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Bryan: 00:57

Alright. We're ready for departure here at the Pilot Project Podcast, the best source for stories and advice from RCAF and Mission Aviation Pilots brought to you by Sky's Magazine. I'm your host, Brian Morrison. And here with me once again today for the conclusion of our two part series on the CH one twenty four Sea King and life at sea as a pilot is my very good friend, captain Niels Olson. Niels, it's awesome to have you back here.

Bryan: 01:20

Welcome to the show.

Niels: 01:20

Thanks, Brain. Good to be back.

Bryan: 01:22

Listeners can check out part one to hear about Niels' journey into the RCAF and through flight training as well as some overall info about life as a Sea King pilot. Today in part two, we'll be diving in-depth into his experiences deploying onboard Canadian frigates around the world with the Sea King. So listeners will probably remember we mentioned that, one of your first big sales was going to op Artemis with CTF one fifty, which is a combined task force one fifty. Let's go back to that. What was the mission and what was Canada contributing?

Niels: 01:54

So the mission for Op Artemis is our contribution to CTF one fifty, and it is a counter narcotics, counter terror operation, in the Indian Ocean off the coast of, East Africa and, South Of Asia. Okay. So there's a bunch of narcotics, heroin, etcetera, that are shipped from South Asia, like Pakistan, Afghanistan over to Africa. And this was Canada's contribution, was to send a ship and intercept the the vessels that are transporting the heroin. You

Bryan: 02:36

were saying that, basically the heroin is used to fund like al Shabaab's, terrorist activities basically?

Niels: 02:43

Yeah. That's right. Yeah. That's one of their sources of income. So we were we were disrupting it.

Bryan: 02:48

So when we talk about combined task force or CTF one fifty, like, what is it composed of?

Niels: 02:53

It's a bunch of different nations who commit to this operation. I think The UK is involved. The US is involved. While I was there, there was one Canadian ship and we were off the coast of Africa. And there was also an Australian ship, kind of closer to Pakistan.

Bryan: 03:13

So were you guys like, were the two ships ever interacting or were they always Well,

Niels: 03:18

we separated by quite a bit, but there is definitely some communication between. Like Yeah. But you spot something or they you know, LRP's are involved as well.

Bryan: 03:27

And for the listeners, LRP is long range patrol and refers to aircraft like the CP one forty Aurora or our new and upcoming p eight Poseidon.

Niels: 03:37

For reconnaissance and intelligence, and then we would take that and intercept.

Bryan: 03:41

Yeah. But like the ships were never like alongside or anything like that?

Niels: 03:45

No. We were never beside each other. No. Okay. No.

Niels: 03:47

We never saw each other.

Bryan: 03:49

Did you as the aircraft on board ever like work in conjunction with any of these other aircraft or ships or anything?

Niels: 03:56

No. We were too far away. So during our time in CTF one fifty, we did not see another allied ship.

Bryan: 04:02

It was basically you were working as part of a team but

Niels: 04:05

Yeah. We're on opposite sides of a really big field. Yeah.

Bryan: 04:10

As part of this, mission early in the trip, you ended up doing an aircraft swap near Hawaii. Yeah. How does that work logistically and what's the process for getting that done?

Niels: 04:20

Oh, it was quite complicated. So we had damaged our helicopter landing on HMCS Protector, and we were supposed to be like, we're leaving. We're on our way to CTF 150, and we have this incident, and the helicopter is unserviceable. And at the time, we had kind of just swapped helicopters with HMCS Protector. Like, they needed to use our deck, we needed to use theirs just for some training.

Niels: 04:50

And there was an incident, we fouled their deck. We broke our helicopter and we ended up taking theirs. I wasn't involved in the in the logistics of swapping it over. We managed to get our helicopter inside protector and clean up the deck and all that. And I was there for a few days while my deck commander sorted out all the logistics.

Bryan: 05:16

The protector was like the the old resupply ship we had. Right?

Niels: 05:19

That's right. Yeah. It's an AOR. Yep. What's AOR again?

Niels: 05:23

Auxiliary Oiler Replenishment. It's essentially just a big supply ship. Yeah. They store food and oil and they'll supply, a whole group of ships. Yeah.

Niels: 05:34

And resupply them at sea.

Bryan: 05:35

Is that the one that had the fire? It is.

Niels: 05:38

Yes. It was after that sale. Also, they were in Hawaii at the time. Hawaii not a great place for a protector.

Bryan: 05:45

Yeah.

Niels: 05:46

They were a few 100 miles north of Hawaii and they they had that fire that lasted, jeez, at least a week. Yeah. Yeah. It was pretty

Bryan: 05:54

That must have been pretty scary.

Niels: 05:56

Yeah. Yeah. I know some air crew who were on board at the time. With with their parents, actually. Yeah.

Niels: 06:01

Yeah. So the Navy does this thing, they call it a Tiger Cruise, where on the last port stop prior to returning home, they send a bunch of their ship's crew home early. They can take their post deployment leave, annual, and whatever. And then they're all rested up and their commitments are done post deployment, and then they can take over the ship while the rest of the ship's company takes their leave.

Bryan: 06:26

Okay.

Niels: 06:27

So there's a time where there's just a bunch of empty beds on the ship. So they invite, you know, friends and family to come join. It's usually it's just a transit.

Bryan: 06:36

That's pretty cool.

Niels: 06:37

Yeah. It's pretty neat. My mom joined me for one. Really? Yeah.

Niels: 06:41

At the end of this sale, actually, the CTF one fifty one. Yep.

Bryan: 06:45

Cool. Unless the ship catches on fire.

Niels: 06:48

Yeah. Yeah. You want that story now? I can tell it now.

Bryan: 06:51

The fire story?

Niels: 06:52

No. The the with my mom on board.

Bryan: 06:54

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. For sure.

Niels: 06:56

Yeah. So we came back via Dutch Harbor was our last port of call before Esquimalt. And we sent a bunch of the ship's company home. And Dutch Harbor heard that we were coming, like, small town. Right?

Bryan: 07:10

Where is that?

Niels: 07:10

You might know Alaska on the Aleutian Islands. It's what's that crabbing show? Deadliest Catch? Deadliest Catch. That yeah.

Niels: 07:18

So it's filmed and follows crews or a crew. I don't I've never seen the show. And they they operate out of Dutch Harbor. So pretty wild seas up there, pretty wild weather, and a small community. So when they heard a Canadian Navy ship was coming in, they were all super excited and they had, there's a big storm coming, like a big one.

Niels: 07:39

They're all the crabbing vessels were coming in. So, you know, if Deadliest Catch isn't gonna be out there and that's, like, what they're looking for for their show, it's it's gonna be pretty bad. Right?

Bryan: 07:49

Yeah.

Niels: 07:50

So we're all excited. I was like, oh, this is sweet. Like, we're gonna be in this little town. Nice little visit. And I had heard that they were getting ready to the whole town was getting ready to greet us and bring out bring out the crab, you know.

Niels: 08:06

And at the last minute, we're just like, nope, we're going. And they're they're like, you're insane.

Bryan: 08:11

Oh, like, you guys were going out into the storm.

Niels: 08:14

We left. Yeah. We left in the storm. And I remember my mom was on board and I was like, okay, mom, like, this is gonna get a little bit crazy. You need to be careful.

Niels: 08:23

You know, she's a little bit older, has never been on a warship before. Go figure. And we got out there and we are rolling, like, 35 degrees.

Bryan: 08:35

Oh, my gosh.

Niels: 08:36

Like, it like, as soon as we left the harbor, essentially, it was just wild.

Bryan: 08:40

Do you think it was, like, the worst seas you've been in?

Niels: 08:42

It was up there. Yeah. Yeah. It was 35, 40 degrees. We went up into Flight Co, which is, like, it overlooks the flight deck on the back of the ship.

