From Sunny Goose Bay, Labrador

Well, my writing career has taken me to some interesting places, but none as far-flung and fascinating as the one I find myself in this morning, the barracks at 5 Wing Goose Bay, Labrador. Now, my character doesn't align itself easily with the military mindset, so I was a little uncomfortable when I showed up at 443 Squadron Hanger at the Victoria airport after dark for my 11:40 pm Canadian Forces Airbus flight - a milk run that took us to Edmonton, Winnipeg and Trenton before arriving in Goose Bay at five o'clock the following afternoon. Luckily there were two other civilians on the flight to deflect some of the attention - an adolescent girl and her younger brother who were accompanying their father as far as Trenton. I did get a chance to sit up in the cockpit with the pilots for take-off and landing, an experience that, in this day and age of airline paranoia felt akin to stepping into the Holy of Holies to have a look at the Ten Commandments.

5 Wing Goose Bay is a Canadian Forces Base that was built in the lead-up to WWII to protect North America's northeastern flank. It made headlines around the world on 9/11 when seven trans-Atlantic commercial airliners were diverted here following the closure of North American Airspace.

I'm here with Lank/Beach Productions covering SAREX 2007, a training exercise and competition for Search and Rescue Technicians from squadrons across the country. These are the guys in the blaze-orange flight suits you see on the evening news, pulling unfortunate weekend sailors from their overturned skiffs.

Not sure exactly what I'm in for, yet - the "Exercise Activities" start tomorrow morning. I passed on the opening night reception at The Canuck Club last night. I was a little burned out from the flight and decided I wasn't up for drinking beer with about a hundred guys who jump out of airplanes for a living.