Features

By Captain Jeff Manney

Two CP-140 Auroras from 407 Maritime Patrol Squadron at 19 Wing Comox joined the U.S.S. John C. Stennis carrier strike group for Comptuex (Combined Training Unit Exercise), a two-week air and naval exercise which wrapped up in October.

The Auroras hunted and tracked three different submarines and in doing so, they earned the praise of their U.S. Navy hosts and preserved a reputation the Aurora and her crews have carefully built over a quarter-century of service.

"The Canadians get on top of a submarine and they just don't let go," says Lieutentant-Commander Matthew Smith of VP-40, a P-3 Orion squadron based at Whidbey Island, Washington. "You could tell there was a difference in experience level compared to our crews. You guys were extremely proficient."

Comptuex is designed to turn a collection of ships and aircraft into a cohesive fighting team. Given their abilities, Canadian ships and aircraft have long played a role in such training. Indeed, the integration of Canadian crews into the carrier group is typically seamless.

"This is not new," says LCdr Smith. "We know what to expect from the Canadians and the Canadians know what to expect from us. We live in such close proximity and our militaries are so similar that this type of training just makes sense."

That view is shared north of the border, says detachment commander and 407 Squadron pilot Captain Richard Youdell.

"It's invaluable. Anti-submarine warfare is still very important to us. To work with the biggest navy in the world, tracking and attacking submarines, is a tremendous training opportunity."

Designed originally in the Cold War to hunt subs, the Aurora's role has expanded as the threat to Canada from foreign ballistic-missile carrying submarines has diminished. Able to stay aloft more than 14 hours, the Aurora has become Canada's main strategic reconnaissance platform. It patrols Canada's maritime approaches and far north looking for narcotics smugglers, fishery violators, polluters, illegal migrants or any host of seaborne threats, submarines included.

That it continues to earn the respect of others is no surprise to Youdell. "We just go out there and do what were asked to do," he says. "If we're tasked to find a sub, we'll usually find it. As for LCdr. Smith, VP-40 is hoping to see 407 Squadron again. "The Canadians work really hard," he says. "We'll have them back any time."