Operation Projection – in a nut shell

Chief Boatswain Mate, Chief Petty Officer Second Class Horne instructs members of the refueling team on proper procedures during a fueling layout on board HMCS Vancouver. Photo: MCpl Brent Kenny, MARPAC Imaging Services

Chief Boatswain Mate, Chief Petty Officer Second Class Horne instructs members of the refueling team on proper procedures during a fueling layout on board HMCS Vancouver. Photo: MCpl Brent Kenny, MARPAC Imaging Services

SLt M.X. Déry, MARPAC PA Office ~

Since leaving Esquimalt Harbour April 2 on Operation Projection, HMCS Vancouver and crew have charted a course throughout the Asia-Pacific region, making ports of calls along the way in support of Canada’s desire to strengthen relationships with partners in the region.

The ship is currently en route to Darwin, Australia, having left the last port in Singapore.

While alongside in Hong Kong, and then Singapore, ship and crew hosted round table discussions with local delegates about regional challenges, and while at sea, they conducted exercises with these nations to perfect working together should an emergency arise.

This was the third time since 2007 that a Royal Canadian Navy warship has visited the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region.

During the six-day port visit, Canadian sailors hosted tours of Vancouver, visited schools and charity events, partook in a friendly sports competition, and laid wreaths at the Sai Wan War Cemetery to honour Canadian soldiers who died defending Hong Kong from Japan during the Second World War.

Operation Projection is part of a renewed navy strategy.

During the FELEX mid-life ship refit program, Royal Canadian Navy presence in the Asia-Pacific diminished, and now that the program is over, the navy is ramping up its presence in the region.

“We’re getting to know these partner nations before we’re working with them in a crisis, because it is too late once a crisis has happened,” explains Capt(N) Steve Jorgensen, chief of staff for operations at Maritime Forces Pacific.

Vancouver will handoff the operation to HMCS Calgary at the end of July.

“Our mandate is to have a steady rotation and presence into Asia-Pacific,” said Capt(N) Jorgensen. “We provide the Government of Canada and the Chief of the Defence Staff with some options, and some flexibility.”

Ports of call are chosen in collaboration with Global Affairs Canada to maximize the influence of having a Canadian warship work with foreign navies, while also serving as a floating embassy for defence diplomacy.

“It isn’t just the navy going out there to do navy business,” said Capt(N) Jorgensen. “It is now the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF), whole of government business. We’ve taken it from a pure RCN deployment, to a CAF deployment, and ultimately a Government of Canada deployment.”

Later in the deployment, Vancouver will meet up with the newly minted Naval Security Team in Fiji to conduct capacity building.

The ship will then participate in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise around the Hawaiian Islands and Southern California, the world’s largest international naval exercise, before returning to home port in Esquimalt.


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