Courtesy Photo | 210629-F-D0094-0060 ODESA, Ukraine (June 29, 2021) Sailor First Class (S1) Jesse...... read more read more
Sailor 1st Class (S1) Jesse Gisborne, a Clearance Diver from Fleet Diving Unit (Pacific), is deployed on Operation Unifier supporting Exercise Sea Breeze 21 in Odesa, Ukraine. Sea Breeze, which takes place this year from June 28 to July 10, 2021, is a multinational annual exercise co-hosted by the United States Navy and the Ukrainian Navy with the support of NATO’s Partnership for Peace program.
Raised in Abbotsford, B.C., and a local of Victoria, S1 Gisborne, has always dreamt about travelling the world and living a life of adventure.
“I was a young man searching for adventure on the high seas. It turns out the adventure happens in port,” he said.
Clearance divers like S1 Gisborne are the Royal Canadian Navy’s explosive ordnance disposal experts in both surface and sub-surface environments, with specialties in underwater demolitions, conventional and advanced unexploded ordnance and improvised explosive device disposal. They are also experts in salvage, inspections, training, search and survey, hyperbaric medicine, submarine rescue, fleet maintenance and dockyard support. What’s more, they provide support to Fleet Force Protection and other government agencies. Clearance Diver Teams are employed out of Fleet Diving Units (Pacific) and (Atlantic), located in Victoria and Halifax, respectively.
Among the many memorable diving missions for S1 Gisborne was his tasking in Tofino, B.C.
“A challenging experience that I can never forget was sailing our dive tender to Tofino to recover ordnance from a First World War wreck,” he said. “The tow rope for our rigid-hulled inflatable boat (RHIB) parted in the middle of the night in rough seas. I remember the jump from the deck of our boat to the RHIB in three-metre swells was dicey. Sometimes getting to the job is the most dangerous part!”
He has also been deployed off the coast of Libya during the Arab Spring in 2011 aboard Her Majesty’s Canadian Ship (HMCS) Vancouver, as well as in numerous domestic and international exercises.
“The experiences you share with your team will form friendships that last the rest of your life,” said S1 Gisborne about his deployments.
The Clearance Diver Team deployed in support of Exercise Sea Breeze 21 is comprised of members from both the Pacific and Atlantic Fleet Diving Units. During the exercise, S1 Gisborne is sharing best practices with partner navies in mine countermeasures.
“We’re in Ukraine to share our diving expertise with our partner nations and to become better divers ourselves. We’re here to improve our interoperability with our global partners and support the Ukrainian Navy’s dive capability. I look forward to making connections with divers from other nations. It’s a small world!” he said.
Exercise Sea Breeze is about training together and making new friends based on a shared commitment to peace and stability in Europe. The RCN’s deployment of personnel to support this year’s iteration of the exercise is part of Operation Unifier, the CAF military training and capacity building mission in Ukraine.
| Date Taken: | 07.05.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 07.06.2021 11:45 |
| Story ID: | 400382 |
| Location: | ODESA, UA |
| Web Views: | 340 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Sea Breeze Sailor Profile: Meet Sailor 1st Class Jesse Gisborne from the Royal Canadian Navy, by Maj. Christopher Daniel, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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