Niels: 08:52

So it's it's about maybe 20 feet up from the flight deck, fifteen, twenty feet. So when the ship rolls, like, you're just on that lever arm Mhmm. A little bit farther. So you're really kinda start to starting to swing up there, right? Yeah.

Niels: 09:07

And we would roll one way and then the wave would be like, not that far away from you and it is above your head. And then the next one comes and you kinda get close to it then it kinda rolls away and, you know, you're hanging on to every bit of metal that you can. And we were in the officer's mess. There's a couple of couches set up in front of the TV and they're not secured to the ground. And my friend's dads were on board.

Niels: 09:37

Usually, it was mostly males that were interested in this and and my mom. Yeah. And one of them is sitting, like, kinda lengthwise right in front of her. And I'm there's, like, three two hundred pound plus men on that couch and she is kinda sitting by the armrest facing that couch and I feel a big roll coming and I'm like, this couch is gonna move. And it starts to slide right into her and I have she is just clueless.

Niels: 10:07

Yeah. Poor lady. I had to grab her legs up and onto the couch while this thing slid across the room and slammed into where she was sitting. Like, she would have broke both of her legs.

Bryan: 10:19

Oh my gosh. Yeah. She's

Niels: 10:21

my mom likes to have a good time and she's laughing. I'm like, I don't think you realize how serious this is. Oh, yeah. At that time, our helicopter was broken. We had a big hole in one of our rotor blades.

Niels: 10:34

So we were operating on a deviation. So we were not allowed to take passengers. Mhmm. But air crew could fly. So even if she broke her legs, like, we might not be able to turn around the ship in this storm.

Niels: 10:49

We might we would not be able to fly her off on the helicopter. She would have just been in pain with two broken legs.

Bryan: 10:57

Oh, my gosh.

Niels: 10:59

Like, mom, you gotta smarten up.

Bryan: 11:02

That sounds like really scary to be in weather like that.

Niels: 11:08

It's a different environment. Like, you don't I guess you could kinda get used to it. What what I found was most troublesome with that is that you're as someone who's not in the navy and really not a whole lot of interested in that, is this kinda where I landed? Learning to trust the vessel Mhmm. And its construction and that is designed to take this kind of punishment, it takes a while.

Niels: 11:40

So, you know, you you go through like one or two or three, like, good storms, and you're up on the bridge and you're watching the waves crash over the front of the boat and onto the windscreen that looks out from the bridge, and you see saltwater just slamming everything. You see it a few times and then you start to build some trust. And you're like, okay, this is not going to break even though you're in your rack and you can hear a wave as it as it moves along the side of the ship and you can hear every little bit of frame kind of bending as the wave moves down. Yeah. You get used to it and you learn to trust it.

Niels: 12:22

It's twisting, under its own weight in the waves so it's kinda yeah.

Bryan: 12:27

That's wild. Like, I I was gonna ask if it sounds maybe a little silly, but like, is there ever a point where you're like, oh my gosh, like, what if we sink?

Niels: 12:36

Yeah. Well, they have like a they have like a three step kind of thing. Right? Like, first they gotta float, then they gotta move, and then they can fight. Yeah.

Niels: 12:46

Right? And so you hear about some shifts like the engines stop working or whatever. That's like that's bad. But if you're not like engaged in a battle, like, you're not gonna die. You're just gonna float there until you can get towed or fixed or something and move under your own power again.

Niels: 13:06

So these things are designed to to float. Okay. And, yeah, it did occur to me and I would be running to the helicopter. I'm going for help.

Bryan: 13:23

Oh my gosh. Yeah. Back to, the mission of Op Artemis. During this, did you end up encountering any suspicious vessels or interdictions during the deployment? Like, any of those drug smugglers?

Niels: 13:37

Oh, yeah. Funny story. So yeah. We we found one. We boarded it.

Niels: 13:44

The boarding party because it's like a civilian vessel, there's you know, we had a JAG on board to kinda help us navigate international law and Canadian law and CTF one fifty and the UN, resolutions and all that. So

Bryan: 13:59

And a JAG for listeners is just a military lawyer.

Niels: 14:02

Yeah. Yep. And essentially, we need to seek permission for every bit of searching that we do and drilling little holes and putting the camera in there and looking around, documents and everything. So we we found this DAO and I think we got something like 80 kilograms of heroin off the boat, after a long search. And then once we get the drugs off, like, they're they're kind of free to go.

Niels: 14:32

So we seize the drugs, we get a bunch of paper, we we photocopy it all, and no one can read what's on the paper. We can't read it. So we photocopy it all, then we send it back to Canada to get translated. And they go the the Dow finishes its trip, goes into Africa, resupplies, and it turns around. And then while it's in while it's alongside doing its thing, we get the papers back and there's a registry of how much heroin was on board.

Niels: 15:05

And it was, like, a 140 kilograms. So there was, like we got, like, half of it essentially on our own search, and then they went alongside, obviously, sold the rest, came back out, then we boarded them again. We're like, where's the rest? They're like, well, it's gone because went to where it needs to go. So we asked them, well, where was it?

Niels: 15:25

And, you know, these it happens to these guys all the time. They're constantly boarded. Mhmm. And their drugs are constantly seized. So it's not a new experience for them.

Niels: 15:35

I'm like, oh, yeah. It was up here, like, behind these cabinets or or something. We got this stuff, like, in the walls, but they didn't we didn't check the ceiling, I guess.

Bryan: 15:44

Yeah. I'm sure, like, these guys are masters at hiding this stuff. Right? Like, this is their life.

Niels: 15:50

Yeah. Exactly.

Bryan: 15:51

And I'm sure it's not a good thing for them if, like, it's constantly getting seized.

Niels: 15:56

Yeah. So if we could rewind a little bit to my first deployment while we're talking about drug interdictions and and capturing something. We were that first deployment, down to off Caribbean.

Bryan: 16:09

Which was, along the West Coast Of Mexico.

Niels: 16:13

Right? South of that. So we went all the way down to Colombia

Bryan: 16:16

Okay.

Niels: 16:16

On the first sale at three month. I think it was about three months. And we were doing the same thing essentially, but with cocaine. They were obviously it's coming from Colombia. They're smuggling cocaine into Central And North America.

Niels: 16:31

Mhmm. And they would use, like, fast fiberglass boats with, like, two aboard 250 horsepower engines.

Bryan: 16:38

Yeah. They call them go fast. Right?

Niels: 16:40

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. They would typically travel at night and then tarp up during the day to camouflage. And then the sun would go down, they'd just blast it again, go like 40 knots.

Niels: 16:50

So we we chased one down. We positioned our ship right in front of them right before the sun came up. And we were like, surprise, we're here. And there's a helicopter on them and the rib is out and they're they're boarding. So what they do, there's three guys on board.

Niels: 17:10

And we had just come out of Colombia on the on the Pacific Side and it was an interesting place. Not a lot of built up kinda civilization on the on the West Side Okay. Of Colombia. At least not where we were. It's it's like all jungle.

Niels: 17:32

So these guys are coming off the West Coast, they're transiting the Pacific, they get busted by Canada, and we have US Coast Guard on board helping us out with that. And they decide to scuttle their boat.

Bryan: 17:47

Which which means sink it?

Niels: 17:48

Sink it. Yeah. They just pull a plug, like a big bathtub, and they fill it full of water and down it goes. And it's a double fiberglass hull. So it's fiberglass, and then they fill it with cocaine and then they put another fiberglass on top and the structure is essentially made of fiberglass and cocaine.

Niels: 18:07

Okay. And they pull the plug. And then they're out there floating in the ocean with no ship, and we pull them out of the water. And we're not really bringing them on board our ship, onto Canadian soil, essentially. So we're kinda figuring out what to do and we're we wanna hand them directly to the US Coast Guard for law enforcement.

