4 Wing increasing to 50% air operations, posting season continues to evolve: Wing Commander

4 Wing is increasing its air operations to roughly 50 per cent capacity after initially slowing down much of their mission at the beginning of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“The Wing has now reached the point where we need to return to the air to esnure we can continue meeting our mandates to Canada. With that, we are implementing the next phase of our COVID-19 opeartions plan by commencing a reduced flying program starting May 4,” said Wing Commander, Col. Dave Moar in a letter May 2.

“To ensure we can do this safely, the Wing has implemented a number of preventative measures such as segregated work teams, local production and use of non-medical masks, and changes to work procedures to maximize sanitization and physical distancing.

He said he is confident that the Wing can increase their flying operations without putting military members at any further risk.

He recognized that increased operations could lead to childcare issues and has asked command teams to accomodate these needs to the “maximum extent possible.”

“Although we are increasing our flying to approximately 50 per cent of our normal rate, my intent with respect to minimizing the number of personnel physically working at CFB Cold Lake has not changed. With that intent, it is still the responsibility of unit supervisors to determine who can work from home and who needs to be physically present,” said Col. Moar.

Posting season

In the letter, the Wing Commander said a revised plan for the active posting season, which sees hundreds of Canadian members transport to and from Cold Lake over a short period of time, and posting messages will be issued in the coming weeks.

The COVID-19 pandemic has created an uncertain time for these members who were anticipating a move this summer.

“I anticipate that the next two weeks will be administratively busy with postings and the Wing Command Teams are standing ready to respond to your issues.

“There are also higher-level policy issues that still need to be resolved including inter-provincial travel restrictions and other similar challenges that might impact your move.

“Again, not all problems have yet been solved and the situation continues to evolve. That said, I see the resumption of posting messages as an important first step that get us started,” said Col. Moar.