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[caption id="attachment_2793" align="alignleft" width="300"] HMCS Regina’s Air Detachment enjoys a cup of coffee while gathered on the flight deck with their Sea King helicopter behind them.[/caption] When the pilots of HMCS Regina’s air detachment from 443 Maritime Helicopter (MH) Squadron left Victoria for Operation Artemis, they brought some special cargo with them.  Amidst the uniforms, tools, spare parts of other equipment required to operate a CH-124 Sea King helicopter, they brought 10 pounds of Salt Spring Island Coffee, donated by Toast Café in Sidney, B.C.Lisa, Amy, and Kayla Gray, three sisters and owners of Toast Café enjoy a long-standing relationship with members of 443 Squadron, as many of the aircrew stop in for their morning coffee en route to the squadron co-located at the Victoria International Airport.“The Peninsula offers many nice cafés to choose from, but Toast is a favourite. They know us by name, brew great coffee, and serve up all kinds of in house made goodies,” said Captain Daniel “Booya” Baouya.Knowing that everyone likes to bring a piece of home with them when they sail, Captain Baouya wanted to bring a touch of Toast to share with the Air Detachment to boost morale. “It’s a bit of a joke within the department that I’m the self-appointed Morale Officer, but I take my job seriously. Every time we leave a new port, we gather on the flight deck, brew up some coffee, and settle back into ‘sea life’. As a token of our appreciation, we take a picture with our “I love Toast Sidney” sticker to send back to them,” he says. According to the Air Detachment Commander, Maj Steve Donaldson, “Port visits are very hectic. The demands of bringing on supplies and spare parts combined with the desire to get a few hours of rest and relaxation away...

[caption id="attachment_2789" align="alignleft" width="300"] Base Commander Capt(N) Bob Achterlonie, Derek Knudsen, Maj Jim Smith, LCol Matt Johnsen, Tracey Hamm, Cdr Lori McAllister, CPO1 Mike McCallum, and Peter Sinstadt hold up certificates of achievement for the second round of the six-week Operation Conservation campaign.[/caption] Rising energy prices, growing financial and energy volatility, and concerns over climate change and its negative impacts have inspired base personnel to participate in the second round of Operation Conservation that began Sept. 5.This campaign is the second iteration in a series of campaigns to target building occupant habits and awareness, including a focus on reducing vampire power, which is defined as the energy use that occurs during equipment standby mode. This campaign further develops sustainable behaviour, which is a key element of the MARPAC Sustainable Energy Management Plan and necessary for reducing the $9 million associated with base-wide energy costs.During the six weeks, participating personnel from BCEO, TEME, and CF Fleet School competed to reduce discretionary energy consumption within their respective units. The units were chosen because the occupied buildings had a similar blend of office/classroom and industrial functions. While all participants achieved the objectives of the campaign, the CF Fleet School under the coordination of Tracey Hamm, UGSEO, emerged victorious. Fleet School’s level of engagement and awareness were unparalleled by competing departments and serves as a great example of sustainable behaviour.Tracey Hamm attributed the Fleet School’s success in this campaign largely to simple measures such as turning off lights and equipment when not in use, especially at the end of the day.  She is encouraged to see these energy-conscious behaviours continue at CFFSE, even though the campaign has ended.  The challenge is now to sustain these efforts beyond the campaign and hopefully introduce more units in the future to Operation Conservation as well as applying...

Canadian Scottish celebrate centennial from Lookout on Vimeo.

Battle of Atlantic Museum from Lookout on Vimeo.

Tell Canadian military members overseas that you appreciate the sacrifices they make. http://www.forces.gc.ca/site/commun/message/index-eng.asp

When war was declared in 1939, Frank Bookham was almost 17 and May Magee was just 19. They did not know it at the time, but the war was going to bring them together. Full story on page 19

With great detail Pte (Ret’d) Bob Stirling remembers storming the beaches at Normandy with 30,000 allied troops on what is known as D-Day. Full story on page 20

This unique exhibit features work from the Canadian Forces Artists Program and honours contributions and sacrifices made by generations of Canadian Forces members past and present.

This November marks the first Remember the Power of Giving Campaign, a blood drive aimed at honouring the Canadian Forces.

Self-mail thank you letters to veterans are available at Thrifty Foods locations in Victoria for a small donation.

