HMCS Halifax is setting sail Saturday afternoon on a mission to support Operation Reassurance in Europe.
Cmdr. Dale St Croix, the commanding officer of HMCS Halifax, said the 253 sailors, soldiers and aviators will likely be in the North Sea, Baltic Sea, or near Greenland, Iceland, the UK gap or maybe the Norwegian Sea
“But anywhere eastern Atlantic — from the straights of Gibraltar North — will be where we’ll be operating,” said Cmdr. St Croix.
It’s expected to take about two and a half weeks to get to Europe.
Before sailing to Europe, the ship will finish gunnery training near Halifax. Targets will be brought out by aircraft from Halifax’s Stanfield International Airport.
The ship will also do some helicopter training with an aircraft from Shearwater.
HMCS Halifax returned from the Baltic region in July. Its next overseas deployment of her was supposed to be to the Middle East as part of a counterterrorist and counter-drug operation.
Like HMCS Montreal, the frigate is now part of a NATO mission as Russia attacks Ukraine.
“I think there’s a lot of excitement and some trepidation of course,” said Cmdr. St Croix.
With departure days away, there’s no shortage of tasks. Sailors spent Thursday morning cleaning the ship, stocking the fridge and doing electrical repairs.
For some like Sub-Lt. Justine Garneau, it’s her first deployment.
“I’m really excited honestly. The program’s been shifting but I’m just excited to be out there and finally do what I’ve been training for a little while,” said Garneau.
Others like Sailor 1st Class Jason Mansfield, a naval communicator, have been deployed before.
“For me, I’m very lucky our chain of command has extremely high knowledge and they pass it down,” he said.
Mansfield said the ship has an extremely good crew.
“A lot of us were left over from the last deployment, melded together very well and trust each other greatly. We’ve worked close quarters and we are prepared to do what the country needs us to do,” he said.
Cmdr. St Croix said every sailor has been trained for combat readiness and to fight fires and floods.
“When a ship goes to sea we’re pretty well combat-ready, combat-capable for a multitude of roles that the navy assigns,” Cmdr. St Croix said.
He hopes diplomacy will prevail and combat will not be required.
“But if it is, I have every confidence in this ship, its capabilities and the capabilities of the crew that we’ll be able to carry out whatever mission comes our way,” he said.