Vice Admiral Kenneth Floyd, Commander of the United States Navy 3rd Fleet, receives the General Salute from the Maritime Forces Pacific Guard of Honour during his visit to CFB Esquimalt.

The Guard of Honour marches to Duntze Head during the visit of Vice Admiral Kenneth Floyd, Commander of the United States Navy 3rd Fleet, on Aug. 7.

[caption id="attachment_4540" align="alignnone" width="300"] Sgt Frank Dominix (left) and RAdm Bill Truelove (centre), Commander Maritime Forces Pacific, stopped by for a spin and to support to Military Police Officer and Cops for Cancer rider Sgt Mike Oliver (right) during Sgt Oliver’s 12 hour ride at the main dockyard gate to raise money for Cops for Cancer.[/caption] Starting at the entrance to dockyard, Military Police (MP) Officer Sgt Mike Oliver cycled nearly 250 kilometres without ever leaving the gate.He accomplished this feat Aug. 8 on a stationary bike, spinning for 12 hours to raise money for the Canadian Cancer Society Cops for Cancer Tour de Rock.As part of this year’s Tour de Rock team, Sgt Oliver was hard-pressed to find ways to raise the $5,000 each rider is expected to raise.“I rode with the Saanich Police for their 24-Hour Bike Relay, so I thought I’d do something similar,” he said. “I’ve got people who will be riding alongside me [sporadically through the day], but I’m doing the whole thing on my own.”From 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. Sgt Oliver’s legs pumped away stopping only for the occasional bathroom break.“There were peaks and valleys,” he said. “At around hour three I started feeling burnt out, but the energy comes and goes.”The physical exhaustion of 12 hours in the saddle is nothing compared to the mental, physical and emotional exhaustion cancer patients and their families go through, he said.“It’s hard to think of what I’m doing as difficult when I know what those families and those patients deal with every day. I was able to bite my tongue, grit my teeth, and push on for them.”Riding that wave of motivation, Sgt Oliver raised more than $3,500 for Cops for Cancer. “We did really well that day,” he says. “People are so hugely generous...

Games, whether classics like Monopoly or cutting edge video games, are always more fun with many players.Lt(N) Michael Greer is hoping to prove that with the upcoming Day of Gaming on Aug. 18.The event will take place at the University of Victoria’s Clearihue Building from 10 a.m. to 8 p.m. The $5 entry fee gets you unlimited access to a variety of games and eligibility for door prizes. “People can stay for as long as they’d like,” says Lt(N) Greer. “Some of these games can take a few hours, so we want to give people enough time to play as many games as they’d like.”While the event will boast a large supply of role-playing games (RPG), card games, and board games of all kinds, attendees are encouraged to bring along games they would like to share.“The gaming community is about trying new things,” says Lt(N) Greer. “Anything that anyone wants to bring will definitely get people interested.”The idea for the event struck Lt(N) Greer following a four month course in Halifax earlier this year. He was introduced to the Halifax board gaming community and took to the hobby as a fun and social way to pass the time.“It’s a very healthy, connected community,” says Lt(N) Greer. “There are a lot of people, and smaller groups, but they’re all connected. There are some nice big groups that get together weekly.”Lt(N) Greer says the gaming groups in Victoria are disjointed and many groups are unaware of each other.“There’s a group that meets at a local bakery in town and I asked them if they’d ever heard of the UVic group,” he says. “They had no idea! Many gaming groups in Victoria seem unaware of each other.”With an eye toward cross-pollinating as many gaming groups in Victoria as possible, Lt(N) Greer took up...

[caption id="attachment_4534" align="alignnone" width="300"] Camp attendee Lea-Ann Bee explores a tide pool as a camp staff member looks on.[/caption] On an idyllic island in the Strait of Juan de Fuca the staff and volunteers of Camp Hornby are changing lives.“I’ll never forget some of the things I saw and the people I met,” says Military Police Unit Esquimalt Member Cpl Ashley Pye, who recently visited the summer camp for blind, visually impaired, and deaf/blind children, and their families.The camp took place July 25-29 at Hornby Island’s Tribune Bay Outdoor Education Centre.Cpl Pye went as a representative of CFB Esquimalt’s Military Police, who sponsor a large number of the camp’s attendees each year through the MP Blind Fund.“Of the 24 kids there this year we sponsored 13 of them,” says Cpl Pye. “I really wanted to go to the camp and see what we do for these kids. I was thrilled to be sent this year.”While there, Cpl Pye witnessed the strength of the human spirit in the determination the children exhibited.“What some people would see as a serious disability these kids adapt to with strength and perseverance,” she says. One particularly awe-inspiring event involved an activity where the children climbed up a 40-foot pole and jumped off while attached to safety lines. Cpl Pye watched with amazement as a young wheelchair-bound girl, who is visually impaired and suffers from Cerebral Palsy, hauled herself halfway up the metal rungs with one arm.“I couldn’t believe it,” says Cpl Pye. “I could barely bring myself to do it at all, and this girl was doing it with one hand.”It was then that Cpl Pye had a revelation. “These kids don’t see themselves as weak or broken,” she says. “The world has a tendency to classify them as disabled or less fortunate, but these...

