In July 2018, 443 Maritime Helicopter Squadron, part of 12 Wing Shearwater, Nova Scotia, but based in Esquimalt, British Columbia, received a tasking request for an air officer on Operation Artemis.
Operation Artemis is Canada's participation in Combined Task Force (CTF) 150, the multinational task force operated by Combined Maritime Forces (CMF) that promotes maritime security aimed at countering terrorism and related activities in the Gulfs of Oman and Aden, the Red Sea, and the Indian Ocean.
Since retiring from the Regular Force in August 2016 and joining the Royal Canadian Air Force Reserve, I had been looking to deploy at least once more before retiring from the Reserve Force. When the Operation Artemis request came in, I asked to be considered and was accepted for the position. Many pre-deployment evolutions and one full-time contract later, I was in Halifax, Nova Scotia, for three weeks of mission workup.
During our time in Halifax, we began our journey, first to operational readiness, then to the actual deployment. Our group consists of 30 Canadians (25 Royal Canadian Navy, three Canadian Army, one RCAF, one civilian) and seven Royal Australian Navy personnel. It was interesting to see how easily we all came together as a group despite vastly different backgrounds and experience levels. It was also interesting to see Halifax through the eyes of our Australian friends who had never been there before. At the end of the three weeks, we had worked hard and played…
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