Sept. 22, 2005
SAREX 05 SLEMON PARK SUMMERSIDE – Mother Nature threw a slight curve ball on Wednesday. Winds were high and the cloud ceiling low, enough for exercise controllers to cancel para drops from about noon for the safety of the team members.
Although the weather was not at par, it didn’t stop the exercise. One rescue event did start but after their medical and equipment drops were made, the SAR Techs were not able to jump in due to the low clouds. The medical event in the morning started as planned, but the afternoon event was delayed for a few hours due to a real life SAR call-up.
Although 413 Sqn, Greenwood, is competing in SAREX 05 as well as conducting their own training exercise, their Cormorant and Hercules crews are also on standby to react to SAR operations off the Atlantic Coast. Their call-up to search for a small vessel off the coast of southern NS was cancelled by the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre in Halifax before the Cormorant crew could lift off.
The search event simulating conditions when SAR aircraft must conduct a search for the missing was not hampered by the weather. Two searches over NB were flown. 413 Sqn members conducting their unit SAREX were put through their paces when they responded to a signal from an emergency landing transmitter or ELT from a simulated missing small Cessna plane somewhere in PEI. A Hercules crew was dispatched and later found the crash site at the abandoned landing strip at Mount Pleasant. Members of Veterans Affairs Canada acted as the downed crew and passengers. Within a few hours the crash site was found and the survivors rescued.
All jump, rescue and medical events continue today at Slemon Park. An information tent set up by the Prince Edward Island Armoured Regiment at the far end of the airport parking lot provides information and direction to the events. A special competition, the Bell Ringer event, a precision para event for the experienced SAR techs, all over 40 years of age will take place at 4 p.m. The event consists of one jump into the Pea Bowl, where a bell is placed next to the target. The SAR tech with the fastest time from landing to ringing the bell while carrying all equipment will be the winner.
SAREX 05 information and photos visit: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/14wing/news/releases_e.asp
For more information on SAR techs: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/cardocs/SARFAQ_e.asp
For more information on SAR Squadrons: http://www.airforce.forces.gc.ca/organization3_e.asp
For a CBC in-depth SAR report: http://www.cbc.ca/news/background/search_rescue/index.html
