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Canada - US Search and Rescue exercise tests Air Force might

By Captain J.P. Turcotte

It was a beautiful day to go whale watching. A nice breeze was keeping the 30 odd passengers and crew cool while they traded binoculars in hopes of catching catch a glimpse of the elusive mammals.

Suddenly, the ship jerked, there was a muffled scream, and then - impact. It only took the passengers a few seconds to realise what had happened. Passengers and crew were quick to point toward the other ship which had already overturned, to suddenly realize that their craft was taking on water and that it wouldn't be long before they found themselves in the water. Who could rescue them all the way out here in the middle of the ocean? How far away are they and when would they be here?

Fortunately for the passengers of the small whale-watching vessel, this was all a "mise en scene", false scenario, to set the stage for EXERCISE Alliance Passamaquoddy ‘06, one of the largest, live, joint Search and Rescue exercises to happen in decades. The exercise was staged in the bay of Passamaquoddy, Maine to test which Search and Rescue assets would respond from both sides of the border.

St. Andrews paramedics are hard at work, looking after the injuries of the passengers returning to shore after their ordeal on the water. Photo by David Christiana, WorkingFirefighters.com

When questioned about which country would respond to such a situation, Major John Van Oosten of the Halifax Joint Rescue Coordination Center (JRCC) responded, "In SAR there are no borders!" Indeed, within minutes of the initial distress call, a U.S. Coast Guard vessel was already approaching the area, followed approximately 40 minutes later by a Canadian CC-130 Hercules and a CH-149 Cormorant, both from 413 Transport and Rescue Squadron, out of 14 Wing in Greenwood.

The exercise went as far as to include emergency response team from St. Andrews, New Brunswick and the Canadian Red Cross. "It's important to know that everyone involved in the process is working together," said John Stanley, Senior Evaluator for the exercise, as he observed the rescue effort being deployed on St. Andrews' wharf.

At the end of the day, all of the participants or players, evaluators and observers agreed that the exercise was a tremendous success. "Our goal today was to confirm the great cooperation that exists between our countries," said Commander Wyman Briggs of the 1^st District of the U.S. Coast Guard. And as for the passengers and crew of the "Island Link", whether the ordeal was real or not, they can sleep tight knowing that no matter what side of the border they live on, or where they might get into trouble, they will have someone to watch over them.