Watch the Annapolis Sinking in the Artificial Reef. Sunk on April 4th, 2015. Former HMCS Annapolis.

[caption id="attachment_9659" align="alignnone" width="252"] Chief Constable Frank Elsner accepts the certificate of recognition for being a supportive employer of reservists. Skip Triplett, Regional Director of the CFLC Vancouver Island, presented the certificate. Major Brendan Le Blanc, nominator of the award, observes the presentation.[/caption]The Victoria Police Department’s unwavering loyalty to military reservist employees was honored this March 31, when the Canadian Forces Liaison Council (CFLC) presented senior police leadership with a formal certificate of recognition for employer support.Dr. Skip Triplett and John Appleby, regional directors of the CFLC, thanked the Victoria Police Department for upholding their longstanding tradition to enable employees in the reserves to attend their frequent training sessions and commitments.Reserve members currently employed by the police department must juggle their training requirements with their workloads. Ongoing reserve training can occur on weekends and occasionally on weekdays.Reservists may also be called upon unexpectedly to deploy for extended periods of time, for situations such as responding to natural disasters and other emergency situations.As such, reserve employees must be ready to place their work duties on hold when their city, province, or country, needs their help.Dr. Triplett emphasized the responsibilities of a reservist can stretch their time and energy thin, meaning they require additional assistance from their employers to succeed both at work and in the military.“Sir Winston Churchill believed that reservists are twice the citizen, because they are constantly balancing a military career with a civilian life. But I like to say they are three times the citizen, because most of them have families too, and that’s a whole other role,” said Dr. Triplett.The CFLC encourages employers to be flexible and accommodating when working with a reservist.For the CFLC, the Victoria Police Department has succeeded in this supportive role, having developed a policy that promotes the development of reservists by facilitating...

[caption id="attachment_9656" align="alignnone" width="300"] Daniel LeBlanc, Chief of Staff-Executive Officer to Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific; Cdr Wes Golden, Base Administration Officer; and SLt (Ret’d) Louis Howard, share stories after an impromptu speech from SLt (Ret’d) Howard.[/caption]A packed lunchtime Weepers crowd at the Wardroom on March 27 was treated to an impromptu speech on by a unique former Royal Canadian Navy Volunteer Reserve officer, SLt (Ret’d) Louis Howard.SLt (Ret’d) Howard, 91, is one of only three surviving crew members from HMCS Sarnia, the ship that helped rescue survivors from HMCS Esquimalt, the last RCN vessel sunk during the Battle of the Atlantic.Base Administration Officer, Cdr Wes Golden had the pleasure of introducing SLt (Ret’d) Howard, who spent a few moments telling the story of that fateful sinking and throwing in a few other stories along the way.“We knew something was wrong because we were supposed to meet up with Esquimalt and she never made it,” said SLt (Ret’d) Howard, who was navigating officer and sonar officer in HMCS Sarnia.HMCS Esquimalt was torpedoed by German a U-boat in the approaches to Halifax harbour on April 16, 1945.The warship sank within four minutes, unable to send out a distress message.The surviving members of HMCS Esquimalt’s crew spent six hours adrift before HMCS Sarnia and her 78 crew members rescued them.“From the moment he began telling us his story, I was immediately drawn in,” said Lt(N) Paul Trenholm, who was having lunch at the Wardroom that day.“Standing before us was a living Canadian hero with so much to share and there is only a thin window of time left for us to hear from these veterans.”SLt (Ret’d) Howard and the rest of the crew eventually rescued 27 men and recovered the bodies of 13 others. In total, 44 men were lost.For his actions, he...

[caption id="attachment_9653" align="alignnone" width="300"] Cadets from 195 “Bicknell” RCSCC cheer on their team mates during the final relay of the Regional Inter-Divisional Seamanship Championship.[/caption]More than 100 sea cadets from B.C. and the prairies, all winners of their zone competitions, gathered in Victoria for the Regional Inter-Divisional Seamanship Championship held March 21-22 at the Naden Drill Shed.Over the weekend, cadets practiced and competed in seamanship skills, from tossing heaving lines at targets, to navigation, to semaphore (communicating with flags), to sheer legs (using knots and wood to assemble a lift for heavy loads).Cadets competed in eight-person teams, four each from B.C. and the prairies. The aim of the competition was to encourage cadets to increase their knowledge of seamanship and to provide a friendly competition. Victoria’s own 5 “Rainbow” RCSCC won the championship for B.C. Team captain PO1 Austen Webb said the team practiced four hours each Sunday for several months in preparation for the competition series. 137 “Kamloops” RCSCC from Kamloops won the team spirit award.The weekend ended with a ship-building competition, based on Royal Canadian Navy ships, and a relay that involved hoisting signals and navigation markers, tying knots, completing a puzzle of HMCS Vancouver, and answering naval trivia. Awards were presented by Commodore Bob Autcherlonie, Commander Canadian Fleet Pacific.Capt Cheryl MajorRCSU (Pac)Public Affairs Officer

 Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 (SNMG2), Italian ship ITS ALISEO departs Istanbul, Turkey ahead of Her Majesty's Canadian Ship FREDERICTON after a port visit during Operation REASSURANCE on March 23, 2015.

