Op HESTIA: One team, one mission!

Published On Thu Feb 04 2010

By Lieutenant (Navy) Al Blondin

Local people welcome the arrival of the first working parties landed by HMCS Athabaskan.

Local people welcome the arrival of the first working parties landed by HMCS Athabaskan.

Ship’s steward Able Seaman Paul MacKenzie (foreground) assists medical technician Master Corporal Jean-Paul Somerset as he assesses the condition of a wounded survivor of the 12 January earthquake. AB MacKenzie and MCpl Somerset are members of a medical team from HMCS Athabaskan deployed ashore with the destroyer’s doctor (background) to provide the first emergency care to reach this community.

Ship’s steward Able Seaman Paul MacKenzie (foreground) assists medical technician Master Corporal Jean-Paul Somerset as he assesses the condition of a wounded survivor of the 12 January earthquake...

Leading Seaman Brad Burden of HMCS Athabaskan brings a hurt little girl to the medics for assessment and treatment.

Leading Seaman Brad Burden of HMCS Athabaskan brings a hurt little girl to the medics for assessment and treatment.

Lt(N) Terry Wiggins of HMCS Halifax distributes water to children at the World Food Program station in the Pinchinant soccer stadium, where thousands of people left homeless by the earthquake have taken shelter. Force protection personnel from HMCS Halifax work with members of DART Defence & Security Platoon to provide security and crowd control at meal times.

Lt(N) Terry Wiggins of HMCS Halifax distributes water to children at the World Food Program station in the Pinchinant soccer stadium, where thousands of people left homeless by the earthquake have taken shelter...

Sailors from HMCS Athabaskan clear debris from the playground at Orphanage No. 2, the Orphelinat Chrétien.

Sailors from HMCS Athabaskan clear debris from the playground at Orphanage No. 2, the Orphelinat Chrétien.

Leading Seaman Tyson McNeill of HMCS Halifax helps a resident of Jacmel dig latrine trenches at the École Wolfe, where hundreds of local people left homeless by the 12 January earthquake are bivouacked.

Leading Seaman Tyson McNeill of HMCS Halifax helps a resident of Jacmel dig latrine trenches at the École Wolfe, where hundreds of local people left homeless by the 12 January earthquake are bivouacked.

LÉOGÂNE, Haiti — The first news reports were still coming in on January 12 when the Government of Canada began responding to the crisis taking shape in Haiti. Our first “boots on the ground” belonged to the Disaster Assistance Relief Team, staging out of 8 Wing Trenton, but HMCS Athabaskan and HMCS Halifax were next, putting medical personnel and working parties ashore at Jacmel and Léogâne on January 19.

With some 500 sailors and air personnel, plus Big Dawg, the CH-124 Sea King helicopter embarked in Athabaskan, the naval task group more than doubled CF strength on the ground early in the second week of Op HESTIA.

“I was extremely impressed with the dedication and commitment of our sailors and the whole of our Defence Team in Halifax. Together, we got our ships and crews ready for sea in record time,” said Captain (Navy) Art McDonald, commander of the Maritime Component deployed on Op HESTIA. “Equally impressive was the fact that, while we sailed as a naval task group, only five days later we began having a significant effect on the ground in delivering sea-based humanitarian assistance and disaster relief as a maritime component of a CF Joint Task Force —  part of the one team contributing to the one mission, with unity of thought and unity of action!”

Despite their lack of cargo space for food and equipment, warships such as Athabaskan and Halifax have much to offer in a humanitarian mission such as Op HESTIA — especially their crews offering a wide range of services, especially communications and electrical, mechanical and structural engineering, backed up by leaders experienced in crisis management. They also bring an air detachment with a helicopter capable of moving goods and personnel where they are needed most, without adding to the bottlenecks at Haiti's few surviving airports.

“Sailors have great skills, learned through the Navy, from previous occupations, and personal interests,” said Commander Peter Crain, the captain of HMCS Athabaskan. “So we went out to communities to find where we could make a difference. We built shelters, fixed solar panels, provided medical assistance, got generators running, and restored water purification systems. Our Sea King helicopter, Big Dawg, has flown every day, conducting medical evacuations and moving field hospitals, medical equipment, water, soldiers, and various critical supplies all over our area of operation.”

“I have full confidence that the members of our crews are doing what is necessary,” said Commander Josée Kurtz, captain of HMCS Halifax. “They are highly motivated to do their best in order to bring relief to Haitians suffering from the effects of the devastating earthquake of 12 January.”

Canadian sailors, soldiers, airmen and airwomen are making a difference in Léogâne and Jacmel, the two locations chosen as our area of operation. On Sunday 31 January, the commander of Joint Task Force Haiti, Brigadier-General Guy Laroche, spoke to crew members assembled on Athabaskan’s flight deck and congratulated them on doing a great job. In the end, he said, it doesn’t matter what uniform we wear, “... we are all on the same team.”