An aerial image of a CH-146 Griffon flying over mountains east of Whitehorse, Yukon, during Operation Nanook 13.

Maj Rob Truscott, with Lt(N) Julian Yates, MWO Carl Pelletier and Sgt Max Thomasan, of Canadian Armed Forces Public Affairs, head out on a reconnaissance of the area on their all terrain vehicles in Resolute Bay during Operation Nanook 13.

Jackueline Rodrigue, a caterer with The Chocolate Claim in Whitehorse, serves dinner to MCpl Patrick Morin, an Avionics Technician with 430 Tactical Helicopter Squadron, while deployed on Operation Nanook 13.

A CC-150 Polaris Airbus carrying Canadian Armed Forces members and equipment unload on the tarmac of Erik Nielsen Whitehorse International Airport during Operation Nanook 13.

Cpl Cynthia St-Jean, LS Jason Suggett and Cpl Cameron Hurrell prepare to evacuate a simulated casualty who is part of a medical evacuation exercise during Operation Nanook 13.

In celebration of the arrival of Heir to the throne Prince George, born to the Duke and Duchess of Cambridge, the Canadian Armed Forces fired a 21 gun salute on Parliament Hill in Ottawa.

[caption id="attachment_4487" align="alignnone" width="300"] Thirteen-year-old Joshua Emery, an Air Cadet with 89 Squadron in Victoria, gives a thumbs up following his familiarization flight in a Cessna 172.[/caption] Joshua Emery, 13, an Air Cadet with 89 Squadron in Victoria, enjoyed a familiarization flight on July 30. Cadet Emery flew in a Cessna 172, piloted by Captain Nathan Pritchard - a Cadet Instructor Cadre officer who celebrates his 20th anniversary since he got his own wings. During the flight, Capt Pritchard personalized the experience for Cadet Emery, pointing out various landmarks and famous buildings including the B.C. Legislature (where the cadets visited the day prior), the Bay Street Armoury (where Emery’s squadron parades during the training year), and even Albert Head Air Cadet Summer Training Centre.All General Training Course (GTC) cadets have an opportunity to go on a 20-minute flight in one of three Cessnas, rented from the Victoria Flying Club and flown out of 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron in Sidney. Last week was Cadet Emery’s second “powered” flight, but his first time sitting in the front seat. When asked how his flight was, Cadet Emery simply said, “Awesome!”Over 140 air cadets from throughout B.C. are presently on the GTC at Albert Head Air Cadet Summer Training Centre. The two-week course is the first introduction many cadets have to life at a Cadet Summer Training Centre, some even the first time away from home.Cadet Emery and his flight mates graduated on Friday, Aug. 2. Capt(N) Bradley Peats, Deputy Commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific, was the Reviewing Officer. Over the summer, Albert Head CSTC will run three GTC courses, with over 400 air cadets.The newest of B.C.’s four Cadet Summer Training Centres, Albert Head Air Cadet Summer Training Centre was established in 1995. Each year, approximately 930 cadets attend the Albert Head Air Cadet...

