A relatively peacefull Joint Operation

Canada and Jamaica have been allies for many decades. I remember training with the JDF in the 60s in Borden and in the 70s in Petawawa. Our cold winters were a strange environment for young members of the Jamaican Defence Force.

 I enjoyed working with their cooks in the field and experiencing "Scotch Bonnets" for the first time as well as jerked meats and fish. Truly a different menu plan than our Canadian one.

Well Jamaica has now asked for Canadian assistance in Search and Rescue training. We have accommodated them with this: compliments of the Defence News services;

Operation JAGUAR is Canada’s contribution of military aviation and search-and-rescue capability to support the Jamaica Defence Force (JDF) and to conduct essential training for Canadian Forces search-and-rescue teams.

Task Force (TF) Jamaica is a detachment of three CH-146 Griffon utility tactical transport helicopters with aircrews and support personnel, including five search-and-rescue teams, for a total of 65 Canadian Forces members under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Christian Lalande.

Located at Up Park Camp, the JDF base in Kingston, Jamaica, TF Jamaica is responsible for flying life-saving missions such as search-and-rescue and medical evacuation in support of JDF operations.

The search-and-rescue teams deployed with TF Jamaica will also conduct training activities required to ensure the long-term availability of search-and-rescue aircrew for operations in Canada.

Deploying in August, the aircraft and personnel of TF Jamaica will return to Canada when the JDF search-and-rescue capability is sufficiently developed to meet the operational requirement.

On 2 June 2011, the Canadian ambassador to Jamaica received a formal request from the Government of Jamaica for a detachment of land-based helicopters to bridge a temporary gap in JDF aviation capabilities — specifically the availability of the JDF fleet of Bell 412 helicopters.

The deployment of TF Jamaica represents Canada’s continued commitment to assist regional partners.

Canada and Jamaica have a long history of friendly military co-operation dating back to the 1960s, marked by routine sharing of training and professional development opportunities. For example, the Jamaican Military Aviation School, which trains helicopter and fixed-wing pilots from across the Caribbean, was constructed and developed with Canadian assistance, and the CF Military Training and Cooperation Program supports the Caribbean Junior Command and Staff Course in Kingston, Jamaica. Defence cooperation also includes pre-deployment training for CF engineers as they assist the JDF in improving Jamaica’s security infrastructure.

Canada has also provided Jamaica with military support in time of trouble, especially when the Caribbean island nation has been struck by hurricanes. In 2007, for example, the very first operational flight of the CC-177 Globemaster strategic airlifter was used to transport 32 tonnes of humanitarian aid supplies to Jamaica after Hurricane Dean hit the east and northeast sides of the island, causing floods and landslides that killed three people and did US$5 billion worth of damage.

The CH-146 Griffon helicopters deployed on Op JAGUAR come from 5 Wing Goose Bay in Labrador and 8 Wing Trenton in Ontario. The aircrews and maintenance personnel come from 444 Combat Support Squadron at 5 Wing Goose Bay, 439 Combat Support Squadron at 3 Wing Bagotville in Quebec, and 424 Transport and Rescue Squadron at 8 Wing Trenton.

The CH-146 Griffon helicopter is a sturdy, flexible aircraft ideally suited to operations responding to emergencies. In Operation HESTIA, the relief operation mounted in response to the 2010 earthquake in Haiti, a detachment of six Griffons turned out to be crucial to mobility because the earthquake had destroyed the roads.

Well done Canada and I hope that some these men and women involved are enjoying Jamaican weather and cuisine after the perils of Afghanistan. It is nice to see our military in peaceful training in a non combatitive society.

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Accompanying Photo:

Members of Task Force Jamaica and the Jamaica Defence Force take part in the flag raising ceremony at the Canadian compound in Kingston, Jamaica

Photo Credit: Corporal Roxanne Shewchuk, Imagery Section Valcartier

Nil Sine Labore   Photo

Robby