Niels: 18:33

And while they're kinda floating in the ocean and we're our rib is out there, we kinda just we're stopped and we're figuring out what to do with these guys. And you can see, like, they're scared. Like, they their whole world is turned upside down. Most of these guys are victims of the same cartel that we're fighting. So they they might roll the cartel might roll into their village and say, you're going to take the this ship or this boat to Mexico or California or something.

Niels: 19:04

And if you don't, we'll kill your family.

Bryan: 19:06

Yeah.

Niels: 19:08

So they're in a predicament right from the start. Likely not of their choosing. And now they find themselves in the middle of the ocean, busted, and they pulled the plug on their boat, and now they're just floating there. So you could see some of the emotions on their face, like, they are so worried. Anyway, while we're waiting for the US Coast Guard to arrive, their boat comes back to the surface.

Niels: 19:36

Yeah. It floated up again and it just starts bobbing. You see the nose of its blue fiberglass all just pop and break the surface, like, within a 100 feet of us. And we're like, oh, oh, there's a boat. So, like, well, let's get it.

Niels: 19:53

That way, we can, know, we can show all the drugs we got and It's it's good. Now it's seized. Yeah. Right? So we hook up, like, ropes or whatever.

Niels: 20:03

Real, like, heave ho, old school navy stuff where there's, like, you know, 30 of us pulling on this rope around this baller trying to lift this boat out of the water. And we sense we, like we had to, like, half out or all the way out but, like, halfway up the ship and we send someone down on a harness with a sawzall. Be like, we need to open this boba up to see what's going on. And, you know, I'm on the rope kind of, like, looking over the fence. I'm like, oh, this is cool.

Niels: 20:29

Like, what's what's happening? And the guy goes down with his sawzall and he starts cutting into the fiberglass hall and then goes, you know, it's like regular fiberglass. And then all of a sudden, like, it hits the cocaine pack and the blade's moving back and forth real fast. And it just is like a white cloud just ejected from the boat right into his face. And, you know, that is pure probably a 100% Family Guy style with the uncut cocaine coming just, like, blasted right in the face with this.

Niels: 21:03

I was like, oh my goodness. Like, yeah. Okay. Certified cocaine boat. And we pull him back up and, you know, he's probably quite messed up.

Niels: 21:14

Was he? Yeah. He just got hit in the face with

Bryan: 21:18

Oh my gosh.

Niels: 21:18

A cloud of cocaine.

Bryan: 21:20

That's crazy. Yeah.

Niels: 21:22

So we we seats it all and took pictures and all that. Yeah.

Bryan: 21:25

That's wild. Yeah. That was

Niels: 21:28

what did you think was gonna happen? Why didn't you just, like, pull it all the way up? Like, you know there's cocaine in there. That's hilarious.

Bryan: 21:38

So once you guys finished with that part of your sale, you were retasked into standing NATO Maritime Group two or SNMG two. What did that retasking involve in terms of transiting and what was your new mission?

Niels: 21:53

Right. So while we were off the coast of Tanzania in CTF one fifty is when Russia invaded Crimea and took it over. And there is, you know, big NATO scare. What does this mean? Ukraine's not NATO, but Russia's advancing.

Niels: 22:11

How are we going to respond? So a period of not knowing what this means. So some confusion, just, you know, speculative on the crew. Then we wake up one morning and the prime minister had publicly tasked us to go into the Mediterranean and show support for NATO. So we dropped CTF one fifty, and then we transited up to Somalia.

Niels: 22:45

We waited in the Somali Basin. And this was the period of, like, forty seven days at sea with a quick stop in Djibouti before transiting the Suez Canal into into the Mediterranean and joining the maritime group.

Bryan: 23:01

So this is when you went forty seven days without seeing land?

Niels: 23:04

That's right. So we had, like, Djibouti stop was, like, six hours. It wasn't even very long. It was enough to get some food and some water or whatever. And I think

Bryan: 23:14

you said, like, not even everybody got to get off the ship.

Niels: 23:18

Yeah. We, we did organize a bus from the from the jetty to the naval exchange. That's like their Cannex. We can do a little bit of shopping. So we we got out there.

Niels: 23:29

I was one of the lucky few who got off the boat. So I got to walk on land for a little bit. I don't remember seeing a tree there though. So my dream of seeing, something green wasn't there. But busy place, very tight security.

Bryan: 23:43

That would be all American run there?

Niels: 23:45

Yeah. Where we were, it was all Americans. But still, like, very tight security and we're told, like, not to mess around, just do your shopping and come come straight back. Mhmm. So I got some snacks, some protein bars and stuff.

Niels: 23:57

And then right back up, onto the boat and then there's another, I think, five days before we got in line for the Suez and then transited through Egypt up to Greece. Crete.

Bryan: 24:09

So you guys once you joined in with SNMG two, you were in Crete?

Niels: 24:16

That's right. Yeah. That was our first protocol. We were supposed to go for a rest and maintenance period in Kuwait, about twenty days long, I think it was supposed to be. It's kind of like our mid deployment.

Niels: 24:28

Okay. Take a break, do some maintenance on the ship and the helicopter, get ready to go back out and finish your mission. And then we, you know, we changed, so we canceled Kuwait. We started booking other ports and other things. And then our rest and maintenance period just got moved down and down and down and down.

Niels: 24:46

So my wife and I, we were engaged at the time. Had this big trip plan because I had about two weeks off. We were gonna go to Paris, Strasbourg, and then down south to like Monaco and back up.

Bryan: 25:00

Oh, wow.

Niels: 25:00

Yeah. This whole thing. And it's very difficult to plan that on like a shared 56 k modem on the ship when you're splitting it with like 200 people. So it took forever and then we had to cancel the whole thing. We ended up with a nine day rest period instead and, we just stayed in Paris the whole time.

Niels: 25:21

But it was it was really neat to to fly out of Greece, into Paris and then, Lindsay coming all the way from Victoria to Paris. And then we met there and had a nice week in Paris.

Bryan: 25:35

I mean, that must have been nice at least to get a a little break and have some normalcy.

Niels: 25:39

Yeah. Yeah. Definitely. And it's a good opportunity, right? Like they'll the Canadian military will pay for a trip home or you can use that money and meet in a third location.

Niels: 25:49

Which is what a lot of people do. Yeah. Of course. Like, you're you're halfway across the world already. What what difference is it to Canada?

Bryan: 25:55

Yeah. For sure. So this was all, as you said, the crisis where Russia invaded Crimea. What was the atmosphere like, like, amongst the the crew and the air crew? Like, what were you guys thinking at the time?

Niels: 26:08

Well, we joined because we joined a maritime group and we were because in CTF one fifty, we were solo. Mhmm. It was kinda by ourselves on off of Africa. And now we're in a group with a French ship, Spanish ships, you name it, Greek and Turks and all kinds. So it was a big shift in what we essentially, the day to day had changed quite a bit, and we didn't really we're trying to figure out where we where we sit in that in that group Mhmm.

Niels: 26:43

At least from the air cruise perspective. I mean, our mission for the flights didn't change too much. We were still doing a lot of surface and surveillance stuff. But instead of looking for for wooden dows that are transporting drugs, we're looking for, other warships.

Bryan: 27:00

Yeah. Like like Russian warships. Yeah.

Niels: 27:02

Yeah. Essentially, we're integrating in into NATO. Mhmm. So Mhmm. Learning their operations, you know, they things are a little bit different.

Bryan: 27:09

Yeah. And I imagine it probably took a little while to kind of get into the rhythm of what you were there to do and where your spot was.