A digital facelift is on the way for Department of National Defence (DND) computers across Canada. Starting in September, Base Information Services (BIS) will begin to implement the Windows 7 operating system on all DND workstations in the Formation. The upgrade comes as part of a nation-wide mandate from Treasury Board of Canada, which states all government-owned workstations must be upgraded to Windows 7, Internet Explorer 9 and Office 2010 by March 31, 2014.“This isn’t just a CFB Esquimalt specific initiative,” says Rocky Passarell, Windows 7 Project Manager for Maritime Forces Pacific (MARPAC). “This will be happening to every single government-owned computer across the country.”The mandate comes as a reaction to Microsoft’s withdrawal of support for the Windows XP operation system, which the majority of government workstations run on, including DND.“They won’t be creating anymore patches or tweaking Windows XP to work with more current machines,” says Passarell. “As we move forward with modernizing the hardware we work with, we have to make sure we can run the best software we have available to us.”The rollout itself will be simple. Personnel won’t be required to undergo long hours of finicky technical upgrades. It will be uploaded to the Formation’s 5,000 workstations via BIS networks, one department at a time.“The upgrades will automatically install themselves when each division gets it,” says Passarell. “It will be as simple as coming to work the next day and turning on your computer.”In preparation for the change, DND personnel will have to ensure they’ve recovered and backed up all user files located on their C: drives, as the drives will be wiped. Personal Q: drives, however, will remain untouched.“The files on the C: of all workstations will be cleared. When it’s cleared none of it will be recoverable,” says Passarell. “It’s vital that all personnel...

[caption id="attachment_4481" align="alignnone" width="300"] LS Amy Young is a regular at the Naden Athletic Centre weight room as she prepares her body for competition.[/caption] It’s one thing to face yourself in the mirror and flex your well-developed muscles; it’s a whole other experience to pose on a stage and be judged – in a bikini.Completely exhausting and very intimidating is how LS Amy Young characterized that experience. A few weeks ago, she oiled up her five-foot-two-inch frame, glued on her bikini and flexed every muscle in a series of poses designed to showcase her exceptional physique.    It was her first Women’s Physique competition, held within the B.C. Provincial Championships for the BC Amateur Bodybuilding Association.“You train and train and train, but when you actually get on stage and it’s just you and the judges, everything becomes a lot scarier,” she says of the experience. Fear was not apparent in the judges’ eyes, as LS Young was awarded Women’s Best Poser, and second place in the Women’s Physique A category, netting her a spot in the National Championships Aug. 17.The results were remarkable for only a year’s effort working to sculpt her body. “I was thrilled to place where I did,” she says. “The girls there were in incredible shape. To have hacked it with them, and held my own, was a real honour.”Body building, like many sports, has its dark side. Some competitors go to extremes to enhance muscle definition. “Some of these competitors don’t drink anything for three days before the show to keep their liquid weight down,” says the sailor. “They think it gives them an advantage as far as muscle mass goes, but it can just as easily put them in the hospital. I’m not in it for that.”Bodybuilding caught hold of LS Young last year as...

CFB Esquimalt Base Commander Change of Command

Two cadets outside the natural shelter they built and lived in during their four-day final field exercise. They practised the survival skills they learned over the previous two weeks including preparing their own meals and collecting their own water.

Senior cadets teach General Training Course cadets  - many of whom are away from home for the first time - how to make a bed, military style, on the first day of their two-week cadet familiarization course.

Cdr Matthew Bowen, (left) of HMCS Toronto welcomes the last of the crew arriving in the city of Kuwait, Kuwait on July 27, 2013. Toronto received a new crew for the second half of its deployment on Operation Artemis.

HMCS Toronto sits along side in Kuwait City, Kuwait as members from the Canadian Armed Forces who have traveled from Canada to Kuwait, conduct a crew swap on July 22, 2013 as part of Operation Artemis.

Base Commander Capt(N) Luc Cassivi inspects the sailors of Acoustic Data Analysis Center (ADAC) (Pacific) at the unit closing parade on 28 June. ADAC(P) closed after 27 years as a stand alone unit.

The Nijmegen Canadian Contingent attends a remembrance service at the Groesbeek Canadian War Cemetery during day 3 of the International Four Days Marches in the Netherlands.

[caption id="attachment_4440" align="alignnone" width="300"] Maj Aaron Novecosky, Commanding Officer of Acoustic Data Analysis Center (ADAC) (Atlantic), and CPO2 Brad Main retire the ADAC(P) unit kisby ring to the Naval and Military Museum representative Clare Sharpe during the closing parade on June 28.[/caption] After supporting the Pacific fleet and honing the analysis skills of Sonar Operators for 45 years, the Acoustic Data Analysis Centre Pacific (ADAC (P)) closed on June 28. The unit’s responsibilities have been assumed by the consolidated ADAC in Halifax, with local acoustics training transferred to Canadian Forces Fleet School Esquimalt (CFFSE).“The thought process was it didn’t make sense to have two identical branches doing the same work,” says CPO2 Main. “Bringing the two branches together into one allows a greater degree of efficiency in the administration of the organization, as well as a more consolidated degree of leadership.”Formed in 1968 as a detachment of the original ADAC based in Halifax, the unit’s mission was to collect, catalogue, and report on acoustic information from ships, submarines, and aircraft. That information was then used to help Royal Canadian Navy Sonar Operators and Royal Canadian Air Force Acoustic Sensor Operators enhance their knowledge of acoustic signatures through advanced courses and continuation training.“We helped bring the knowledge and skills of a basic Sonar Op to a more advanced level,” says CPO2 Brad Main, Senior Sonar Operator Instructor at Canadian Forces Fleet School Esquimalt (CFFSE), and the final Unit Chief of ADAC (P). “By enhancing what they already knew through an advanced acoustics course, we were able to give them a broader and more detailed knowledge of sonar operation and identification.”ADAC (P) became a formed unit in 1995, with its own heraldic crest and unit motto, Scientia per sonum – “Knowledge through sound.”  A joint RCN/RCAF unit, it had air force officers...

