Canada still on deck for world’s largest maritime exercises
Rim of Pacific off Hawaii a go despite COVID-19 outbreaks on some U.S. ships
The Canadian military plans to take part in the world’s largest maritime exercise this summer even as the U.S. Navy, hosting the event, struggles to deal with coronavirus outbreaks that have sent two of its ships back to port.
There have also been COVID -19 outbreaks on French, Belgium and Taiwanese navy ships. There are COVID -19 cases among the crews of 26 U.S. Navy ships.
But that won’t stop the U.S. from holding its Rim of the Pacific or RIMPAC exercise in August.
The Canadian Forces is planning to attend although military officials haven’t outlined yet which Canadian ships and aircraft will take part.
“The Canadian Armed Forces remains committed to participating in the Rim of the Pacific Exercise 2020 in a significant way in order to maximize the unique training opportunities this biennial exercise provides as well as strengthen relationships with allies and partners in the Pacific,” Department of National Defence spokeswoman Jessica Lamirande said in an email.
She said Canadian military officials are in discussions with their U.S. counterparts and are “currently evaluating options to adapt our participation accordingly.”
“Participation in RIMPAC will balance the requirement to complete critical tasks and high readiness training in support of planned operations, with the requirement to protect the health and safety of our personnel,” added Lamirande.
RIMPAC is usually held in and around Hawaii. In 2018, the Forces sent more than 1,000 personnel, five ships and a patrol aircraft. They operated alongside approximately 25,000 military personnel from 24 other nations as well as more than 200 aircraft and 50 ships and submarines.
The U.S. military said changes will be made to RIMPAC and that onshore interactions will be limited. Ships can go into Pearl Harbor in Hawaii for supplies, but the number of staff ashore for support functions will be limited.
The U.S. Navy has the highest rate of COVID-19 in the U.S. military. There are 2,125 cases in the navy, with around 800 linked to the aircraft carrier Theodore Roosevelt.
The Canadian military does not release statistics on how many of its members have been infected with the virus. It cites security reasons for keeping details secret.
The Royal Canadian Navy has implemented measures to deal with COVID-19, including trying to practise physical distancing on ships as much as possible and restricting shore leave.
The pandemic has also prompted changes in other operations.
The military has scaled back the number of soldiers it is sending to Ukraine to conduct training there. It had planned to send a new group of 200 soldiers to relieve the Canadian troops now in Ukraine. That number will now be cut back to 60.
The pandemic caused the cancellation of Exercise Maple Resolve, the army’s main training event for the year, as well as a naval exercise off Africa. HMCS Glace Bay and Shawinigan, which were to take part, were ordered to return to Halifax. HMCS Nanaimo and Whitehorse also cut short their participation in U.S.-led counter-drug operations.
In addition, the Forces withdrew many of its troops assigned to the Iraq mission, ordering them home because COVID -19 has hindered training of Iraqi personnel.
The Canadian military has also pulled back its commitment of a transport aircraft for the UN because of COVID -19.
DND, however, said it will not change the commitment to NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia.
A new group of Canadian soldiers arrived in Latvia in January and will stay until July. There are around 540 Canadian soldiers serving in Latvia.
The military also hopes to take incremental steps to restart training of recruits as early as June.