Estimated reading time 5 minutes, 58 seconds.
The land, sea and skies of West Vancouver Island were the playground for one of the largest military exercises in Canada this year. Exercise Trident Fury, held May 3 to 19, is a biennial joint and often multinational naval exercise hosted and organized by Maritime Forces Pacific in Esquimalt, B.C. This year saw participation from the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force, the Canadian Army, the United States Navy, the United States Air Force, the United States Air National Guard, and the United States Coast Guard. Making up the coalition forces for the exercise were a total of eight ships, one submarine, more than 30 military aircraft, and 200 combat troops, amounting to more than 2,000 personnel.
Trident Fury 13 differed from most military exercises in that it simultaneously provided different environments to train within a coalition force. By strengthening the communication and coordination between coalition forces – while maintaining the Canadian Armed Forces’ skills that are required to work in a task group environment during international operations – Trident Fury participants gained vital experience during the two-week exercise. Providing the full spectrum of air, land, and sea tactical warfare training, participants were provided with an array of events to enhance individual unit training and combat readiness, including live fire, seamanship, maritime interdiction operations, anti-submarine warfare, surface warfare, air defence, submarine operations, mine counter-measures, and small boat defence. As Trident Fury progressed, the missions and activities increased in complexity. The exercise also served as a final exam for several RCN officer involved in the Operations Room Officer (ORO) course, where successful students attain their final accreditation before graduation and employment in the fleet.
From May 13-19, Trident Fury was incorporated into a larger, joint, national-level exercise called JointEx 13. This exercise took place from May 1 to June 8, and introduced a land component from the Royal 22e Regiment, clearance divers from Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), and various air and naval assets conducting littoral operations, with the objective of achieving a joint, integrated, agile, and ready force. Taking place in various locations across Canada, JointEx 13 was the first in a series of nation-wide joint training and readiness events that aim to maximize the way in which the Canadian Armed Forces train, develop, and learn to prepare for future operations. In addition to Trident Fury, two other Canadian exercises – Maple Resolve and Maple Flag – were integrated into JointEx 13.
The air component of Trident Fury 13 consisted of several Canadian and United States aircraft operating from several bases, including the CP-140 Aurora, CF-18 Hornet, CC-130T Hercules, and Discovery Air Defence Services’ Alpha Jets and IAI Westwind 1124, operating from 19 Wing Comox. A CC-130J Hercules flew from Victoria International Airport, and the CH-124 Sea King flew as part of the Helicopter Air Detachments onboard RCN ships. Flying from their home bases in the U.S. were USANG F-15 Eagles of the 123rd Fighter Squadron, based at Portland International Airport, and USN EA-6B Prowlers and EA-18G Growlers out of NAS Whidbey Island, in Washington State.
Civilian aircraft operated by Discovery Air Defence Services, previously known as Top Aces, provided Red Air during the exercise, flying five Alpha Jets and one Westwind. Under contract with the Canadian Armed Forces, they played the part of the bad guys during the exercise, performing such roles as hostile air threats, cruise missile attacks and electronic jamming.
CF-18 Hornets from 409 Tactical Fighter Squadron, based in 4 Wing Cold Lake, Alta., flew morning and afternoon missions, providing air support for the naval fleet. Several of the Hornets were armed with live AIM 9 Sidewinder and AIM 7 Sparrow missiles during Trident Fury. 17 Wing Winnipeg sent a CC-130T Hercules from 435 Squadron to support the Hornets with air to air refuelling, extending their missions to more than 2.5 hours while providing essential air refuelling training.
“It was joint operations at its finest,” said Commodore Scott Bishop, commander of Canadian Fleet Pacific. “We successfully demonstrated that we can bring all three services together and work together as one.”
