Operation LANCASTER - Canadian Navy

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O P E R AT I O N S Reserve Divers are going North A First for many of them By MS Przemek Zadlo P ort Inspection Divers (PID) often look forward to the challenge of working in different environments, locations and weather conditions, since this experience improves individual and team diving capabilities. So, when the opportunity for PIDs from the Central Region Diving Centre (RDC(C)) to dive “North of 60” presented itself, it was something that the team had to participate in. 6 LI N K Vol.15, No.3, December 2006 In the spring of 2006, the Commanding O fficer of RDC(C), Commander Chris Ross, was challenged by Naval Reserve Headquarters (NAVRESHQ) to conduct a regional dive exercise within the Joint Task Force (Northern) (JTF(N)) area of responsibility. He quickly turned to Petty Officer 1 st Class Dave Bennett and Petty Officer 2 nd Class Mike Stiller, his Dive Chief and Senior Diver respectively, to discuss the feasibility and logistics of hosting such a diving exercise. A recognition to Yellowknife, N.W.T., was arranged in June 2006 to assess the “lay of the land” and establish contacts. With sound confirmation from his senior divers, Cdr Ross accepted the challenge and NAVRESHQ gave the green light to begin Diving Exercise SOMBAK’E (traditional Dogrib Tribe name for Yellowknife meaning “Money Place”). What started as a suggestion was soon to become a re w a rding and historic achievement. Naval Reserve divers have never conducted dive training in the Arctic. Central Region Port Inspection Divers led by Cdr Ross (seated 2 nd from bottom right) strike a pose at the City of Yellowknife sign. The Central Region divers are the first Naval Reserve divers to operate in the Arctic.
The task was quite a challenge; in under 60 days from the time the exercise was approved, RDC(C) was to canvas, select and send a complement of 25 personnel from Central Region to Yellowknife including 20 divers and five command and support staff, ship over two metric tons of dive gear, equipment and dangerous goods, and arrange all local logistical support needed to hold a successful and cost-effective four-day Regional diving exercise. All this was to be arranged during the late summer months when reservists are typically away conducting training, since diving was to be conducted before the first snow fall, which is often the middle of September. An advance party led by PO1 Bennett landed in Yellowknife on September 4. The remaining divers from Her Majesty’s Canadian Ships CATARAQUI, GRIFFON, PREVOST, STAR and YORK landed on September 8, and began diving few hours after the plane touched down. The first dive conducted by the RDC(C) PID Team was in Long Lake, adjacent to the Yellowknife Airport. The Team, with news reporters in tow, immediately located a wing from an aircraft reportedly belonging to a DC-3 that crashed at the airport during WWII. The wing was subsequently raised, towed and beached. The next day, the team went on to conduct a dive for the city of Yellowknife, where over one km of the city’s fresh water pipeline in the Yellowknife River was inspected. Local firefighters had planted a few training mines on the pipeline that were discovered during the inspection, along with some blasting caps that were not part of the exercise but were subsequently reported to the RCMP. That afternoon and evening, the Team worked on Great Slave Lake, joining the Department of Fisheries and Oceans and the Canadian Coast Guard Auxiliary to conduct a bottom search and marine habitat study of the Back Bay area. Diving in Yellowknife was a significant leap from a geographical perspective, but it also created significant opportunities to build inter-governmental and municipal relations in Canada’s North. Substantial logistical and planning support was provided by JTF(N), specifically Lieutenant(N) David Connelly, and the Canadian Ranger Patrol Group (CRPG) stationed at the NORAD Forward Operating Location (FOL). Other local support was provided by the City of Yellowknife and its Fire Division and Territorial Hospital. One of the many exercise objectives for the RDC(C) was to promote Naval Reservists and divers in the JTF(N) region. After unpacking cargo, readying the dive gear, and setting up a storage and staging point in a CF-18 jet hangar. The Advance Party spent several days in and around Yellowknife conducting public affairs visits to local schools, newspapers, radio and television stations, describing what Navy Port Inspection Divers do and in general what the Navy and Naval Reserve are all about. Students were given an opportunity to ask questions and try on some of the diving equipment. O P E R AT I O N S Divers from Regional Diving Centre (Central) work with a WWII DC-3 plane wing that was located and recovered from Long Lake near the Yellowknife Airport. Clockwise from left are LS Tavares, LS Potoma, LS De Liberali and PO2 Skrban. Yellowknife has a population of about 25,000 people, so news of the visiting Navy divers spread fast, and soon everyone knew Central Region was in town. Of course, the barrage of Navy bumper stickers, T-shirts and Naval Reserve recruiting paraphernalia that was given out during the local visits didn’t hurt to spread the word either. The team was well-received by everyone they met and it was quite an experience. So what did this exercise prove? RDC(C) has confirmed it is capable of effectively deploying north of 60, and further proved that it can successfully accomplish a mission in an environment diff e rent from what was considered typical. A testament to this was the estimated 50 hours of dive time and over 80 dive cycles accumulated during the exercise. In addition, JTF(N) also knows that its friends to the south are willing and able to provide dive support when required. MS Przemek Zadlo is a diver of the RDC(C) Port Inspection Diving Team. LI N K Vol.15, No.3, December 2006 7
Page 1 and 2: www.navres.forces.gc.ca Vol.15, No.
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Operation LANCASTER - Canadian Navy

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