U.S., Canadian Coast Guards Team on Training Exercise

An aircrew aboard a Canadian Coast Guard helicopter prepares to land aboard the US Coast Guard Cutter Healy while near Resolute, Nunavut, Canada on Sept. 6, 2021. U.S. Coast Guard photo by Petty Officer First Class Michael Underwood.

Members of the U.S. Coast Guard Cutter Healy, the Canadian Coast Guard and Canadian Rangers recently partnered on a search-and-rescue training exercise near Resolute Bay in Nunavut, Canada.

The training took place while the 420-foot-long medium icebreaker Healy was moving through the Northwest Passage.

“Training alongside our Canadian partners while underway in the Arctic during a historic circumnavigation of North America is a great example of enhancing our interoperability and mission capabilities,” said U.S. Coast Guard Commandant Adm. Karl Schultz, who was aboard the cutter with Canadian Coast Guard Commissioner Mario Pelletier and Canadian Coast Guard Assistant Commissioner for the Arctic Region Neil O’Rourke to observe the training.

Healy is supporting oceanographic research with the science community during this deployment to the critically important Arctic region,” Schultz said.

Seeing the members of the Canadian Coast Guard work with their U.S. counterparts has been inspiring, said Pelletier.

“The vastness of the Arctic makes this a very difficult environment for emergency response making every opportunity for training valuable,” Pelletier remarked. “These exercises ensure our two countries’ Coast Guards stand ready and able to assist should we be needed.”

By Karen Robes Meeks