11 P.E.I. soldiers head to Latvia to support NATO allies fighting Russia's invasion of Ukraine

Eleven soldiers from the Prince Edward Island Regiment (RCAC) are headed to Latvia to take part in a Canadian-led mission to support NATO allies working to deter Russian aggression in eastern Europe.

The platoon headed to Riga consists of 38 Maritime soldiers from the 36 Canadian Brigade Group. A total of about 1,650 Canadian Armed Forces members have been deployed as part of Operation Reassurance.

"The task is kind of in the name," said Capt. Cole MacEachern, the force protection platoon commander.

"We're there to reassure NATO allies, and for them to be comforted, to know that we have their back if anything were to happen, and to act as a force to supplement any sort of conflict that may arise in the region."

The regiment says this is the largest P.E.I. deployment since military members were deployed to Afghanistan. 

"It is a fairly unique opportunity that hasn't happened in the last decade," said MacEachern. "We're fully committed to embracing that and bringing it back."

Months of preparation, training

The platoon consists of combat armed soldiers, including three senior non-commissioned officers from the infantry sector, as well as combat engineers and infantry.

MacEachern said work on the mission started in February with medical screenings and paperwork, then moved to training in things like basic soldier skills, first aid and vehicle use.

MacEachern said everyone in his platoon has at least a few years' experience, but some, like the infantry and combat engineers, were new to this specific area.

"They bring a wealth of experience and knowledge in their specific trade areas," he said. "But when it comes to operating in vehicle contact, we had to get them trained on the vehicle platforms and then gradually over the last few months, get them that experience where they know and are comfortable using the vehicles."

Opportunity to learn and bond

This is MacEachern's first overseas deployment. He said he is excited to take part in the operation and gain as much experience as possible.

"With the number of nations and resources that are in Latvia right now, there's the possibility for some fairly unique training opportunities that we typically wouldn't get just in your normal run-of-the mill training here," he said.

"So we're really just looking to hop on any tasks or training that is available because we don't normally get that level of experience, or [get] exposed to, the different assets that are in Latvia."

MacEachern said he and the platoon are looking forward to bringing home the experiences they have in Latvia and passing that knowledge along to the local reserve units and peers.

He said a lot of the Operation Reassurance members already knew each other, so the deployment will allow them to become closer.

"Once this task is over in the coming years when we're working together on different exercises in Atlantic Canada, having the ability to know somebody in the other units that you'll be working with will be very beneficial, as well."