Niels: 27:15

Yeah. Like the Navy has a very strict chain of command. So, you know, if there's an admiral on the French ship, then that person's in charge Mhmm. Rather than our ship's captain

Bryan: 27:25

Mhmm.

Niels: 27:25

Of of of the group. Yeah. Yeah. You actually had

Bryan: 27:29

a funny story about this with, you know, the Sea King's raison d'etres to find submarines, and you guys actually found one during this portion of the mission.

Niels: 27:39

Oh, yeah. Yeah. This was so he we had just left the Suez Canal. I think we got 12 miles off the coast, so we're into international waters. And then we we launched the helicopter to get an idea of what's around.

Niels: 27:53

So we have, like, we have a good radar, we have AIS, all that kind of stuff. We relay a whole bunch of information to the ship.

Bryan: 28:00

And for listeners, AIS is automatic identification system. It's basically a transponder on the ship that gives position, course, name, and that kind of data.

Niels: 28:09

And we take off, and it was our first mission in the Mediterranean. And almost immediately, we're looking around at all these boats. It's such a busy area. And I see this black one out the window, And what is that? Like, oh my goodness.

Niels: 28:27

That's a submarine. So our you know, we train and train and train to find and hunt submarines. And then all of sudden, I look out the window and there's just one sitting there at the surface Yeah. Transgeme. And, you know, it was on the surface.

Niels: 28:43

It had a flag up, big letters painted on the side to identify it and, you know, we're like cert sub cert sub and, you know, everyone gets a little bit excited. And then the ship's ops room, you could kinda hear over the radio, was getting pretty excited like, oh, submarine. Like, this is a big change from what we were doing. Yeah. So they're trying to figure out what's going on.

Niels: 29:07

So we photograph it, read a backtrack. And it's a it's a Egyptian training vessel. Like, their their flag is up. They're not going

Bryan: 29:16

Yeah.

Niels: 29:16

Subsurface or anything.

Bryan: 29:18

Well, I would imagine, like, with the amount of warships and stuff that were moving through the area, they were pretty, eager to identify themselves and be like, we are not a threat.

Niels: 29:28

Yeah. Yeah. Probably. Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan: 29:29

Like, you you definitely wouldn't wanna be a submerged sub with all that stuff going on and all the tensions that were happening at the time.

Niels: 29:38

Yeah. You know, that part of the world is probably there's more uncertainty there Mhmm. Just on a regular day to day than there is where where we live. True.

Bryan: 29:48

You also had a story about getting a pretty close look at a warship at night.

Niels: 29:53

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we're we're transiting up to Greece, I think, and we're night flying. And the goggles are a real big help. Right?

Niels: 30:03

So if there is if someone's even smoking a cigarette, like, within 40 miles of you, you can see it on the goggles. Mhmm. Especially when over the sea at night where everything's just black. So we're going kinda like from light to light visually to identify each ship. And it's just it's cargo ship, cargo ship, oil ship, you know, mostly merchant vessels.

Niels: 30:31

And we're just going light to light, and then we see it unusually bright light. Like, oh, what is that? Let's go check that one out. And it the goggles have such a glare around that. It's like a big green blob.

Niels: 30:47

So we're getting closer and closer and we can't really identify it. And then if we get, like, on top of it, essentially, you know, 500 feet or something, not we're not incredibly high. Before we can that glare kind of shrinks enough and displaces enough that we look down and I'm like, that looks like a helicopter yet. Like, oh, no. And then they realized, like, there's a hangar, there's a there's a flight deck, there's the gun.

Niels: 31:15

That is that is a warship. And, of course, like, we have stand off distances. Like, we will not approach another nation's warship without telling them because we are state military asset. That is a state military asset, and it could be a form of aggression, and it was just a mistake. Kind of a silly one on reflection, you know, you're like, maybe we should have gone broadside to it from far away, take some photos, and identify it that way rather than Yeah.

Niels: 31:46

Just on topping it.

Bryan: 31:47

But it it happens in in busy waters and, like Yeah. There's a lot going on. Like, I had an experience once in RIMPAC, which is the biggest, navy exercise in the world in Hawaii, for listeners. And we were transiting, and one of, like, the big no no's in those exercises is, like, never fly over an aircraft carrier. There's, like, massive standoff distances and stuff.

Bryan: 32:08

There are. Yeah. And at one point, we were flying and I looked down and I see all these lights in the middle of the ocean. And I was like, is that an island? Like, what is that?

Bryan: 32:15

And the camera operator goes, oh, it's the Nimitz. And we're flying, like, right over the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier.

Niels: 32:22

Yeah. Like So same thing happened to you. Yeah. Yeah. I mean,

Bryan: 32:25

we were a lot higher. We were transiting, but you're still not supposed to fly over top of it. So Yeah. It's like, it happens.

Niels: 32:31

Yeah. We were

Bryan: 32:33

Did you guys contact them and be like, sorry? Or did you just like zip off?

Niels: 32:38

No. We didn't contact them, I don't think. No. So

Bryan: 32:42

I have to go now. Yeah.

Niels: 32:45

It was like an on top and then immediately, oh, turn away. Yeah.

Bryan: 32:49

Well, probably best to just give yourself some distance after that. Yeah. So after that deployment, you expected to come home via the shortest route but that didn't happen. Can you sort of explain like where you thought you'd go and where you ended up going?

Niels: 33:03

Yeah. So we're we're bumping around the Mediterranean. We went up, into Istanbul near the Black Sea, and that's was that's as close as we got to Ukraine, where Crimea is. And at the time, near the end of kind of our deployment, what we thought would be the end, we didn't really know how long it was gonna be. We were in the vicinity of Gibraltar.

Niels: 33:28

So we hear that our replacement ship is departed Halifax. They're coming from the East Coast and they're going to enter the Mediterranean. We're gonna high five. Okay. It's your box now.

Niels: 33:40

We're out. And we're like, okay. We are just reasonable human assumption. I'm not part of the ship's command team by any stretch or or fleet command in in Victoria or Esquimalt. I'm just a person on board the boat being like, we are two thirds of the way around the world, and it's a big world.

Niels: 34:02

We're gonna high five these guys, and I just think, okay, we're gonna take the Atlantic, and we're either gonna go take the Northwest Passage because it's July now, Or we're gonna go down, take Panama Canal, and then then straight up into back to the West Coast. And we'll get to circumnavigate the globe like we we did a crossing the line ceremony earlier where we crossed the Equator and that's a big navy tradition. We won't get into it now, but pretty wild. And then it was just like a bit of a disappointment, I think, when we were gone for so long and there was so much uncertainty. Like, when we left, we didn't even have a date Mhmm.

Niels: 34:42

For return. So we had no idea. Because at this point,

Bryan: 34:46

it had been, like, what, six months almost?

Niels: 34:48

We're seven months in.

Bryan: 34:49

Seven months. Yeah.

Niels: 34:50

And the typical deployment's six. And we're on the other side of the world still. So we're we're all in c to get home. You know, our loved ones are wondering when we're gonna get back and we don't have a date to tell them. Mhmm.

Niels: 35:01

We just will be back at some point.

Bryan: 35:04

And that was because of the nature of the crisis in Crimea?

Niels: 35:09

No. Even when we left, going to CTF one fifty, we did not have a date to come back.

Bryan: 35:15

Was that was that pretty normal at the time for sales or?

Niels: 35:18

I was still I was still pretty young in my sailing career. I can reasonably think that that's not normal. Okay. Yeah. The Navy really needs to plan out well in advance what they're doing because they're they're a big logistic

Bryan: 35:31

Yeah. True. Support. Yeah.

Niels: 35:34

So no. We're near Gibraltar and told to turn around. We're going the other way, back through the Suez Canal across the Indian Ocean. We had some the government wanted us to visit some other countries and and make some diplomatic appearances. So we ended up visiting, Shanghai and Tokyo, Malaysia, made a few, port stops.

