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Bagotville fighter jets give Canadian troops a heroes' welcome

By Holly Bridges

As Canadians prepare to honour the sacrifices of Canadian soldiers, sailors and air men and women tomorrow during Remembrance Day services across Canada, a very special act of remembrance and recognition occurred in the skies over Quebec earlier this week.

Two CF-18 fighter jets from 425 Tactical Fighter Squadron at 3 Wing Bagotville intercepted and escorted an Air Force CC-150 Polaris (Airbus A310) carrying Canadian troops coming home from their tour of duty in Afghanistan. The CC-150 was flying over Quebec en route to 8 Wing Trenton to deliver the troops from Canadian Forces Base Petawawa.

Lieutenant-Colonel Pat Laroche, Commanding Officer of 425 TF Sqn, broadcast this message to the troops from the cockpit of his CF-18 after taking his position alongside the CC-150.

"To the men and women returning from service on board CFC 3673, this is Mooch 01. It is our distinct honour and privilege to escort you today to your landing in Canada. Over the past months we have watched with pride your heroic efforts, the courage you have displayed, and mourned the sacrifices.

"You are now back home and within a few hours, will be reunited with your loved ones."

"On behalf of the men and women in uniform and Canadians everywhere, thank you and welcome home. So sit back and enjoy the ride, we have you covered."

Canadian fighter jets have been intercepting and escorting Canadian troops returning home to Canada since Canada first began sending troops to Afghanistan. The idea of broadcasting a message from the fighter jets over the CC-150 intercom has become a tradition for the fighter pilots carrying out the tasking, one that LCol Laroche welcomed.

"The words I used reflected my exact thoughts, my emotions - they were from my heart and I felt it was an honour and a privilege to escort these people home to Canada. They have been out there doing combat operations, risking their lives for all the objectives we have as a nation, whether here in Canada or in this case abroad.

"The fact that we as air crew are showing our support and our thanks goes a long way to helping to build the morale of our troops. The feedback we get is very positive."

It is not unusual for Canada to scramble jets in Canadian airspace. Canada has fighter jets on standby 365 days a year, 24 hours a day, ready to launch from either 3 Wing Bagotville or 4 Wing Cold Lake. "Instead of intercepting the bad guys, we got to intercept the good guys," laughs LCol Laroche.

The escort tasking was initiated through the newly created Canada Command and carried out through 1 Canadian Air Division / Canadian NORAD Region and 3 Wing Bagotville.