Your Navy Today - Volume 5 Issue 9
Your Navy Today is a monthly newsletter highlighting your Royal Canadian Navy’s current operations, stories about our sailors and historic naval heroes, new equipment and technology and the top photos and videos. Click here to subscribe to the monthly email.
Operations Update
HMC Ships Vancouver and Winnipeg return home from Ops Projection and Neon
Caption
A sailor from HMCS Winnipeg reunites with a loved one during the ship’s homecoming on December 5.
His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Vancouver and Winnipeg completed their six-month deployment to the Indo-Pacific Region and returned to their home port of Esquimalt, B.C., on December 5.
After contributing to Exercise Rim of the Pacific 2022, both warships continued westward and joined Operation (Op) Projection, enhancing interoperability, cooperation and relationships with our allies.
Vancouver also supported Op Neon, Canada’s contribution to multinational efforts to monitor sanctions imposed on North Korea by the United Nations Security Council.
While on Neon, its aircrew, operations and bridge teams tracked thousands of potential vessels of interest. Much like searching for needles in a haystack, the job was perfectly suited for Canuck, Vancouver’s CH-148 Cyclone helicopter.
“When we wanted to examine a ship, it meant we had to fly low over the water with the helicopter’s door open, camera in hand, looking for any evidence of suspicious or illegal activity,” said Captain Tyler Molloy, an Air Combat Systems Officer in Vancouver.
Caption
Eighteen ships and one submarine from four countries participated in Exercise Keen Sword, the biennial exercise designed to increase combat readiness and interoperability of U.S. and Japanese forces.
Forty-one vessels-of-interest and two potential illicit ship-to-ship transfers were observed.
HMCS Winnipeg continued to operate in Southeast Asia under Op Projection, conducting forward naval presence operations and cooperative deployments, and participating in international naval exercises with partner nations.
Vancouver and Winnipeg participated in seven international exercises, including Keen Sword, which focused on anti-submarine warfare and included 36,000 personnel from the U.S. and Japan.
Welcome home Vancouver and Winnipeg!
HMCS Montréal returns home after sailing with USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group
Caption
HMCS Montréal and NATO allies recently participated in Ex Silent Wolverine in the eastern North Atlantic Ocean as part of the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group.
HMCS Montréal returned to its home port of Halifax last month, after having sailed in the North Atlantic with the U.S. Navy’s 2nd Fleet and the Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group with nine other countries.
The United States Ship (USS) Gerald R. Ford, the U.S. Navy’s newest and most technologically advanced aircraft carrier, sailed in European waters for its first deployment, with Canadian and European warships watching its back.
During their time with the Carrier Strike Group, Montréal participated to Exercise Silent Wolverine, providing an opportunity for the Royal Canadian Navy (RCN) to maintain operational readiness and practice integrating with NATO allies.
Top stories
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Legacy of Latino war heroes remembered
Caption
David Aguilar Carranza (left), from the Canadian Guatemalan community, and Ana Mariah Salas Beard (right), from the Canadian Dominican community, presented a plaque to Captain Rey Garcia-Salas for research about the participation of Latin Americans defending Canada in the First and Second World Wars. The presentation took place at Beechwood National Cemetery in Ottawa during the First Latin American Remembrance Ceremony.
Unsung Latin American heroes of the First and Second World Wars were recently honoured by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), giving them long overdue historical identity and recognition.
“They all joined voluntarily, demonstrated compassion, bravery, courage and loyalty while fighting alongside other Canadian soldiers,” said Captain Rey Garcia-Salas, co-founder of the CAF Latin American Heritage Team.
“All these soldiers are heroes who left us a legacy of inclusion that now brings us closer together.”
Canada’s Naval Reserve to celebrate Centennial in 2023
The Naval Reserve will celebrate 100 years of service to Canada throughout 2023, with both national and local events and activities at Naval Reserve Divisions (NRDs) across the country.
Conceived by Rear-Admiral Walter Hose, on January 31, 1923, the Government of Canada authorized the organization of a force of 1,000 officers and men to be called the Royal Canadian Naval Volunteer Reserve – the RCNVR.
