Articles

By Captain David Dunwoody and Capt Mackenzie Doucet

At a time when the Government of Canada has indicated its commitment to protecting Canada's security and asserting its sovereignty in the north, crews and aircraft from 14 Wing Greenwood took part in Operation Lancaster between August 12 and 25.

Op Lancaster was a joint operation between the Army, Navy, and Air Force as well as several other government agencies.  Its primary mission was to conduct sovereignty patrols in the north.  To fulfill this role CP-140 Auroras from 14 Wing Greenwood were employed as a powerful and valuable tool.

Op Lancaster began with a parade through the town of Iqaluit.  It was made up of a contingent of Army, Navy and Air Force personnel to represent the Canadian Forces to the people of Nunavut.  The parade included stops at several important buildings in Iqaluit where the parade and the crowd was addressed by Prime Minister Stephen Harper, the Commander Joint Task Force North, the Commissioner of Nunavut as well as the Mayor of Iqaluit who welcomed the CF members to his community.  Op Lancaster was officially underway. 

Crews from 405 Squadron carried out several missions throughout the operation.  While the majority of missions involved working closely with the Army and Navy, several non-military agencies requested assistance and services from us with on-going projects of their own.

The CP-140 Aurora has several strengths that make it ideally suited for northern patrols.  With its enhanced endurance, the Aurora is able to stay on-station for 10 hours or more.  Furthermore its new Enhanced Optics and Infrared Imaging Equipment allows crews to gather high-definition details of land and sea targets from greater ranges.

Crews also gained greater situational awareness of operating in the north by coming to appreciate just how large and vast the north really is.  Maps do not do justice to the shear size.  Again with the capabilities of the Aurora, the crews were able to cover large areas in a relatively small amount of time.  Several missions were carried out in a single day.  The missions ranged from ocean patrols of ships, surveying outposts set up by the Army, and photographing key locations as requested.

Several different agencies requested photography of their outposts.  Among these was the RCMP gravesite for two fallen RCMP officers on Devon Island.  These officers died while conducting sovereignty missions in the 1920s.  The site is a small cemetery surrounded by a white picket fence.  Here a crew worked diligently to repair and restore the site.  Also, NASA requested photos be taken of the Mars research site; the site is used by NASA to study the feasibility and challenges of traveling to Mars someday.  The arctic conditions simulate the dryness of the red planet and the harsh conditions that crew space crews may encounter.

A typical day began with the Crew Commander discussing with the operation centre that day's tasking.  While crews had a standard mission to fulfill during the entire duration of Op Lancaster, new requests would always come in.  Furthermore, it was necessary to coordinate what missions could be accomplished that day and what had to be postponed.

The Auroras where based out of Iqaluit. This proved ideal as Iqaluit had the airport facilities to handle the Aurora.  Also, the Forward Operating Location (FOL) proved an ideal place to set up a Command and Communications Post. 

Iqaluit is a relatively small community of 6,000 people.  Previously known as Frobisher Bay, the name was changed when the Northwest Territory split and formed Nunavut.  Iqaluit is the capital of Nunavut.

The experience certainly was different for those of us CP-140 crewmembers who are definitely not used to these kinds of patrols in the far north.  Still, we proved our worth and that of the aircraft, and were happy to contribute to this important mission.

Captain David Dunwoody, pilot and Captain Mackenzie Doucet, navigator, serve aboard the CP-140 Aurora aircraft at 405 Maritime Patrol Squadron, 14 Wing Greenwood.