A marine electrician on board HMCS FREDERICTON conducts repairs on auxiliary equipment in the after engine room during Operation REASSURANCE on February 18, 2015.

Members 3 RCR conduct an insertion extraction with the Latvian search & rescue helicopter during EXERCISE Summer Shield XII in Adazi, Latvia.

Members of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) fast rope down the Latvian search and rescue helicopter while the Latvian army observe during EXERCISE Summer Shield XII in Adazi, Latvia on March 27, 2015.

The RCAF accepts delivery of its fifth CC-177 Globemaster aircraft at 8 Wing Trenton, Ontario on March 30.

Cpl Shane Williams marshals a CC-177 Globemaster III at the Canadian Armed Forces Arctic Training Centre in  Resolute Bay, Nunavut to support Norex 2015 on March 20.

Standing NATO Maritime Group 2, Turkish ship TCG Turgutreis, Italian ship ITS Aliseo, German supply ship FGS Spessart and HMCS Fredericton come alongside Istanbul, Turkey during Op Reassurance on March 21.

LS Jonathan Gendron, begins securing HMCS Yellowknife during an Advanced Boarding Party Exercise at CFB Esquimalt on March 26.

Members of the first graduating course of Maritime Tactical Operators participate in a security exercise on A Jetty at Dockyard March 26.

Candidates on the Maritime Tactical Operators Course secure the stern of HMCS Yellowknife as they depart during an Advanced Boarding Party Exercise March 26.

[caption id="attachment_9594" align="alignnone" width="300"] Members of the first graduating course of Maritime Tactical Operators from CFB Esquimalt, participate in a security exercise on March 26.[/caption]After three months of intensive round-the-clock training, students on the first Maritime Tactical Operator Course graduated March 26, and will go on to form Enhanced Naval Boarding Party Team 1.The 13 graduates underwent extensive training in advanced naval boarding tactics, including hand-to-hand combat, improvised explosive device identification, close quarters battle, tactical shooting, and tactical questioning.Last Thursday’s graduation marks the delivery of an initial operating capability as directed by the first phase of the Future Naval Boarding Party Capability Development outlined in the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) Executive Plan.“In less than 10 months we have successfully selected, trained and graduated our first class,” said LCdr Wilfred Lund, Naval Boarding Party 3.0 Project Officer in Charge. “This team is trained and equipped to provide a highly flexible capability that is a testament to the unpredictable and evolving nature of our missions.”Although traditional Naval Boarding Parties are able to perform basic obstructed boardings, feedback from recent operational deployments, such as Operation Caribbe and Artemis, has emphasized the need for a Naval Boarding Party that is capable of meeting a new level of threat.The Enhanced Naval Boarding Party capability will provide the Canadian Armed Forces and the RCN with the agility, flexibility, and tactical expertise to confront and deter a variety of threats in high-risk operational environments.“In terms of our partner allies, the Enhanced Naval Boarding Party is a unique capability,” said LCdr Lund. “We are building on our decades of operational boarding experience in order to fill the gap between what our special forces can do and what we need to do on our own as a navy.”The team will be attach posted to HMCS Winnipeg and will participate...

[caption id="attachment_9590" align="alignnone" width="300"] Smoking huts gone, bike shelters in[/caption]As the base and its employees prepare for the April 1 Base Standing Order Smoking Policy to take effect, which directs smokers to smoke only in designated smoking areas, attention is now being turned towards the smoking sites situated around the base.With healthy lifestyle now a corporate philosophy, what was once a smoker’s refuge from the elements is now a dry place to house bicycles. Taking the lead to transform the huts is Base Chief Petty Officer, CPO1 Shawn Taylor. Upon the suggestion from CPO2 Sean MacUisdin, he is re-purposing these structures in order to accommodate the expanding cyclist population.“It just made sense to re-use already existing structures for bicycle racks, which we don’t have enough of anyways,” he says.The first site to transform is the shelter adjacent to Nelles Block. At least six more shelters are slated to transform.                                 CPO1 Taylor’s project comes on the heels of a change to the base smoking policy, which previously had not been changed in the Base Standing Order since 1989.“The existing policies that were in place then no longer exist,” says CPO1 Taylor. “So I looked at what the rest of the country was doing with smoking policies, what other bases were doing, and what we’re doing locally in terms of municipality rules. After talking with the Base Commander and senior council, we have changed to full compliance with the national law and regional bylaws.”Four teams scoured the base to pinpoint all the smoking locations. More than 450 smoking sites were found, with another 300 potentially being used by smokers.After considering the latest updates on laws, and recommendations from Health Canada, CPO1 Taylor and his staff put together the new smoking policy, which mirrors the new municipal bylaw. New smoking sites, far fewer than...

