MOOSE JAW - Three reservists with the Moose Jaw-based Saskatchewan Dragoons have deployed to the Eastern European country of Latvia to support that country in the face of potential Russian threats and reinforce NATO’s collective defence.
Cpl. Myra Szabo and brothers Trooper Walker Demanenko and Cpl. Garrett Demanenko deployed recently to Camp Adazi as part of Operation REASSURANCE. They are working with Task Force Rampart as part of the enhanced forward presence battle group Latvia.
The three men are the second group from The Friendly City to deploy to Latvia after three other members were sent to Eastern Europe two years ago for a six-month deployment.
“It’s a good opportunity because it’s what we’ve trained for, (which is) to deploy and be useful to the (regular) force,” Garrett said before the trio left.
While the soldiers were not 100-per-cent certain what they would be doing, they knew they would be part of “A echelon” and help supply the fighting troops while the latter conducted their training.
While Szabo has served five years in the reserves, Walker 3.5 years and Garrett 1.5 years, this will be the first time any of them has travelled overseas with the military. So, this will be an opportunity to grow together.
“It will be nice to have some experience under our belt and let us actually do our job. That’s the whole point of this,” said Walker. “I’m excited right now, but I know that once I get there, I’m going to be a nervous wreck!”
None of the soldiers was concerned about being stationed close to the Latvian-Russian border or the potential threat the latter poses. Walker pointed out that NATO has a strong presence in the small European country and is there to be a deterrent.
“I’m not worried. We’re ready if anything like that happens,” he added.
Besides serving as temporary full-time regular force members, the trio is also excited to explore the country and all it has to offer, including local architecture, old Soviet bunkers, the people and the language.
Since the task force is a multinational unit, they will also interact and network with military personnel from all over the world while at the base.
Walker pointed out that half the base is Spanish, although he has not done anything to learn the language since he must still learn Latvian first.
“They’ll provide us with some basic language skills, but it will obviously be on (our) own time to learn more and speak to locals,” he 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.
