Several army reservists from Moose Jaw’s Saskatchewan Dragoons have deployed to the Eastern European nation of Latvia to support that country in the face of potential Russian threats and reinforce NATO’s collective defence.
Members of the reserve unit deployed recently as part of Operation REASSURANCE at Camp Adazi in Latvia. They are working with Task Force Rampart as part of the enhanced forward presence battle group Latvia.
“It has been a highlight of my career in the CAF (Canadian Armed Forces) to deploy to Latvia to work with our host nation and the 10(-plus) nations at Camp Adazi. The majority of the Battle Group are here for six months and should be home before Christmas,” Capt. Richard McKenty told the Moose Jaw Express by email.
“Our soldiers in the Battle Group are highly trained and motivated with excellent capabilities and modern equipment to be bale to deter and defend against our adversaries.”
Besides McKenty, two other Moose Jaw-area members from the Saskatchewan Dragoons are also calling Latvia home for the next six months.
Cpl. Saed Warsame is on his first overseas tour; after being selected for deployment, he completed work-up training at Canadian Forces Base (CFB) Edmonton and CFB Shilo, Man. Warsame lives in Regina and works as a full-time plumber.
Warsame says the most important aspect of his position with the reserves is to learn as much as he can to improve his skills in his trade as an armoured soldier in armoured reconnaissance and to learn as much as he can from other trades.
Sgt. Michael Cook is a senior non-commissioned member (NCM) and the highest-ranking Saskatchewan Dragoon in the battle group. Originally, from Regina, he lives with his family in Mortlach and parades with his unit in Moose Jaw. Cook’s youngest son, Bode, is following in his footsteps and has just joined the unit.
Cook says he enjoys sharing best practices with his colleagues in the regular force, such as tactics.
Meanwhile, McKenty grew up in Moose Jaw, is based in Calgary, and is the public affairs officer for the battle group. The Saskatchewan Dragoons was the first unit he joined many years ago.
Working in Latvia with various nations and their many languages has been an amazing experience that has resulted in several humorous experiences, McKenty said by email.
For example, when he first arrived, he noticed that some Italian soldiers’ names were “Esercito.” He thought this was interesting until he noticed that every Italian soldier he met had the same name of Esercito.
“This cause me much confusion until an Italian colleague told me that ‘Esercito’ is army in Italian and that their name tags (are) on the left side of their shirts, which is opposite of where Canadians have their name tags,” McKenty added.
According to the Government of Canada website, roughly 1,000 CAF members are deployed to Central and Eastern Europe as part of Operation REASSURANCE, making it Canada’s largest current international military operation.
The military has deployed 540 Canadian army members to Latvia since June 2017, where they lead a NATO Battle Group that forms the backbone of the Enhanced Forward Presence in Latvia and provide support capabilities to this Allied force. This group comprises personnel from over one-third of all NATO nations, including Albania, Canada, Czech Republic, Iceland, Italy, Montenegro, Poland, Slovakia, Slovenia and Spain.
On Feb. 22, it was announced that a battery of M777 artillery guns with forward observers and an electronic warfare troop consisting of approximately 155 soldiers would also be attached to the Battle Group.