[caption id="attachment_9586" align="alignnone" width="300"] RAdm Bill Truelove watches over two cadets at the helm of Patrol Craft Training Vessel Moose.[/caption]On an overcast Sunday two weeks ago, Orca training vessels Moose and Raven slipped from the jetty at the Coast Guard Station in Deep Cove.Lining the decks were naval cadets, cameras in hand snapping photos of the choppy gray water and sloping hills on the horizon before them.But this sail wasn’t just for fun; the youth were on board to have the full experience of naval life.At the sound of an alarm echoing throughout Moose, 18 cadets leaped into action. Oscar the man overboard dummy was in need of rescuing and its casualty retrieval was in the hands of the cadets.Most cadets took their cues for action from the experienced crew members, or followed the direction of the older cadets, taking their place at the base of the zodiac crane, or passing out life jackets.Some headed to the bridge, while others unfastened the zodiac for launching. For most on board, this was their first time in an Orca class vessel, and their first experience sailing in the waters off the B.C. coast.“Now I see the practical use of all the training we’ve done at my corps back home,” said Comox resident PO1 Madelaine Desnoyers, 17. “It’s one thing to learn theory and then another thing to actually be on a boat. Now it all makes more sense.”A few hundred metres away Oscar bobbed in the water in a bright orange life jacket as the crew lowered the zodiac from the ship to the ocean. A senior cadet drove the boat to Oscar who was plucked up by the cadet crew and returned to Moose.Back on the bridge, the most senior naval officer on the Pacific Coast, RAdm Bill Truelove watched over...

[caption id="attachment_9557" align="alignnone" width="232"] Michael Moore, a Canadian songwriter, musician, and teacher based in Toronto.[/caption]“I’ve thought about what happened at Dieppe for a long time,” says Michael Moore, a Canadian songwriter, musician, and teacher based in Toronto.“The fact that 6,000 soldiers, when they were crossing, had no idea what was coming, and how the Germans were entrenched in the shore ahead of them. They didn’t know what was about to happen.”For Moore, 6,000 is a precious number.His most recent song, “6,000 Soldiers” refers to the number of allied forces that fought at Dieppe on Aug. 19, 1942.The 5,000 Canadian troops, 1,000 British Commandos, and 50 American rangers that fought the battle are honored in the lyrics of the song, recorded in February of this year in Nashville, and released on YouTube the morning of March 10.Moore has been a musician since he was in seventh grade, where he began playing the trumpet in band class.He continued to play throughout high school and his post-secondary education, eventually graduating from the University of Toronto with a degree in music.Though he was trained as a trumpet player, he plays the keyboard and a range of other band instruments.Moore, however, prefers crafting songs to performing on stage.“I mostly like to write,” he says.“I do perform at smaller venues occasionally, but it’s the writing I really enjoy. I’m quite happy to let others do the singing.”Lead vocalist William Ray’s soulful voice helps give the song a country feel, fitting with Moore’s preferred music genre, a blend of folk and country.Moore was raised in Petawawa, Ontario, home to the Garrison Petawawa base. Though he didn’t grow up in the military community, he says he’s always had an interest in Canadian history, and in particular, the wars that Canada has fought.As a music and history teacher, Moore...

