Comedian Rick Mercer is the new honorary colonel of 423 Squadron, a maritime helicopter unit with the Canadian Forces' 12 Wing in Shearwater Nova Scotia.
The official news release can be found here, with another version and some background on honorary colonels here.
Your humble e-scribbler spent a brief period in early 1997 as Wing Public Affairs Officer for 12 Wing. The job included the chance to go flying (always a big plus) and the opportunity to broaden the outlook of an army type through work with the air force and indirectly the navy. Overall, though, it gave the rare privilege of working with some truly fine people.
Forget the stuff you hear about Sea Kings, although the aircraft is long past its sell before date. The men and women of 12 Wing are dedicated professionals. That applies to everyone from the
nut-turner in 12 Air Maintenance Squadron who labours to keep the Sea Kings airworthy to the the newbie aircrew or veteran instructors in 406 Squadron to the operational people in 423 Squadron on the east coast or 443 on the west.
Sit in the mess over dinner and have a chat with two members of a crew that rescued a bunch of Bulgarians from a sinking freighter in hideous weather conditions. They were both quiet but nonetheless confident.
The simple way they described the mission belied the risks: it took five or six trips in high seas with danger coming from the rapidly rising and falling masts from the ship, if nothing else. Like say the serious lack of soap and water on a Bulgarian freighter that was - for the pilot and co-pilot - literally blindingly obvious once the first of the sailors was hauled into the "bathtub".
Then there were the people who had been in Somalia in 1993. One crew wound up spending a very scary night on the ground somewhere in Mogadishu until they were rescued next day.
Then there was the airframe - 423 (?). Recovering on HMCS whatever, the helicopter had a mechanic failure. The pilot pitched the aircraft forward and landed hard on the deck but with a chunk hanging off the landing area.
No injuries - thankfully - but big-time structural problems that kept the aircraft limited to the odd hop around Shearwater. Some wag joked about taking the associate minister up for a hop in the old dear when said politico was scheduled for a courtesy visit. The wit wanted to show the minister what they were working with, duct tape and all, given that Jean Chretien had cancelled the EH-101s and was - at that time - not disposed to replace them any too soon. The associate minister never paid the visit and just as well too since there were times in the planning when the idea of giving her a run in 423 didn't get laughed off the table.
Those days are gone and new helicopters are soon to enter service.
And the men and women of 12 Wing have a new honorary colonel who will fit right in.
There'll be plenty of joking and carrying on, but when things get serious, there's no one better to have on board.