I am happy to welcome Royal Canadian Navy Captain Colin Matthews, who I chat with while he was in Command of Combined Task Force 150 (CTF-150).

Captain Matthews was speaking to me from the CTF-150 headquarters at Naval Support Activity Bahrain, which is also the headquarters for the Combined Maritime Forces (CMF), a multinational naval partnership of 46 nations that focuses on counter-terrorism, counter-piracy, maritime security, and regional cooperation.

The Combined Maritime Forces is the world’s largest international naval partnership, and it's goal is to promote stability, security, and prosperity in international waters, including some of the world's most important shipping lanes.

CTF-150 is one of five task forces under the Combined Maritime Forces, and its core staff consists of Australians, Bahrainis, Canadians, and New Zealanders.

In this episode you will hear about Canada's leadership of CTF-150, which began in January 2024.

Highlights during the nearly seven month tenure of Canada's leadership included seven successful drug interdiction's at sea, with more than 11,600 kg of illegal narcotics seized.

Notably, you will hear how CTF-150 used space-based intelligence from Canada's RADARSAT-2 satellite, a capability that will be an ongoing asset to the Combined Maritime Forces as appropriate.

The tenure of Canada's command of CTF-150 has been concurrent with the kinetic actions that are happening in the Red Sea, so I asked Captain Matthews how that combat action impacted CTF-150.

Other notable events you will hear about during Canada's command of CTF-150 was the interdiction of a ship transporting advanced conventional weapons.

You'll also hear how India participated for the first time, and how they conducted their largest ever drug interdiction to date.

This is a fascinating chat with a senior military leader, so I hope you enjoy this episode with Captain Colin Matthews, the Commander of CTF-150 (until July 22, 2024).

Go Bold!