Vanguard Magazine

www.vanguardcanada.com OCTOBER/NOVEMBER 2022 19 INTERVIEW Her Majesty's Canadian Submarine (HMCS) Windsor in Halifax, NS, December, 2017. Photo: Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Shawn M. Kent, Formation Imaging Services - Halifax and recruitment of new ones. My greatest challenge is keeping our highly trained and experienced submariners motivated and engaged, in order to retain these valuable members of our team. Careful career management, initiatives to improve morale and open communication will all serve to keep our most valuable resource: our submariners. Q The government has indicated that it intends to make a significant invest- ment in Continental Defence alongside our US allies, which more than sim- ply NORAD renewal. How do you see the Victoria-class contributing to this Continental Defence and, to follow-on, continued interoperability with the US Navy submarine force? The diesel-electric Victoria-class submarines (VCS) are a strate- gic asset for the Government of Canada both at home and abroad, notably in partnership with the United States in the conti- nental defence of North America. Our submarines possess valuable capabili- ties, including upgraded weapon systems, a sonar suite, electronic surveil- lance monitoring, and intelligence and recon- naissance gathering ca- pabilities. Together, they directly contribute to continental defence, as well as monitoring Canadian waters and exclusive economic zones. CANSUBFOR regularly operates with other Navy and Air Force assets, Spe- cial Forces units, and with our allies. Our submarines also provide an important anti-submarine warfare capability to the CAF and are natural maritime deterrents. Given that the U.S. Navy's submarine force is comprised entirely of nuclear sub- marines, Canadian submarines uniquely augment the vanguard component of any coalition forces preparing for operations. The diesel-electric propulsion system al- lows our submarines to operate quietly and in more shallow water than nuclear submarines, especially while perform- ing surveillance operations. As with any diesel-electric submarine, our submarines are ideally suited to monitor choke points, such as the approaches to our seaways, shipping routes and Arctic waters. Addi- tionally, as the only North American na- tion with diesel-electric submarines, we offer excellent training opportunities to the U.S. Navy in anti-submarine warfare. Q As Strong, Secure, Engaged com- mits to the modernization of the four Victoria-class submarines through the Victoria-Class Modernization (VCM) program, what major improvements in operational capability, maintenance and habitability do you envision a post VCM submarine will be able to bring to the table? all courses were running at full capacity. However, when there were unscheduled maintenance delays or unforeseen instruc- tor shortages, some modifications of the training schedule were necessary. Fortu- nately, CANSUBFOR has very passionate and flexible sailors who quickly adapted to these minor changes in order to ensure training was successfully completed. Training continued with rigid safety mea- sures in place, including isolation before sailing. This ensured our sailors were at low risk of contracting COVID, allowing the operations to continue. Select staff ashore worked remotely to ensure continuity and to eliminate any possible interruption to operations, maintenance, logistics support and planning. There is no doubt that the time subma- riners spend at sea is the most valuable in their careers. To maximize training time and effectiveness, each bunk on every submarine is closely monitored. We have a dedicated team of human resource specialists who make sure that the right sailor gets the right mix of at-sea and ashore training opportuni- ties. While other submarines are engaged in essential long-term maintenance, crews are balanced to ensure their experiences and training remains current at all times. The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as a whole, and more specifically the Royal Canadian Navy, are feeling the constraints of personnel shortages. CANSUBFOR re- mains focused on creating a healthy work- place culture which will continue to in- crease both the retention of current sailors

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