Bryan: 35:57

Was that cool at least, like, seeing those places? Yeah. Definitely.

Niels: 36:02

We stopped in Georgetown for, like, a kind of rest relaxation after their appointment. Malaysia.

Bryan: 36:07

Okay. Yep.

Niels: 36:08

Yeah. A little English island, which was neat. Shanghai was interesting. The Yangtze, very busy waterway. Mhmm.

Niels: 36:19

And just going up, like, into Shanghai, like, big cultural difference, between our liberal democracy and their communist party. Mhmm. So some apprehension there.

Bryan: 36:33

Yeah. Security for you guys must have been pretty tight. Like, I'm sure there were some briefings for the ship and stuff.

Niels: 36:39

Yeah. So before every port we go into, there's usually the ship's intelligence officer will tell us about what's going on in the country. And, of course, you're going into China and just culturally and very different and the the government system very different than what we're used to. Mhmm. So, you know, we go there, we're going around.

Niels: 37:03

It's a dane it's a big city. There's, what, 30,000,000 people there?

Bryan: 37:06

Oh, wow.

Niels: 37:08

So I managed to go up the Shanghai Tower, I think it's called, and you kinda look around. It was, like, it was very, like, dirty air. You couldn't really see very far. But everything you could see, like, you can see 15 miles in every direction. And it's just buildings

Bryan: 37:23

Yeah.

Niels: 37:23

And people. And it's just so much. It's really hard to fathom. And then going from there to Tokyo, almost right after, like, it's an even bigger city with even more people, but a whole lot cleaner. Yeah.

Niels: 37:38

Yeah. You know, you see all kinds of stuff in the in the Yangtze just floating by.

Bryan: 37:43

Like garbage and stuff?

Niels: 37:45

Yeah. Dead animals, garbage.

Bryan: 37:48

Oh, wow.

Niels: 37:48

All kinds of yeah. Overloaded little boats just moving piles of goods. Yeah. There's a story about some people getting robbed in Shanghai.

Bryan: 37:59

What happened?

Niels: 38:00

You know, you're you're told, hey, be safe. There's criminal organizations everywhere. And I think they were I think it was the firefighters on board, all kinda hanging out. And they kinda got, like, called over by a girl as they're walking down the street and they just, like, turn and follow her into this room in this building. And then they just lock the door on them, pull out their nine millimeter or whatever, and just rob them blind and

Bryan: 38:30

kick them out. Oh, my gosh. Yeah.

Niels: 38:33

Like, so they lost their passports and a bunch of cash and credit cards and stuff.

Bryan: 38:36

And then I must I imagine they had to, like, report that to the int officer and all

Niels: 38:40

that stuff. Oh, yeah. Definitely. Yeah. You know, they're like, well, why were you there?

Niels: 38:44

Then we followed a girl.

Bryan: 38:45

Like, they've been on at sea for seven months. Yeah.

Niels: 38:49

Well, it's a classic story.

Bryan: 38:51

Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. That's a tale as old as time with So you went from hopefully being home soon to having a six week trip home.

Bryan: 39:01

What was that like mentally?

Niels: 39:04

Yeah. So that both just don't transit very fast, you know, thinking from an air crew perspective. They're doing like 12 knots. Mhmm. An efficient speed for them.

Niels: 39:14

Mhmm. So it is it's long and you know it's over, but you gotta keep your game face on. You're still flying every day. Even though you're not part of a mission, it's now time to train and prepare and get as current as you can on all the things that you need to to do to maintain your currencies. And you gotta write up all your post deployment stuff and and your leave plans and preparation, sim training, and all that kind of stuff you need to do when you get home.

Niels: 39:44

So Yeah. It's a busy time. It's work that needs to be done. And the hard part is just keeping your keeping your head in the game and not, not throttling back, just waiting for home. Right?

Bryan: 39:56

Yeah. Yeah. I mean, think every the end of every deployment is like that. When you start to know that it's almost time to go home, you start thinking about being home, but you have to stay sharp and you're still operating.

Niels: 40:09

Yeah. It's just like just on a regular cross country too, right? Like, you're that last leg. Yep. You just start thinking about home.

Niels: 40:17

Mhmm. But you really need to pay attention to what you're doing. You're still flying.

Bryan: 40:22

Yeah. Yeah. So after these sales, it was basically time for you to sort of focus on your upgrade. You upgraded to aircraft commander and eventually crew commander. Can you tell us a bit about that process on the Sea King?

Niels: 40:36

Yeah. So aircraft commander, you're upgrading from co pilot to being in charge of the helicopter. So there's some some detail between aircraft commander and crew commander that can sometimes be a little bit confusing. So essentially, when you're an aircraft commander, it's your helicopter. And that duty to fly it safely, cannot be delegated.

Niels: 41:06

It is it belongs to you. The crew commander is in charge of the mission. Mhmm. So sometimes there can be a little bit of overlap of interest where the crew commander might want to do something that the aircraft commander doesn't want to do.

Bryan: 41:25

Right. Because it's important Yeah. For listeners to understand that the crew commander could be the pilot who is also the aircraft commander.

Niels: 41:34

Yep.

Bryan: 41:34

Or it could be one of the TACOs in the back, which is a navigator is what they used to be called. Yep. Tactical coordinator in the back could also be the crew commander.

Niels: 41:44

Yeah. And these, these positions or duties are independent of rank. So there are times where I would be flying as a captain with a major who's a copilot and maybe a left handed colonel who holds a crew commander qualification, but is not the assigned crew commander for that mission. You know, as a captain, I could hold both. So it's both my aircraft and my mission, and the major and the lieutenant colonel could be there in support.

Niels: 42:14

Mhmm. So, obviously, there's a there's a wealth of knowledge and expertise in those other in the copilot and tackle positions, which you'd be a fool not to listen to. So, yeah, there is some overlap. Essentially, the the aircraft commander, it's like, it's your bus. Right?

Niels: 42:34

It's your platform. You're responsible for operating it and and bringing it back in one piece. And the crew commander's job is to conduct the mission, whether it's training or operational mission.

Bryan: 42:49

Mhmm.

Niels: 42:49

You could be sub hunting, you could be practicing, slinging, hoisting, exercises, whatever, search and rescue. One of the many different missions that we could be assigned as a as a seeking helicopter. So the upgrade process for Aircraft Commander, it does focus almost specifically on, handling the aircraft, emergencies, degradation of your capabilities.

Bryan: 43:19

Like systems knowledge.

Niels: 43:20

Systems knowledge, that kind of stuff. Yeah. With a spattering of your crew commander wants you to do this, but you have this, you know, emergency that you might be able to keep going with. And it's about that decision making process. Mhmm.

Niels: 43:37

And then the crew commander upgrade is heavily focused on mission oriented things. So search and rescue, big surface and subsurface exercises in the simulator.

Bryan: 43:50

Yeah. Big tactical focus.

Niels: 43:51

Big tactical focus. Yeah. Lots of, lots of tactics. So you gotta brush up on all your your secret stuff and your NATO stuff, search and rescue authorities, all that kind of stuff. Yeah.

Bryan: 44:03

Yeah. It sounds like, like, it's kinda cool that we both speak the same language here because Yeah. That's basically exactly the same processes on the Aurora and the same hierarchy and stuff. So

Niels: 44:13

Yeah. Yeah. And it it can be confusing to someone who's just walking into it Yes. Or someone who doesn't fly at all

Bryan: 44:20

Yeah.

Niels: 44:20

Or has no military experience at all. So, yeah, just the way the the duties kind of break down can be a little bit confusing.

Bryan: 44:28

Yeah. What was the actual upgrade process like? Like, I imagine there were some sims and you guys do a board as well. Right? Or do you not do a board?

