No. 5 Squadron
-Joint Warrior and Fincastle 2008
By CPL Cat Evans
Master CPL Dale McVeigh flies the Canadian flag in support of the 407 Squadron Aircrew. (CX2008-0128-005).
It was midnight on the 14 April and Crew 1 from No. 5 Squadron got airborne for the long transit to Hawaii. We were one half of the 43 strong detachment heading up to Scotland’s chilly Kinloss to participate in Exercise Joint Warrior.
About 7 hours into the flight we saw a bright flash, felt a loud ‘bang’ and then realised we had been hit by lightning! This caused a few issues, including frying the radio whilst talking to ATC. There seemed to be nothing majorly wrong with any of the important equipment and it was reported back to ATC that we were fine. However, after landing in Hawaii the trusty Flight Engineers inspected the aircraft and found a couple of burnt spots; one on the end of the wing and one on the MAD boom. It turns out the MAD was totally destroyed and would need to be replaced upon arrival in Scotland.
The following day turned out to be far less eventful and we completed our transit to Edmonton in Canada without any further drama. We managed a couple of hours spare in Edmonton where the crew went out to explore the largest mall in the northern hemisphere. The mall had some amazing sights – a water park including hydro slides, an ice skating rink and even some submarines that we found without dropping a single sonobuoy…
L-R: SGT Kennedy, WGCDR Kennedy and WGCDR Cudby. (WN-08-0038-19).
Our transit to Scotland from Edmonton ended with a dramatic touchdown just as the other half of the detachment was driving onto Base after their civilian flight. From there we dispersed to our various Messes and had a couple of days to rest to prepare for the busy flying schedule ahead.
Over the next 12 days the crews completed 12 sorties involving ships, submarines and aircraft from other countries including UK, France, Germany, Netherlands, Spain, Poland, Turkey, Denmark, Portugal, Belgium, Italy, and Latvia. The flights involved protecting our friendly ships from the ever present danger of the enemy submarine. As an acoustic operator I particularly enjoyed the challenge of being able to track an experienced UK Trafalgar submarine and its crew. We were also tasked to help identify the enemy ships in the area and so I ended up being very busy using the Electro Optic camera and the Acoustic kit at the same time!!
During Joint Warrior we also flew a couple of overland flights in which we utilised our Electro Optic MX-20 camera to assist the ground forces by detecting and tracking various scenario “terrorists”. We learnt a lot from these flying sorties, and by talking to UK Forward Air Controllers and Nimrod crews who are already highly skilled in these areas. The skills gained here were to prove very useful in the Fincastle flights to follow.
No.5 Squadron Fincastle 08 Detachment entertains the other teams with the Air Force’s new Haka. (WN-08-0038-18).
ANZAC day dawned very chilly in Kinloss, one of our crews had just landed from an all night sortie and we held a brief service at the aircraft. Following a breakfast BBQ, one crew remained behind to fly a day sortie while the other crew went to a local memorial not far from Kinloss for another service.
CO5 and SGT Kennedy attended two ANZAC ceremonies in Somme, France; Le Quesnoy and Longeval, with WGCDR Russell Kennedy. Both ceremonies were very close to home for WGCDR Kennedy and SGT Kennedy as their ‘Great Granddad’ was directly involved in both campaigns (see article Poignant Somme Commemoration).
The detachment was also invited to attend ANZAC commemorations by the New Zealand Society Scotland in Arbroath, a 9 hour drive away from Kinloss (for some!!). The locals were thrilled to have such a large kiwi contingent present for the service, during which SQNLDR Kilmartin gave a moving speech about what ANZAC day meant to him. The service was held at a cemetery at which four New Zealand airmen were buried during WWII. After the service the local Royal British Legion (RBLS) invited us back to their club where we heard many colourful stories from the locals about their experiences in the war.
As one crew headed back to NZ for a well earned break, Crew 1 carried on to Comox in Canada for the next part of our trip – Fincastle!
CPL Grace Urlich swaps her uniform for a sheep costume. (WN-08-0038-17).
We arrived in Comox to a traditional Fincastle welcome; all the participating nations were lined up on the tarmac with flags flying and a few cold beers for the weary crew. The Aussies were already vying for the Fellowship Trophy, trying to bribe us with hot sausage rolls and Fosters beer which they bought to us at the end of each flight.
The Fincastle competition is an annual force generation opportunity for long range patrol (LRP) crews from NZ, Australia, UK and Canada to demonstrate their ability to carry out Overland Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance (ISR) missions and the more traditional Anti-Submarine Warfare (ASW) mission. All together, we flew a total of five flights of which three were assessed by two onboard Air Observers from any of the participating nations. It allowed us to further fine-tune the skills learnt from Joint Warrior, whilst also giving us the opportunity to expand our skills in Exercise Maple Guardian, a new working environment for No. 5 Squadron which involved the 4 nations assisting Canadian Land Forces with their pre-deployment work-up for Afghanistan. In the end the UK won the Fincastle trophy. Of consolation to the 5 SQN crew was the fact that we made the most accurate attack on the ASW flight killing the ‘submarine’ well and truly, whilst also achieving an outstanding result in the two ISR flights.
The crew arrived home after five weeks of intense flying and a fair bit of socialising. Our three Canadian hosts showed us some of the local attractions and were great sports on International night dressing up as shearers along with the rest of the crew (plus one sheep). The International night is a chance for each nation to showcase its culture of local food and drink, and to continue the old’ networking!
The NZ pig on the spit went down a treat and was devoured within minutes! And in traditional fashion the good old’ piano from the Mess was sacrificed in the bonfire to help keep us warm - it was a very cold night, and we’d earned the rest.
Bring on Fincastle 2009!