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 Flight (Abbotsford)
• 19 Wing Air Reserve Flight

Equipment

• CP-140 Aurora
• CC-115 Buffalo
• CC-130 Hercules
• CH-149 Cormorant
• CC-295 Kingfisher