Niels: 44:38

No. There was no board. Okay. No. Think I got rid of that.

Niels: 44:40

Okay. It was exams and so the simulator is in Shearwater. Mhmm. And I was posted to Victoria. So it's like 4,000 kilometers away.

Niels: 44:52

So every time you need to go to a sim, like, you're you're flying out there for the week. So the aircraft commander stuff, it's very emergency focused, all that kind of stuff. It takes about a week, exams, and then a flight, and then you get your with usually, like, the MA set, the standards and evaluation team for the upgrade. And then you get kinda blessed. For like a check ride?

Niels: 45:18

Yeah. And then the crew commander one, it's there's a crew commander course, or there was, where you have visits from the wing commander, some ex seeking pilots. And you meet technicians, you meet, different trades, Ace Ops, tactical officers, other pilots, and they talk about their role. And you get, you know, the ops center will come down and talk about, okay, well, this is the chain of command when you're deployed. This is how, maritime helicopter is specific to other ATFs, air task forces, and, you know, diplomatic clearance because we're always operating near or over other countries.

Bryan: 46:01

Mhmm.

Niels: 46:01

So, you know, a lot of nuance there, a lot to know. And then there's a big exam, a couple of simulator missions, surface and subsurface tracking. And as a pilot, you're there's also emergencies to handle and priorities to set, whether your ship's under attack and you're degraded in your capability or you have you're down to one engine, but missiles are flying, like, what are you gonna do? That kind of stuff.

Bryan: 46:30

Is there ever a scenario where they where you ram the submarine?

Niels: 46:34

No. But there there was an inter I forget what it's called now. There was one where there was a name for it, but it's essentially sacrifice the sea king where you drive yourself in front of the ship and you take the missile. Okay. It'd be very hard to do.

Niels: 46:52

Yeah. Both emotionally and physically. Yeah. Like, it's hard to

Bryan: 46:55

Like to intercept in any ship missile? Yeah. That would be pretty challenging.

Niels: 46:59

With a helicopter.

Bryan: 47:00

Yeah. Even if you wanted to.

Niels: 47:02

Yeah. So, yeah, there's lots it's complicated. And then there is a checkride where you're doing your up the actual crew commander checkride. And on mine, it was pretty interesting. You know, there's several different scenarios that you go through over, like, a two and a half hour mission.

Niels: 47:23

And we got interrupted a few times to for actual search and rescue call outs. Oh, wow. So we're kind of in the Juan De Fuca Strait. And Where is that? That's between Vancouver Island and Washington State.

Bryan: 47:38

Okay.

Niels: 47:38

That's the entrance into Vancouver. So we're and Seattle. Right? They all transit the one to Fuqua. So busy area, and we're, like, halfway through one exercise.

Niels: 47:51

Things are going well. Then we get a search and rescue call out once or twice twice, I think we got it. Then we got called off the first one. And then the second one was a drowning kayaker.

Bryan: 48:02

Oh, my. So okay.

Niels: 48:04

Well, let's go. So we respond, we go over. By the time we get there, you know, it's like maybe 25 miles away, 20 miles away. By the time we get there, we identify the person stuck in their kayak and there's boats all around. So we're we're not gonna we're not gonna go down there and hoist them out.

Niels: 48:24

And then we find out later, like, the the guy is stuck in his kayak because it's a rental and it's got a hole in it. He doesn't wanna let it go because he doesn't wanna have to pay for

Bryan: 48:33

it or something.

Niels: 48:34

My gosh. He's hang trying to swim attached to this giant anchor.

Bryan: 48:41

Oh my gosh. Pay the $50 or whatever it is, like We're

Niels: 48:45

doing sarah assets for this? Come on. Anyway, that's what that's what I heard. I don't know if it's true.

Bryan: 48:52

That's funny. Yeah. So you got through your tech ride, you upgraded. How did you feel once you were in that leadership position? Like, did you feel the weight of responsibility?

Niels: 49:01

No. It was I felt ready for it Yeah. To be honest. I I was ready.

Bryan: 49:05

I mean, you had a fair bit of experience by that point. Right? Like, seven months straight on a ship. I imagine you're doing a fair bit of flying during that time.

Niels: 49:13

Yeah. Yeah. I had a few deployments under my belt. Yeah. Three, I think, including that really long one.

Niels: 49:19

So, like, operationally, I was I was ready. Yeah. I didn't do a lot of flying back at the unit because I was always gone. Mhmm. So that part I was still kind of exploring.

Niels: 49:31

But, yeah, I I was ready for it. There was a time, so I had another deployment after where we were returning from my last deployment. And I was there, we were in the AirDepth Briefing Room, And for whatever reason, I'm talking about the importance of knowing things and absorbing information while you're young and new in your role because you will be senior one day. And I was talking to my, initial category Aesop, my brand new last copilot ever on the Seaking, and our taco who also just finished four zero six OTU.

Bryan: 50:12

When you say last copilot ever, do you mean, like, the last one to come out of the operational training unit?

Niels: 50:16

Yeah. Wow. Yeah. Captain He. And for whatever reason, I just got on this tangent about absorbing information while you can and learn from these things.

Niels: 50:26

And I was like, because you're gonna find yourself one day likely in the middle of the ocean, and then you're the only senior person around. And everyone around you is brand new, And it's your it's all it's your responsibility. You need to know this stuff because it rests on your shoulders. And as I'm saying this, I'm looking around the room at my brand new Copilot, brand new Taco, and, you know, the first category Aesop. I was like, oh, like, right now.

Niels: 50:57

This is why it's important. Yeah.

Bryan: 51:01

You all of a sudden, you realized you were the old man.

Niels: 51:03

Yeah. I realized I was in the exact situation that I was describing. Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan: 51:10

So we've talked a little bit about some of your, earlier sales. You ended up getting attached to HMCS Vancouver, attending a couple exercises, and going on another op carib.

Niels: 51:21

Mhmm.

Bryan: 51:22

From all this, you came home by, Christmas from this sale. How important was that for you and Lindsay at the time?

Niels: 51:30

Right. So during that time, Lindsay was pregnant with her first. So I I missed a portion of that. Like, we had bought a house, got married, got a dog, renovated, she got pregnant, and then I deployed. Mhmm.

Niels: 51:47

So I was home by Christmas and then, you know, by the time I got back, she was seven months pregnant. And then at the January so I was really glad to be home. By the January, our first was born.

Bryan: 52:00

Yeah. That must have been an emotional time for like, knowing Lindsay as I do, I imagine she was probably pretty emotional when you came home.

Niels: 52:09

Oh, yeah. Yeah. I remember even the 2014 sale for about nine months seeing her. I didn't fly off. I I walked off the ship and she was waiting at the jetty just bouncing up and down.

Niels: 52:22

It's good to see.

Bryan: 52:23

Yeah. Yeah. That must be amazing.

Niels: 52:26

She, she was always been a trooper, while I was gone. It's it's difficult, that's for sure.

Bryan: 52:33

Yeah. I mean, how did you guys like you said, you got married, you started a family. How did you balance all that with deployments, like, through your relationship and through your time on the Sea King?

Niels: 52:41

Oh, it's hard. Yeah. Essentially, like, I took every opportunity I could to call back home. I understand that she's adapting to me not being there and I don't want to disrupt that flow. But I consciously took about, you know, half an hour or so every day to write an email or something, just to keep her in the loop with what's happening and and to feel connected and reply to her emails and that times they they get quite long.

Niels: 53:12

But just to have some form of communication. Yeah. This is a phone. There's one satellite phone on the ship that we had to share. So you get twenty minutes, a week or something.

