Domestic Exercises: Waiting to board
By Lieutenant (Navy) Jessica MacDonald
Photo : Cpl Ronnie Kinnie
Lt(N) Adam MacIntyre leads HMCS Charlottetown's boarding party up the Jacob's ladder during a training drill. Treating their own ship like a vessel of interest, members of HMCS Charlottetown's boarding party race toward the frigate in their rigid-hull inflatable boat.
As they wait to kick off on a mission, members of a naval boarding party are like athletes before a big game – there’s a bit of anxiety, but mostly they focus on visualizing what may come, and their strong desire to perform well.
“I think when people picture the boarding team swinging into action they picture everything happening very quickly,” said Lieutenant (Navy) Adam MacIntyre, the naval boarding party officer in HMCS Charlottetown. “While this is sometimes the case, there are also times when we know that a boarding is likely to take place as much as 24 hours in advance – or even more. It leaves time to think about what’s going to happen next.”
Currently deployed on Operation Artemis, HMCS Charlottetown is in the North Arabian Sea with Combined Task Force 150, a multinational fleet conducting a maritime security and counter-terrorism mission in the Arabian Sea, the Gulf of Oman and the Indian Ocean.
Members of the Charlottetownboarding party have to be fit both mentally and physically if they are to complete their missions successfully.
Photo: Cpl Ronnie KinnieTreating their own ship like a vessel of interest, members of HMCS Charlottetown's boarding party race toward the frigate in their rigid-hull inflatable boat.
“We can spend hours on a vessel in the hot sun in very poor sea state,” said Leading Seaman Sean Hemeon. “It’s exhausting. You have to work as a team to build not only your physical tolerance for those situations but also your mental tolerance.”
The Charlottetownteam is made up of sailors who have completed the Initial Boarding Course, and they have been training together since October 2011. Currently, their routine starts at 5:45 a.m. with physical training, and they conduct drills throughout the day to solidify their grasp of tactics, techniques and practices. All this training helps ensure that they are always ready for a boarding mission.
“We do everything we can to mitigate risk before we board a vessel. Safety is still my main priority when I know we will be conducting a boarding,” said Lt(N) MacIntyre. “We attempt to plan for all possible contingencies; most boardings that we do can be assessed at a low-level risk.”
Charlottetown’s boarding party has performed competently and professionally in every mission so far. It’s clearly a habit with them.
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