Transcript

(K) In this episode, we highlight one of the Canadian Armed Forces Disaster Assistance Response Team’s annual exercises…

(S)…and travel to California with Canadian fighter pilots for training on exercise COUGAR SOUTH.

(K) Exercise READY RENAISSANCE recently took place on Vancouver Island in British Columbia.

Approximately 100 military personnel and Global Affairs Canada officials participated in the fictitious natural disaster scenario to hone their operational capabilities.

We recently spoke with Exercise Lead Planner, Lieutenant-Commander Gary Jackson, to learn more.

(LCdr Jackson) The Disaster Aid Response Team is a toolkit that is used within the Canadian Armed Forces in order to respond to an earthquake or some sort of an event in another nation that has asked for our assistance. 

The fictitious natural response that we’re having here for the exercise; as you can see we’re standing on Vancouver Island but we’re simulating that it’s a foreign nation of Macadamia. There’s been a large earthquake offshore and a tsunami that came ashore causing a great amount of damage.

The exercise is helping both Global Affairs Canada and the Disaster Aid (Assistance) Response Team work with each other and really showing the interoperability we have with Global Affairs (Canada).

(S) A squadron from 4 Wing Cold Lake recently deployed to Marine Corps Air Station in the Miramar area of San Diego, California to conduct exercise COUGAR SOUTH.

The more clear and consistent weather patterns in California allow RCAF fighter pilots to maximize the quality and quantity of their CF-18 training.

This deployment ensures participants remain up-to-date and on-schedule with their training to keep pace with the important roles our CF-18 force fulfills around the world, including Air Task Forces in Kuwait, Europe, and the NORAD mission at home.

(K) That’s it for us. Thank you so much for watching. See you next time…

(S) …for Defence Team News!

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