{"id":499432,"date":"2026-02-25T22:10:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:10:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499432\/"},"modified":"2026-02-25T22:10:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-25T22:10:09","slug":"ready-to-respond-and-rescue-from-coast-to-coast-to-coast","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/499432\/","title":{"rendered":"Ready to respond and rescue from coast to coast to coast"},"content":{"rendered":"

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\t\t\t\t\"Ready<\/p>\n

Commander of 8 Air Maintenance Squadron based out of CFB Trenton Lieutenant Colonel Craig Greeley speaks at a breakfast meeting of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce February 25 2026. (Photo: John Spitters\/Quinte News)<\/p>\n

When the going gets tough, the tough get going.\u00a0 That could well be the motto for the Canadian military\u2019s increasing response to domestic life-threatening natural disasters in recent years.<\/p>\n

On Wednesday, the Commanding Officer of 8 Air Maintenance Squadron, Lieutenant Colonel Craig Greeley, and Squadron Chief Warrant Officer Rene Gagnon described the military\u2019s response last summer to out-of-control wildfires affecting three remote First Nations communities in northern Manitoba and Northern Ontario as they spoke to a breakfast meeting of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce at Sans Souci in the Downtown District.<\/p>\n

Greeley and Gagnon led three separate LENTUS rescue missions last summer, a herculean effort involving close to 40 military aircraft and some 400 military personnel, working in concert with provincial and civilian authorities.<\/p>\n

Over 8,000 people, mostly Indigenous, along with pets, were evacuated to the south and safety as their communities sat directly in the path of raging fires.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t either officer\u2019s first rodeo, having worked together on several emergency LENTUS missions in Canada over a 16-year period.<\/p>\n

Gagnon said each mission, whether it be for wildfires, flooding, ice storms, or landslides, is billed as \u201cthe biggest,\u201d but last summer\u2019s wildfires really were the most dangerous and the most work.<\/p>\n

Greeley told chamber members the military is ready to respond to a disaster anywhere in the country within minutes. \u00a0He says he and Gagnon were on their way from 8 Wing Trenton to Winnipeg within an hour of being called upon to lead a wildfire response with aircraft of various types arriving within hours.<\/p>\n

\u201cI want to say that I\u2019m sure we\u2019ll get called upon to deal with a natural disaster within the next few months, maybe more than one. \u00a0And I want to reassure you that we will be ready.\u00a0 Our personnel and equipment are always ready and we\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Working in a hot, smoky environment was no picnic but Greeley said equally challenging was the emotional aspect of their work.<\/p>\n

\u201cMany of the people we were helping had never been on an airplane, let alone anywhere out of their immediate area, and many wouldn\u2019t have ever seen military equipment or personnel.\u00a0 They were scared and rightfully so.\u00a0 We spent time and a lot of effort to convince them that we were there to help, that we had their backs, that we would never let them down.\u201d<\/p>\n

Speaking after the presentation, the Honorary Colonel of 8 Wing\u2019s 424 Squadron Suzanne Hunt stood to stress that not only was the natural disaster response extremely complex and physically challenging, but the emotional toll such work took on military personnel and their loved ones was also difficult.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey have to leave their loved ones on a moment\u2019s notice, drop everything, and go into a very dangerous situation, sometimes for many days. \u00a0They go without sleep.\u00a0 They deserve our support.\u201d<\/p>\n

Both the Commanding Officer and Chief Warrant Officer expressed their gratitude for the support from the communities they serve.
\u201cYou are there for us and we couldn\u2019t do what we do without your support. \u00a0Thank you,\u201d said LCol Greeley.<\/p>\n

LCol Greeley and CWO Gagnon received a standing ovation from the almost 100 chamber members present at the breakfast.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/p>\n

Chief Warrant Officer of 8 Air Maintenance Squadron Rene Gagnon speaks to members of the Belleville Chamber of Commerce February 25 2026. (Photo: John Spitters\/Quinte News)<\/p>\n

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\u00a0<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Commander of 8 Air Maintenance Squadron based out of CFB Trenton Lieutenant Colonel Craig Greeley speaks at…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":499433,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[3735,3736,49,48,295,44,3733,3731,3734,3729,3730,3737,66,3732],"class_list":{"0":"post-499432","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-environment","8":"tag-bancroft","9":"tag-brighton","10":"tag-ca","11":"tag-canada","12":"tag-environment","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-pec","15":"tag-picton","16":"tag-prince-edward-county","17":"tag-quinte","18":"tag-quinte-news","19":"tag-quinte-west","20":"tag-science","21":"tag-trenton"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499432","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=499432"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/499432\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/499433"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=499432"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=499432"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=499432"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}