Last week Number 99 Squadron took part in ‘Exercise Maple Puma’, which is a bi-annual event that takes place at Canadian Forces Station (CFS) Trenton, in Ontario.
The Squadron flew a Royal Air Force C-17 Globemaster across the Atlantic in order to train with 429 Transport Squadron, 8 Wing Trenton, of the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The facilities available at CFS Trenton are excellent, and taking part in combined operations, and inter-operability, training is essential for enhancing skills, and broadening the experience of our aircrews.
The exercise included short field operations, night vision training into tactically lit airfields, and combat offload (a specialist technique that results in extremely fast offload of pallets and equipment).
Additional training included, reverse taxying and high workload visual circuits, which involve four large aircraft types conducting differing operations and six heavy aircraft in the visual circuit at the same time.
Exercises, like Maple Puma, are vital for our continued operational readiness and give us the confidence and experience to do whatever is asked of us, when it is asked of us. Taking part has cemented an already excellent relationship with the Royal Canadian Air Force.