Niels: 53:26

And you can bank it, but, you know, it's not always available. It's usually the middle of the night for us. Mhmm. You get daytime for them. And then you gotta catch them around work hours and and whatever and, you know, she might not have time to chat when she's pregnant or has a is pregnant with a one year old and a dog and, you know, and working in a daycare and all those sorts of things.

Bryan: 53:50

Yeah. I mean, it sounds like incredibly challenging.

Niels: 53:53

Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan: 53:55

And, you know, speaking of that, your next sale was onboard the HMCS Winnipeg to South Asia. At that time, oldest daughter was not quite a year old when you left. Yeah. And was Lindsay pregnant then? Yep.

Bryan: 54:09

Yeah. So I mean, how was how was that for you and how was that for Lindsay?

Niels: 54:13

That was a difficult sale.

Bryan: 54:14

Yeah.

Niels: 54:15

Like, I had had enough by then. I had sailed a lot more than my cohorts Mhmm. Who I came off the OTU with. I really felt like it was their turn to go, but I also knew I needed to do another one before I got posted. So, yeah, I missed Keita's first birthday.

Niels: 54:36

Lindsay was pregnant, and things were really busy and difficult at home. Mhmm. Probably my my biggest memory from that is my good friends who I was sailing with were in contact with Lindsey, and they had a big kinda gender reveal thing in the mess for me. And I found out we were having a boy. And it was just like it was pretty emotional because, you know, you're several months away already.

Niels: 55:07

There's that physical and emotional distance Mhmm. A little bit, and it's kinda surreal. Kind of that that feeling and the the gender reveal is just kind of like, you know, just really slammed home that life is continuing even though I'm out on on the boat doing this work. Mhmm. And that there's a lot to look forward to when I get home.

Niels: 55:26

Mhmm. And that was yeah, that was pretty emotional.

Bryan: 55:29

Yeah. When something punches through

Niels: 55:32

Yeah.

Bryan: 55:32

And sort of breaks the barrier between what you're doing operationally when you're far from home and, like, reminds you, like, real life is real and actually exists out there.

Niels: 55:41

Yeah. Because you're in this zone Yeah. Physically and and and intellectually just locked into this distance in your job and your head is down and you're just working.

Bryan: 55:51

You have to be.

Niels: 55:52

Yeah. Yeah.

Bryan: 55:53

Yeah. It's that's I can only imagine, like, the one I'm thinking of is when I was deployed over the what would have been Melissa's and my, first Christmas when we were married. And, you know, that was that was hard, but, like, nothing like missing your daughter's first birthday or finding out you're having a boy and you're halfway around the world. Yeah. That must be really tough.

Niels: 56:14

Yeah. It was. Yeah.

Bryan: 56:16

So we said you were heading to South Asia for that sale. What was the the purpose of that sale?

Niels: 56:23

So that was a training sale, for the ship's crew. They had saved up a bunch of their training money, from short sales, like a squam out to Seattle or San Francisco or something. And they accumulated their budget, and then they spent it on a bigger sale across The Pacific. The government ended up tying in a bunch of diplomatic services into that sale, so we visited a lot of countries, hosted a lot of dignitaries and, defense attaches. We visited a lot of different countries like India, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Manila, a whole bunch down there.

Bryan: 57:07

Yeah. I mean, must have been hard to be away, but it sounds kind of amazing to see all these places too.

Niels: 57:12

Yeah. That was the bright side Mhmm. For sure. Like, your your head's down and you're working, and then you kinda, like, pop up for air and you're suddenly you're you got a weekend in Mumbai.

Bryan: 57:21

Yeah. Or Manila. Or Manila or Singapore,

Niels: 57:24

which is a fantastic place. Yeah. So, yeah, you definitely get to see the world and not just, like, get there, turn around, and come home. Like, you're you're there for a few days. There's usually a duty day here and there, but, you you make do.

Niels: 57:40

So, yeah, you know, the experience is a good one. Mhmm. There's lots to take advantage of, for sure.

Bryan: 57:49

I think you had a pretty good story about a dinner in Mumbai.

Niels: 57:53

Oh, yeah. Yeah. So we were, we were at a dinner with the Indian Navy. They were hosting our ship. It was a big conference room.

Niels: 58:04

They love whiskey. They love Canadian whiskey.

Bryan: 58:06

Okay.

Niels: 58:06

So you walk in and they're just, like, pushing it on you. Right? Like, oh, yeah. Please. And, you know, I'm having a good time.

Niels: 58:13

I'm with my friends that I made on the chip. We're laughing and joking. And then I get a tap on the shoulder right before dinner starts or dinner is served. And they want me to move from my table with my cohorts and my friends in equal rank up to the head table. And I was like, oh, I don't know if this is a good idea.

Niels: 58:33

So I go, I sit down, and at the table is our ship's captain, the exo commander of that region's navy, the Canadian ambassador to India, and his staff member, and some other one or two other Indian Navy guys. But, like, the admiral is the head guy hosting it, hosting the dinner.

Bryan: 58:59

Like the commander of the Indian Navy?

Niels: 59:00

Yeah. Yeah. And he he pointed me out of the crowd. He's like, I want that guy to come sit with me. So I was a little bit nervous.

Niels: 59:10

And I was like, I don't feel like I belong at that table. And I was really worried because the the XO is just staring daggers at me like, don't screw this up.

Bryan: 59:20

The XO is executive officer. Right? And that's like the deputy commander of the ship?

Niels: 59:24

Yeah. He's a second in command. Yeah. And, you know, bit of the, disciplinarian for the officer corps. Mhmm.

Niels: 59:32

So he's just looking at me like, don't don't mess this up for us. Yeah. Right? And the Canadian ambassador's there. He's a super nice guy.

Niels: 59:41

And I'm sitting right next to the admiral. And he's a he's a really nice guy. And he's asking me about the sale and what do I think of the navy and this and that. And I was like, well, you know, it's a different culture, and I'm trying to be, like, political. And he lets Lou said he's a seeking pilot.

Niels: 01:00:06

Really? He's like, yeah. I'm actually a pilot. I'm not a naval surface officer. And because they're seeking pilots, part of the navy, and he promoted through.

Niels: 01:00:17

And then he just starts ragging on surface officers. I'm like, well, I guess I gotta join you. And, you know, my exo and ICO are Mars officers. And we end up having a great time. Yeah.

Niels: 01:00:33

This guy was an absolute beauty.

Bryan: 01:00:36

That's so funny.

Niels: 01:00:37

And he gave me this he gave me a name tag for my flight suit. Yeah. And essentially, it's a sperm with wings and it's it says born to fly. I I wore it around the ship after that. Yeah.

Niels: 01:00:53

You

Bryan: 01:00:53

could not wear that these days.

Niels: 01:00:54

Yeah. No. That was, on deployment only and,

Bryan: 01:00:59

I mean, was from an admiral.

Niels: 01:01:00

Yeah. Right? It was it was great.

Bryan: 01:01:02

That was a that was more of a diplomatic gesture.

Niels: 01:01:04

It was. Yeah. So I gave him some I brought some maple syrup and stuff with me. Oh, I gave him a gift after dinner. Awesome.

Niels: 01:01:10

Yeah. It was a that was ended up being a really great dinner.

Bryan: 01:01:13

Yeah. There's another story as you guys left India involving an electrical fire. So what's the story there?

Niels: 01:01:20

Oh, yeah. So we had about five days or so in Mumbai. And we ended up making really good friends with our taxi driver who was driving from the ship to the airport to shuttle ship's crew back and forth for leave or going home or new crew arriving. And he agreed to take us out in on the town one night. And it was our last night in Mumbai, and he's taken us to all of his favorite places.

Niels: 01:01:47

So we are we are walking and eating and just having a great time, trying all sorts of new foods, all different restaurants, really great sights and smells and tastes, you know. We're we're it was a wonderful night. Then the next day, early in the morning, we're slipping and we're supposed to go night flying with the Indian Navy to do some exercises together. And like a lot of Canadians who probably visit India for the first time, leaving the country, you you kinda have some bowel issues.