[caption id="attachment_4437" align="alignnone" width="300"] AB Thomas Davis does pushups following a mile long swim in Esquimalt Harbour.[/caption] Standing along the edge of a 10-foot pier, finned feet dangling over the briny water, a group of HMCS Winnipeg sailors prepare to jump.They’re prospective Ship’s Team Divers, and if they’re going to make the cut they’re going to have to get their feet wet.“The Ship’s Team Diver qualification course has something like a 50 per cent fail rate. It’s hugely physically demanding,” says PO2 Clint Mack, Senior Diver in HMCS Winnipeg. “I wanted to give Winnipeg sailors looking to become a diver a chance to prepare for what is a truly gruelling course.”To do this, PO2 Mack takes Winnipeg sailors interested in the Ship’s Team Diver course out to the Fleet Dive Unit up to twice a week for specialized training.Prospective divers, along with current team divers, go through rigorous callisthenics such as running, jumping jacks, or wind sprints. PO2 Mack says intermingling prospective divers with current team members promotes a team cohesiveness not always found.“As Ship’s Team Divers we are trained to save lives and work under water while manipulating extremely heavy gear, so a higher level of physical fitness is required of our divers,” he says. “The training I have instigated promotes team cohesiveness, camaraderie, and fitness between the new divers and the experienced ones.  A physically fit team will do the job faster safely.”Part of the training also involves the traditional one mile swim around the harbour, in which divers swim a predetermined coursed around a series of floating checkpoints, each attempting to get a better time than the last.“This is a swim that Clearance Divers do all the time, and they get very competitive about it,” say PO2 Mack. “I want these guys to have a firm grasp...

[caption id="attachment_4434" align="alignnone" width="300"] Cadet Clayton Leone and Cadet Kyle Baird, both from Ladysmith, work together to remove the daphne laurel at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historical Site. Cadet Leone is on the three-week Basic Drill and Ceremonial Course, graduating July 26, and Cadet Baird is on the six-week Ceremonial Instructor Course, graduating Aug. 16.[/caption] More than 120 air cadets spent the day toiling in the sun, all for the betterment of one of our local treasures – Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Site.As one of the largest groups to volunteer their time and muscles, the cadets helped remove invasive plants that threaten the Garry oak ecosystem, did a bit of gardening and built a sandbag wall on July 19. “It was wonderful to have so many dedicated and well organized cadets help us with the Garry Oak ecosystem work we do here at Fort Rodd Hill and Fisgard Lighthouse National Historic Site,” said Susan MacIsaac, Species at Risk Communications Officer with Parks Canada. “It would have taken my staff of three a month to do what the cadets accomplished in one day.” After the teens piled off the three buses, they were split into three groups. The first group started removing daphne laurel – a particularly invasive plant that grows as high as a metre, choking and shading out other plants that the Garry oak ecosystem needs to thrive and remain healthy. This activity was certainly more than just weeding – requiring gloves and pruning shears.The second group went to the nursery, and working side by side with their flight-mates, helped thin out camas bulb beds. Cadets carefully sorted through moist earth looking for camas bulbs, an indigenous plant that grows only in Garry oak ecosystems. Once they found the bulbs, they were set...

Following an early morning fire on Tuesday, the remains of the Tudor House pub were being demolished and the rubble removed.

As base employees returned to work last Tuesday morning, fire crews were still working to dampen the smoldering embers that remained of the fire that ripped through the Tudor House Pub reducing the 109-year-old structure to ashes.

Canada’s fleet of Sea King Helicopters have been grounded after one tipped forward on the tarmac at CFB Shearwater in Halifax last Monday. The aircraft’s rotor blades smashed into the ground sending debris flying.