Canadian Forces Base, 19 Wing Comox has a rich history which began when the Royal Air Force started construction of the air base in 1942 to protect the Pacific coastline and train air crew for service during the Second Word War. In 1943, the base was transferred from British hands to the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The Wing is also home to 19 Air Maintenance Squadron, responsible for providing maintenance and technical support to the squadrons. The Canadian Forces School of Search and Rescue is located in Comox and is responsible for training every Search and Rescue Technician across Canada. In the summer, cadets come from across the province to conduct training at the Regional Cadet Gliding School (Pacific) and HMCS Quadra sea cadet camp.
Today there are two operational squadrons flying from Comox; 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron and 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron.
Using the CP-140 Aurora, the crews of 407 Long Range Patrol Squadron spend long hours on surveillance missions over Canada’s coastal waters and into the North, looking for illegal fishing, migration, drugs and pollution in addition to foreign submarines. They can also perform search and rescue missions using air-droppable survival pods.
With CC-115 Buffalo aircraft and CH-149 Cormorant helicopters, 442 Transport and Rescue Squadron carries 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.