Bryan: 01:02:22

You have some gastro issues. So

Niels: 01:02:25

I am, like, locked in the bathroom. Like, I cannot get up. And my good friend, Jeff, was the other aircraft captain crew commander on the on the sail. And I was like, Jeff, I am he's also the deck commander. And he wrote he was, you know, relying on me to pull my weight.

Niels: 01:02:40

Yeah. And I felt so bad. I was like, Jeff, I can't. I can't leave a bathroom. I can't do this.

Niels: 01:02:46

He's like, it's okay, man. I got it. I'll go. So my copilot's launching the helicopter in the LSO, and I'm just in the bathroom.

Bryan: 01:02:54

And for listeners, on a Royal Canadian Navy frigate, the LSO is the landing safety officer. It's when pilots act as a person responsible for safely managing the launch and recovery of the ship's embarked helicopter. And I

Niels: 01:03:08

can hear the helicopter take off, hover, and depart. And I'm like, okay, they're gone. Maybe I can get, like, ten minutes out of the bathroom here and let someone else in there. And run back in there, and then as I'm in the bathroom, I hear the alarm go off. Like, essentially, the the helicopter departs.

Niels: 01:03:30

The sound kind of dissipates, and then almost immediately, it's like, bang bang bang bang bang bang. Emergency flying stations. Electrical fire on the helicopter. And I'm like, oh, no. You know, I felt really bad.

Niels: 01:03:45

So like, poor Jeff takes my flight. It's nighttime. You know, he's gonna go work with the Indian Navy. They're hard to understand over the radio. It's gonna be a hard flight and he volunteers to take it.

Niels: 01:04:00

And then the helicopter lights on fire. I'm like, oh, man. Like, that should have been me, you know. Like, this poor guy. Anyways, I pucker up and I run up to the bridge and help him, you know, helping the captain make some decisions that benefit the helicopter and he lands and I'm like, oh, man.

Niels: 01:04:21

I I just felt really bad about that.

Bryan: 01:04:23

Yeah. And obviously, everything was fine.

Niels: 01:04:25

Yeah. That was our first in a in a long series of electrical fires on that on that specific helicopter.

Bryan: 01:04:33

Yeah. Because there were some some gremlins they couldn't chase down basically here.

Niels: 01:04:37

Yeah. So, like, under the center console, like, the buttons are lit up. And underneath every little button is two or four incandescent bulbs, and they get really hot. Mhmm. And, essentially, they one of them was overvolting or something, and it just kept bursting or maybe it was the bulb.

Niels: 01:04:53

Something was going on. They were bursting and then it was smoking and arcing. So it just kept happening.

Bryan: 01:04:59

Sweet. Fun.

Niels: 01:05:00

Yeah. Know, the first one's exciting. Yeah. The very first one was quite exciting because I felt bad about it. And then, you know, the fifth or sixth,

Bryan: 01:05:07

you just It's like, oh, again.

Niels: 01:05:08

Again. Yeah. Another electrical fire.

Bryan: 01:05:11

I I had a somewhat similar experience when I was in Kuwait and we were flying over Iraq for OpImpact where I had a day where I just couldn't leave the bathroom. And so I it was the only mission I ever skipped, and that was the mission where my crew got shot at over Iraq.

Niels: 01:05:30

Right? It's like the one. It's always the one. Yeah.

Bryan: 01:05:35

Alright. Niels, as we look at wrapping up this series on the Sea King, the Sea King has retired. But as you look back on your experiences as a Sea King pilot, what advice would you give to someone who is interested in operating in the maritime helicopter world?

Niels: 01:05:49

Right. Well, the fleet has completely changed. So I don't have much to say on the aircraft Mhmm. Other than you're coming from the school that I work at now, and we do our best to prepare our pilots for whatever fleet that they're going on.

Bryan: 01:06:05

Mhmm.

Niels: 01:06:06

They don't know until the end, but our training plan is designed to be adaptable to wherever they're assigned. What helped me get through it and really kind of frame the the overall perspective on on the environment and the maritime helicopter in general is that when you're deployed, it's your work time. And no matter I think it applies even RCAF wide, like your time in Iraq or whatever, like, that's the time where you're there to to work. Mhmm. So even though the day to day can grind on, you know, you could be at sea for forty seven days.

Niels: 01:06:50

That's that's the work. But then the work ends. Like, you get leave, you get time off, and then to really enjoy that time for what it is. If you're a maritime helicopter, that time off could be in Hawaii. It could be in Tokyo.

Niels: 01:07:07

It could be in Greece or France. It could be in The UK and Scotland. Like, the the Navy goes everywhere. Mhmm. And you really are provided opportunity to explore and experience new things like an African safari.

Niels: 01:07:23

You're there for the weekend, see if you can go. So enjoy the time off when you get it. Explore the world, absorb those cultures and the differences, and then, when it's time to work, just focus on that. And at the end of it, I actually came away with a a really good look at Canada and how it sits in the world and the type of life that we have, and we're very fortunate for it.

Bryan: 01:07:55

Yeah. I think that's great advice. It sounds like, you know, a challenging experience, but also a really cool kind of eye opening experience. Like, you've really seen a big chunk of the world and like you said, gained an appreciation for Canada's place in it. And I think that's really unique.

Niels: 01:08:11

Yeah. That's like the the probably the big picture takeaway. You know, while you're in a maritime helicopter group, like, it's a different environment than our air force centric training experience up to that point. And it really broadens your horizon to how the navy works, how NATO works, how international law and open seas work, different warships and transit lanes and, you know, it's apt right now with the Strait Of Hormuz and international waters. Yep.

Niels: 01:08:47

Spratly Islands in the South China Sea and different views on baselines and what's international, what's sovereign territory. Yeah.

Bryan: 01:08:56

Okay, Niels. That is gonna wrap up our chat on the Seaking. We've been friends for a long time, and I feel like over the years, I've heard, like, scraps and bits and pieces of these stories. But it's really cool to sit down and kind of hear your whole journey, hear these stories in full, and kind of where they fit into your career. I really appreciate you taking the time to be here for these couple episodes, I'm really looking forward to sitting down with you again to talk about your time instructing.

Bryan: 01:09:21

So thank you for being here today.

Niels: 01:09:23

Yeah. No problem. Thanks, Brian. It's a good experience. You know, maybe I could have kept it a little bit more chronological, but, lots of good stories, lots of good memories.

Niels: 01:09:31

Yeah.

Bryan: 01:09:32

Alright. That wraps up our two part series on the CH one twenty four Sea King with captain Niels Olson. Next week is a very special episode. We are sitting down for our one hundredth episode. I can hardly believe it.

Bryan: 01:09:45

We're sitting down with lieutenant general Jamie Spicer Blanchet, commander of the Royal Canadian Air Force. You don't wanna miss this one. It's a great update on where the Air Force is and where we're going. Tune in next week. It's gonna be great.

Bryan: 01:09:58

Do you have any questions or comments about anything you've heard in this show? Would you or someone you know make a great guest, or do you have a great idea for a show? You can reach out to us at the pilotprojectpodcast@Gmail.com or on all social media at at pod pilot project. And be sure to check out that social media for lots of great videos of our RCAF and mission aviation aircraft. As always, we'd like to thank you for tuning in and ask for your help with the big three.

Bryan: 01:10:22

That's like and follow us on social media, share with your friends, and follow and rate us five stars wherever you get your podcasts. That's all for now. Thanks for listening. Keep the blue side up. See you.

Bryan: 01:10:35

Engineer, shut down all four.

Niels: 01:10:37

Shutting down all four engines.