19 Wing Comox
19 Wing Comox is located at Canadian Forces Base Comox on Vancouver Island. Its Aurora crews keep watch over the Pacific Ocean looking for illegal fishing, migration, drugs and pollution in addition to foreign submarines. With CC-115 Buffalo Aircraft and CH-149 Cormorant Helicopters, they also carry out search and rescue operations in the busiest region in Canada, stretching from the B.C.-Washington border to the Arctic, and from the Rocky Mountains to 1,200 km out into the Pacific Ocean.
In addition to its operational squadrons, the Wing is home to 19 Air Maintenance Squadron and a national training school and the Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue (CFSSAR). 19 Wing also supports cadet training at the Regional Cadet Gliding School (Pacific) and HMCS Quadra sea cadet camp.
History
The airfield at Comox was opened as a Royal Air Force (RAF) Base in 1942 and was officially constituted as a Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) Aerodrome on 1 May 1943.
Read more about the history of 19 Wing Comox.
Squadrons
- 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron
- 418 Search and Rescue Operational Training Squadron
- 435 Transport and Rescue Squadron (Winnipeg)
- 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron
- 19 Air Maintenance Squadron
- Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue (at Comox)
- 192 Construction Engineering Squadron (Abbotsford)
- 19 Wing Air Reserve Flight
Equipment
"No retreat"
Significance: The crest depicts the Sharp Shinned Hawk resting on a Dogwood tree branch. The Dogwood flower is the provincial flower of B.C.
Command team
Colonel Dany J. Poitras, CD
Chief Warrant Officer Kevin D. Colcy, CD
Wing news
Join the RCAF - Dare to be extraordinary
Join the RCAF - Dare to be extraordinary
November 19, 2018
Battle of Britain profile of courage: John Alexander Kent and the RAF’s Polish fighter pilots
In 1940, John Alexander Kent, a Canadian, was posted to RAF Northolt as a flight commander with the Royal Air Force’s newly-formed No. 303 Polish Squadron.
September 12, 2019
RCAF to mark 79th anniversary of the Battle of Britain
Ceremonies commemorating the Battle of Britain will be held across the country on Sunday, September 15, 2019.
September 11, 2019
Last Canadian Battle of Britain pilot “slips the surly bonds of earth”
John Stewart Hart, the last surviving Canadian Battle of Britain pilot, died in June 2019 at the age of 102.
September 9, 2019
The origins of the Battle of Britain ceremony
Each year, on the third Sunday of September, the Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF) celebrates Battle of Britain Sunday. But what was the original purpose behind the ceremony, and when did it start?
September 8, 2019
Contact information
19 Wing Comox
P.O. Box 1000, Station Main
Lazo BC V0R 2K0
Public Affairs Officer
Phone: 250-339-8201
Email: 19wingpublicaffairs@forces.gc.ca