Talk to any member of HMCS Calgary’s crew and they know the name Paris Sahlen. He’s the ship’s biggest fan. The Calgary native has been involved with the ship since its commissioning in 1995. “Some people collect stamps or coins,” says Sahlen. “I do this for a hobby. I find it very rewarding and it is a big honour to do anything I can for the ship and its namesake city.” This year he received the Governor General’s Caring Canadian award for years of selfless work contributing to the ship and the morale of the crew. “We have many amazing friends in our namesake city, but none better than Paris,” says Calgary’s Commanding Officer, Cdr Paul Francoeur. “His tireless efforts in support of our annual ‘Cowboy Up’ have helped Calgary raise over $50,000 for the Foothills Hospital Burn Unit. “Every ship deserves a Paris Sahlen. I wish the stores system stocked them and I could order a couple more. You won’t meet a sailor who has served in Calgary that doesn’t know Paris and hold him in the highest regard.”  The union of ship and supporter began in 1995. Sahlen, a former weapons technician in HMC ships Margaree and Antigonish, took part in Calgary’s commissioning. “There were over 10,000 people there and it was the biggest commissioning of any ship in the Canadian Navy,” recalls Sahlen. “The Calgary Stampede, the police band and the people of Calgary all took part in it. It was a grand event.” Ever since, he has had a hand in making things happen and gaining support for the ship and crew from local businesses. “Paris is what I would call the ship’s City of Calgary Liaison,” says CPO1 (Ret’d) Darren Macdonald, who nominated the senior for the Caring Canadian award. “He is one of the...

Eighty-nine-year-old Second World War veteran Gilbert Davis was not only the stoker mechanic on board HMC Ships Merrittonia and Bellechasse, he was also an inadvertent photojournalist.  During his six years of service escorting merchant navy ships across the Atlantic, and minesweeping in the Pacific, he took hundreds of photos.  “One of the first things I owned was a camera; it was nothing like the fancy cameras they have now. I bought it for about a dollar fifty,” he recalls from his home off Gorge Road in Victoria. Cameras on ships were a rarity, and Davis was one of maybe two sailors on board fortunate to have one.   “The navy didn’t like the idea of cameras because the photographs might fall into enemy hands, and if there were photos of sensitive things, it may give the enemy an advantage. I never developed any of the photographs until after the war when I was back in Moose Jaw,” he says. He’d keep the rolls of film from his Kodak 127 Baby Brownie box camera in his footlocker. Each roll took 12 photos. His photos ranged from posing with shipmates on Douglas Street in Victoria, to the hard reality of a sailor’s life at sea. His favourite photo was taken when HMCS Merrittonia was being fuelled at sea by an oiler.  “I took those photos back then for my own keeping. My photos reflect day-to-day life in the Royal Canadian Navy aboard a convoy escort ship, whereas the embedded reporters of today are more often trying to get the spectacular photos of combat,” he says. One photo he took of a sailor being rescued from a torpedoed ship showed up in a special edition of Reader’s Digest Canadians at War years after the war ended. “I was very surprised to find my photo...

Four years ago, Cpl Jason Villeneuve became a veteran of war. In 2008, he made the long journey from Canada to Afghanistan. It was his first deployment to the war-torn country.  As a member of Force Protection, he was tasked with the defence of Kandahar Air Field (KAF), protection of vehicle convoys, and the security of military personnel. The human aspect of the mission was slim to none, as he had minimal contact with Afghans.  “I was used to jumping out of armoured vehicles loaded down with gear, and pushing people away from the convoys. I barely knew the people we were supposed to be protecting,” says the Light Armoured Reconnaissance crewman. But that changed one day when a small hand reached for his.  He was assigned to guard duty at the KAF hospital, protecting Afghan police officers, military members and even insurgents receiving care in the event of an attack on the building. During one 12-hour shift, he sat at the bedside of an 11-year-old girl recovering from shrapnel wounds – an innocent child caught in the crossfire of a grown-up war. He watched as she drifted in and out of consciousness, her tiny body writhing from the pain.  “About four hours into my shift she grabbed my hand. I didn’t want to move and wake her. I held her hand for eight hours.” At that moment, his impersonal mission became personal.  He understood the gravity of the war; that unarmed villagers were dying from bombs and bullets, and that the child before him was one of hundreds that would bare the scars. At shift change he left her bedside, hoping to see her again, awake and pain free.  But the reunion he was hoping for didn’t happen. A few days later he saw her being whisked into a...

OS April Perkins serves as a lookout on the starboard bridge wing of HMCS Regina during Operation ARTEMIS in the Arabian Sea in October 2012. 

SAR tech Sgt Dan Bodden explains that the hardest part of this exercise is the fact they are against a strong downwash which feels like a very violent storm.

At the International Search and Rescue Conference in Victoria, a Search and Rescue (SAR) crew from CFB Comox performed a rescue evolution using thier Cormorant helicopter in Esquimalt Harbour.

Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black person elected to the House of Commons, first federal cabinet minister and first black person to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, died Oct. 19, at the age of 90.

The Sapphire situational awareness satellite is being prepared for its send-off ceremony at the Canadian Space Agency's David Florida Laboratory on October 18, 2012. 

 Rear-Admiral Ron Lloyd, Chief of Force Development talks about the contributions the Canadian Forces have made towards the Sapphire Satellite project during the press conference announcing the send-off of the Satellite.

