “train hard and fight easy.”

The Nanaimo area is also a favourite for different reasons.

“It’s very busy for us which is good for the pilots and the aircrew to get used to working in a busy environment with all the float planes going around and the marine traffic is quite heavy.”

Training in more urban areas also increases the volume of calls with people wondering what’s happening.

Most of the marine traffic is aware given a number of bulletins broadcast on radio frequencies, but onlookers from shore are only natural.

“Every time we go close to the shore where there’s a lot of population, sometimes there’s a lot of questions raised and calls to the emergency centre to make sure everybody’s okay and can they do something, chip in,” Leroux said.

442 Squadron has crews on shift 24/7, every day of the year for both fixed-wing and helicopter-related emergencies.

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