Canadian military storms Vancouver Island beach for large-scale exercise
People living in the Comox Valley are used to seeing military exercises and maneuvers, but perhaps not quite on the scale that's happening this week.
Dozens of armed soldiers stormed Airforce Beach in Comox, B.C., on Wednesday morning.
"This is a unique opportunity for us," said Col. Scott Raesler, Commander of 39 Canadian Brigade Group.
"We are conducting what we term joint operations, so it's the army training with the navy," he said.
Soldiers and sailors are being transported to the area on navy vessels based out of Esquimalt, B.C.
Troops were conducting two separate attacks on land targets during the exercise on Wednesday.
The exercise is being held in the Comox Valley area of Vancouver Island, B.C.
"It’s the first time we’ve done this with the navy in many, many years and both of us are walking out of this experience with a fantastic amount of learning that we would not have been able to do if we simply had operated as isolated services," said Raesler.
Hundreds of people are participating in the exercise, including 320 members of the 39 Canadian Brigade Group and 450 sailors.
"We had folks on our rigid hull inflatable boats driving the boats, and also we had rescue swimmers," said Cdr. Bryan Price, tactical command officer with the navy.
"Our divers are also trained as rescue swimmers in the event they needed to assist any of the people coming on shore today in the assault boats," he said.
The exercise is being held in the Comox Valley area of Vancouver Island, B.C.
Those leading the exercises say the week has so far been a success, and even the air force is playing a role in training.
"Oh absolutely," said Price. "The sailors, I can tell you, they're all extremely excited to be here. We've got folks from St. Johns, Newfoundland, all the way to Victoria. It's outstanding."
The exercise was planned long before the invasion of Ukraine began, but now the training has taken on a new light.
"The war in Ukraine has basically woken up everybody in both the military and political communities that we need to be rethinking how we train for operations and ensure that we are ready to meet whatever contemporary operations basically involve," said Raesler.
Price added that recent events were a "reality check" for many.
"It’s always in the backs of our minds and this just gives a bit more of a reality check to that so that we know that these skills that we develop and we train can be used if necessary," he said.
The training is scheduled to continue for the rest of the week.
CTVNews.ca Top Stories
'One of the single most terrifying things ever': Ontario couple among passengers on sinking tour boat in Dominican Republic
A Toronto couple are speaking out about their 'extremely dangerous' experience on board a sinking tour boat in the Dominican Republic last week.
Half of Canadians have negative opinion of latest Liberal budget: poll
A new poll suggests the Liberals have not won over voters with their latest budget, though there is broad support for their plan to build millions of homes.
opinion Why you should protect your investments by naming a trusted contact person
Appointing a trusted person to help with financial obligations can give you peace of mind. In his personal finance column for CTVNews.ca, Christopher Liew outlines the key benefits of naming a confidant to take over your financial responsibilities, if the need ever arises.
Teacher shortages see some Ontario high school students awarded perfect grades on midterm exams
Students at a high school in York Region have been awarded perfect marks on their midterm exams in three subjects – not because of their academic performances however, but because they had no teacher.
'My stomach dropped': Winnipeg man speaks out after being criminally harassed following single online date
A Winnipeg man said a single date gone wrong led to years of criminal harassment, false arrests, stress and depression.
Doctors combine a pig kidney transplant and a heart device in a bid to extend woman's life
Doctors have transplanted a pig kidney into a New Jersey woman who was near death, part of a dramatic pair of surgeries that also stabilized her failing heart.
Photographer alleges he was forced to watch Megan Thee Stallion have sex and was unfairly fired
A photographer who worked for Megan Thee Stallion said in a lawsuit filed Tuesday that he was forced to watch her have sex, was unfairly fired soon after and was abused as her employee.
Ottawa injects another $36M into vaccine injury compensation fund
The federal government has added $36.4 million to a program designed to support people who have been seriously injured or killed by vaccines since the end of 2020.
An Ontario senior thought he called Geek Squad for help with his printer. Instead, he got scammed out of $25,000
An Ontario senior’s attempt to get technical help online led him into a spoofing scam where he lost $25,000. Now, he’s sharing his story to warn others.