[caption id="attachment_9554" align="alignnone" width="252"] WO Stephen Martinelli; Terry Rowsell, President of the Board of Directors for Four Seasons Musical Theatre; Helen Edley, Producer of Shrek: The Musical (Front, from left) Ordinary Seaman Nancy Blais, and Jaymes D. Goodman, Stage Director, pose in front of stage props designed for Shrek: The Musical, slated to run at the Isabelle Reader Theatre from May 22 to 31.[/caption]Shannon Delaney, a military spouse; Stephen Marinelli, a Warrant Officer; and Nancy Blais, an Ordinary Seaman, all understand the challenges experienced when facing a new posting.But all have found solace in the same organization not traditionally associated with the military – musical theatre.Delaney, WO Marinelli, and OS Blais are newcomers to Victoria who have been volunteering with the Four Seasons Musical Theatre Society’s latest production: Shrek: The Musical, slated to run from May 22 to 31 at the Isabelle Reader Theatre in Langford.Delaney, wife of Warrant Officer Scott Miller, says Victoria is her husband’s fifth posting, having recently been transferred from Cairo, Egypt, in July 2014, where he worked at the Canadian Embassy.As a dance teacher, Delaney’s work is portable, and she says it led her to explore the theatre community once the couple arrived in Victoria.But in searching for work, she was also looking to join a community.“With the military, there’s always that built-in community; so whenever we’re posted, my husband has no problem finding his groove right away. He’s with a familiar group of people, even if they are new to him. Theatre is similar to that. Even if you’ve never met a group of theatre volunteers before, you instantly have something in common with them. You find that sense of home and common passion.”She works as the show’s choreographer, where she teaches over 30 cast members, from children to adults, different dance routines, investing...

Plans are well advanced to transform the Dockyard waterfront at CFB Esquimalt into a modern site for ship berthing.Two projects are now beginning to move through the government’s project approval process: replacing “A” and “B” jetties in Constance Cove, and removing contaminated sediment from the harbour seabed.When the design work and the necessary regulatory reviews are finalized, and once project approval is in hand, the A/B Jetty Recapitalization Project and the Esquimalt Harbour Remediation Project (EHRP) will hire the necessary contractors to start the work.Clive Orford, Project Director for Naval Infrastructure in Ottawa, explains the projects are part of the broader master plan for renewal of infrastructure at the base that’s been unfolding over the past two decades.“The A/B Jetty Project is a massive redevelopment of dockyard that has been anticipated for a generation, and is finally about to come to fruition once the final project approvals are in place in Ottawa,” he says.As part of their good neighbour philosophy, DND is holding a Public Information Session for neighbours and those wanting to learn more about the projects on March 25, from 7 to 9 p.m., at the Songhees Wellness Centre, 1100 Admirals Road.Questions may be posed to representatives of the project team from both Ottawa and Esquimalt.Also available for viewing at the session will be the artist rendering, and information panels on the two projects. “A” and “B” jetties, originally built during the Second World War, are over 70 years old, which is well beyond their service life, and have many operational limitations.Both structures are made of creosote-treated timber piles and beams, which, due to their age, have structural condition issues.The A/B Jetty Recapitalization Project, which was announced by then Defence Minister Peter MacKay in February 2013, will provide structurally sound and technically appropriate berthing facilities for Canada’s current...

Cadets undertake mandatory fitness testing in Vernon, British Columbia. These cadets are competing for one of five spots on the Canadian Armed Forces Basic Parachutist Course.Each year, only 49 cadets across Canada are selected. While they may not all be selected, these cadets are learning about goal-setting, teamwork, enhancing their physical fitness levels and having fun. Les cadets qui participent à l’activité de préparation au cours de parachutisme se font évaluer à Vernon en Colombie-Britannique. Ces cadets compétitionnent pour une des cinq places allouées à la région pour le cours de parachutiste de niveau élémentaire des Forces armées canadiennes. Chaque année, 49 cadets de partout au pays sont sélectionnés pour participer au cours de parachutiste de niveau élémentaire des Forces armées canadiennes.Même s’ils ne seront peut-être pas tous sélectionnés, les cadets apprennent à se fixer des objectifs, travailler en équipe, améliorer leur condition physique et avoir du plaisir.

Lt. (N) Maynard disembarks from a CC-150 Polaris aircraft in Ottawa, after completing her mission in Sierra Leone for Operation SIRONA, as M.Gen  Joyce, DCOMP, CWO  Marchand, MP Command CWO, and B.Gen Bernier, Surgeon General execute a welcome Vulcan salute.

Her Majesty's Canadian Ship FREDERICTON departs Constanta, Romania to conduct exercises in the Black Sea with Standing NATO Maritime Group 2 during Operation REASSURANCE on March 16, 2015.

RCAF members of ATF-Iraq and several members of the coalition participate in the SHAMAL SERIALS, a combat search and rescue exercise held for personnel of the Middle East Stabilization Force, in a training area in Kuwait on March 16, 2015.

Members of 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment (3 RCR) practice cold load drills with the Polish military in Jaworze, Poland on March 17, 2015 as part of a partnership engagement.

Aviator Desiree Thomas Bourdon from CF - Combat Camera & PFC (USA) Andrew Miller from US Combat Camera work together to process imagery after a day of capturing pictures during OP SKYFALL in Savannah, Georgia on March 19, 2015.