HMCS Nanaimo Celebrates Achievement in Arctic

While OP NANOOK 2015 has been done now for nearly a month, one of the Royal Canadian Navy ships that took part deserves a Kudos! shout out.

The HMCS Nanaimo made the 3,875 nautical mile journey from its home port of CFB Esquimalt to Nunavut. In doing so, Nanaimo became the first RCN West Coast vessel to sail past the Arctic Circle since 1949; and also became the first RCN vessel to sail in all three territorial Oceans during its seven week deployment.

HMCS Nanaimo sailing off the coast of California; part of RIMPAC Exercise 2014. Photo: US Navy 

Nanaimo worked with the US Coast Guard in a number of training activities, and also visited several northern communities along its route. Most notably, it visited the village of Ulukhaktok for a Community Day - and hosted 90 locals on board the ship; nearly 20% of the local population. This visit marked the farthest east any Canadian Pacific fleet ship has ever deployed in the Arctic.

So a huge Kudos to the crew of HMCS Nanaimo for their exceptional journey from Coast to Coast - Literally!

Canada-US NORAD Arctic Exercise

The Canadian NORAD region will take the leading role in an exercise between Canadian and US Forces to test military personnel and aircraft in the North and High Arctic. The Exercise runs from May 25 to June 1, 2015.

Exercise AMALGAM DART will involve more than 300 military personnel, and 15 aircraft operating from Alaska, the Northwest Territories and Nunavut.

US F-15 Eagles will be stationed at FOL Yellowknife;

RCAF CF-18's  and a CC-130 Hercules air to air refueller will be stationed at FOL Inuvik;

At Resolute Bay, an RCAF mobile radar station will be deployed;

A KC-135 Stratotankers and an RCAF CC-150 air to air refueller will be deployed at Eielson AFB in Alaska;

Finally, at the Joint Base in Elmendorf-Richardon in Alaska, US F-22 fighters and the E-3 Airborne Warning Control System aircraft will be deployed as part of the exercise.