[caption id="attachment_2544" align="alignnone" width="360"] Lincoln Alexander was one of a handful of black people allowed to enter the military before the Canadian government officially welcomed visible minorities to the forces in 1942.Photo courtesy, Air Force Association of Canada[/caption] “The air force experience taught me the value of self-respect, discipline, and confidence, and those are elements that have served me well throughout my life. They apply to all areas, whether the air force, the law, or politics,” said Lincoln Alexander in his 2006 memoir Go to School, You’re a Little Black Boy. Lincoln Alexander, Canada’s first black person elected to the House of Commons, first federal cabinet minister and first black person to serve as Lieutenant Governor of Ontario, died Oct. 19, at the age of 90. He was born in Toronto on Jan. 21, 1922. His father, Lincoln MacCauley Alexander Sr., was from St. Vincent and the Grenadines and his mother, Mae Rose Royale, was from Jamaica. Job options for blacks were limited in those days so his father, who was a carpenter, worked as a railway porter and his mother worked as a maid. Mr. Alexander’s first job was in a laundry in Harlem, New York, where his mother had moved after she left her husband in the 1930s. In 1942, Mr. Alexander joined the Royal Canadian Air Force. “None of the three services – army, navy and air force – were interested in having blacks,” he said. “I opted for the air force. Besides, I thought I looked best in their uniform.” In fact, the RCAF did not allow any visible minorities to join up until March 31, 1942. A few recruiters ignored the regulations, enlisting six black Canadians between 1932 and 1942, while at least three black Canadians joined in 1936 and 1939. Major Mathias Joost, of...

Military members take note: important changes have developed with next of kin identification. A new Next of Kin Identification form has been issued in addition to the Personnel Emergency Notification form.   “It’s separate from the Personnel Emergency Notification form,” explains CWO Cate Gaudet of Base Administration. “It identifies who you consider to be your next of kin for the purposes of selected benefit eligibility.” The old form had a dual purpose; it identified who the member wished notified in the event they were seriously injured and/or killed, and established member’s next of kin for the purposes of selected benefits.  With the old form, CF members could only list two people. The form did not allow a CF member to identify anyone under 18 or someone not in their immediate family, and thus benefit eligibility was restricted. While the old form continues to serve as an emergency notification document, the new form has been created to provide improved benefit accessibility to a far greater number of member’s loved ones.   “What’s critical to remember is that benefit eligibility is only payable for members identified on the new form.  For this reason, members must ensure they identify each and every loved one individually,” says CWO Gaudet. Benefit entitlements for personnel identified on the new form include transportation costs, access to bereavement counselling, issuing of condolence letters in the case of a death, and issuing of commemoratives denoting the CF member’s service. The new form allows the member to identify up to 14 people as next of kin, including minors and non-blood relatives.   “You can put your neighbour on there, your best friend, that’s up to you,” says CWO Gaudet. “We want to make sure CF personnel and their loved ones are taken care of in the best way possible.” Because benefits are only available to those next of kin listed on the form, CWO Gaudet encourages CF members to take full advantage of the new form and seriously consider who...

[caption id="attachment_2535" align="alignnone" width="294"] PO1 Suzanne White of HMCS Algonquin had the honour of presenting the first remembrance poppy of 2012 to B.C. Lieutenant Governor Steven Point on Oct. 23 at Government House.[/caption] The first poppy of the year was presented at a small ceremony at Government House last Tuesday. PO1 Suzanne White of HMCS Algonquin was on hand to present the poppy to the Honourable Stephen L. Point, Lieutenant Governor of British Columbia. “It’s an honour for me, as the Queen’s representative, to receive the first poppy in remembrance of all that veterans have done, and are doing, for Canada,” said LGov Point. “Veterans are a different kind of person. Despite their tremendous service they’re humble, down to earth, and don’t put on airs. I get so much from just being around them.” The poppy signified the beginning of the Royal Canadian Legion’s Poppy Campaign. Each year the Legion distributes millions of poppies, which are worn on the lapel to recognize the sacrifice of past and present military members.  Shawn O’Hara, Staff Writer

A Naval Communicator onboard HMS Sutherland uses a light to signal HMCS Regina during Operation Artemis in the Gulf of Aden.

Members of the naval boarding party from HMCS Regina deploy in a Rigid Hulled Inflatable Boat (RHIB) after boarding a dhow in the Gulf of Aden during Operation Artemis.

Capt Banan Al-Aubiydy of HMCS Regina operates a Long Range Acoustic Device (LRAD) to communicate with a dhow in the Gulf of Aden during Operation Artemis.

LS Michael Richter fires a line from HMCS Regina to British tanker Royal Fleet Auxiliary Wave Ruler in the Gulf of Aden during Operation Artemis.

HMCS Regina’s Air Detachment enjoys a coffee break on the flight deck during Operation Artemis.

American re-enactors in Youngstown, NY, commemorate the 200th anniversary of the War of 1812 with a mock bombardment across the Niagara River into Fort George, Canada.

We have sailors who love their jobs and are dedicated, but it adds another dimension when we have the best equipment possible.