Family and friends gathered at the navy dockyard in Esquimalt to hoist signs and say their goodbyes to loved ones headed across the Pacific on His Majesty’s Canadian Ships (HMCS) Vancouver and Ottawa.
For four months, HMCS Vancouver and Ottawa crews will travel to Japan, Korea and other surrounding areas to uphold Canadian relations.
“What they’re gonna do over there is really working with partners, building trust, doing exercises and asserting Canadian interest over that region. It is sort of a tentative diplomacy that presence matters and reoccurring presence,” said Cmdr. Christopher Robinson of Maritimes Forces Pacific. “So it’s not enough to do periodically where every few years you go over there. You have to build those relationships, establish that trust so that in times of crisis it’s there to use.”
The federal government has put in a new strategy on the Indo-Pacific region and part of that commitment is sending three ships to the area, according to Robinson. Currently, HMCS Montreal is in the region, expected to return home in the coming months. The ships sent today are the next relief going over.
It was wife, mother and Petty Officer 2nd Class Andrea Chabassol’s first time saying goodbye from the jetty for naval deployment and doing it with her children.
“It’s going to be very difficult,” said Chabassol. “Being a military family, we are used to these long absences, but thank goodness we have Facebook, and Facetime, and all of those things, and Wi-Fi now so it’s easier to keep in touch than it was before. The kids are going to miss their dad a lot.”
Chabassol’s husband is Chief Petty Officer 2nd Class Matthew Chabassol, who is also the log chief on HMCS Vancouver.
“Overall I’m excited for him,” she said. “He’s been looking forward to this deployment. So he’s going back to Japan, where we lived. He gets to see some of the people we lived with while we were there. The absence is going to be very difficult and of course very sad. Leading up to it has been difficult and now that the day is here, we usually let ourselves have a sad day. Then tomorrow we pick up to the countdown of when he comes home.”
Robinson seconded the mixed emotions for the journey.
“I’m excited, I wish I was on board. It’s also a little bit sad to be down there with the families on the jetty. A number of family events will go down without their loved ones present. Of course, first the day of school is coming up. That’s always one of those ones that is difficult to miss. So I’m of mixed feelings. I’m really proud of the crews.”
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