The RCNVR became the backbone of the RCN, recruiting sailors from across the country. During the Second World War, the RCN needed to expand rapidly. By the end of the war, Canada had the third largest navy in the world, with 95,000 Canadians in uniform, and 434 commissioned vessels including cruisers, destroyers, frigates, corvettes and auxiliaries. Approximately 77,000 of these serving members were from the RCNVR.
In addition to commemorating the past 100 years, the Centennial will recognize the contributions of its current citizen-sailors.
Virtual Cenotaph honours citizen sailors
With the Naval Reserve Centennial approaching in 2023, it is an opportune time to recognize “citizen-sailors”, the nickname given to those who joined the war effort as members of the RCNVR, the Royal Canadian Naval Reserve and the Women’s Royal Canadian Naval Service.
Over 1,700 naval reservists died in service to Canada during the Second World War.
To honour their sacrifice, a Virtual Cenotaph has been created to repatriate the lives of these sailors back to the cities, towns and villages where they grew up and began their naval service.
New barges bring exciting capability to the RCN
Caption
In Esquimalt, Canadian sailors train using the RCN’s new sea-to-shore connector, a modular, self-propelled barge designed to support the future Joint Support Ships.
A group of RCN sailors recently had the chance to train on one of the Navy’s newest pieces of equipment, alongside instructors from the Defence College of Logistics, Policing and Administration in the United Kingdom.
A group of 18 Canadian sailors, including boatswains and marine technicians, concluded five weeks of training in Esquimalt, on the first of the Navy’s new modular, self-propelled barges. Designed to support the future Joint Support Ships (JSS), these new barges will bring a ground-breaking capability to the RCN.
Called sea-to-shore connectors, these barges, which will number four in total, can move large quantities of mission-essential equipment, stores and personnel to and from shore quickly, and can be stored or transported like standard shipping containers. They have multiple uses and configurations and are engineered to be assembled from the JSS itself.
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Announcements
CAF members encouraged to participate in sexual misconduct survey
Eligible CAF members can participate in the next iteration of the Statistics Canada (StatCan) Survey of Sexual Misconduct in the CAF. Although participation is voluntary, you are strongly encouraged to complete the survey because your opinions and perspectives matter, whether you have been directly affected by sexual misconduct or not.
The majority of Regular Force and Primary Reserve members are eligible, and invitations have already been sent using the contact information in Guardian. However, there are some exclusions, including those on basic or occupational training, in university, or on maternity or paternity leave.
Surveys can be completed up to December 21. This is a tracking survey, and the information you provide to StatCan is completely confidential. We need to continue to collect data over time to determine trends and identify issues, both critical in guiding culture growth within our institution.
We know this survey may be difficult to complete. If it’s possible for you to complete it, we ask that you do. Should you or someone you know need help or support, please seek it out. There is a range of support services available.
If you have questions on the survey or have not received an invite and would like to participate, contact StatCan.
Correction: Exercise Waking Giant
An error was made in the last edition of Your Navy Today. Exercise Waking Giant, which took place from September 24 to 25 in Thunder Bay, Ont., was led by Naval Reserve Division HMCS Griffon, not HMCS Hunter as originally stated. We apologize for the error to the members at HMCS Griffon who worked so hard to make the exercise a success.
PaCE: Guide to new military evaluation system released
With the launch of the CAF’s new Performance and Competency Evaluation (PaCE) system, the RCN has released administrative instructions regarding PaCE requirements applicable throughout the performance year.
At this time, all RCN personnel, including civilians who supervise or manage military members, should have completed the mandatory PaCE training available on the Defence Learning Network. All military personnel must have Monitor Mass accounts and be assigned to the correct position in both Guardian and Monitor Mass. Additionally, units will need to assign and keep current PaCE permissions, such as for supervisors, PaCE managers and intermediary reviewers, for their personnel on an ongoing basis.
PaCE offers some significant differences compared to the Canadian Forces Personnel Appraisal System that go beyond just new forms and software. The RCN administrative instructions detail these differences, and you can anticipate updated direction and user guides as we approach the end of the performance year. All RCN members are strongly encouraged to acquaint themselves with the new rank-specific competencies and behaviours, and how these will apply to upcoming performance and potential evaluations in spring 2023.
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