CAF Lands in Latvia as part of NATO Mission

CTV News Online

With a report from CTV News’ Mercedes Stephenson

Canadian soldiers have landed in Latvia as part of Operation Reassurance -- a multinational NATO mission aimed not at starting a conflict, but at discouraging Russian aggression in the region.

Nearly 100 Edmonton-based troops arrived in the Latvian capital of Riga on Saturday, eager to get to work after their long flight.

“We’ve been training a long time,” one Canadian soldier told CTV News. “We want to be here and Latvia wants us here and so we are happy to be here.”

In total, Canada is deploying 450 troops to lead a battlegroup comprised of soldiers from five other NATO countries: Italy, Spain, Poland, Slovenia and Albania. Those countries will contribute 1,200-1,500 soldiers to the battlegroup in an effort to send a powerful message of deterrence to Russia.

“The enhanced forward presence is going to provide the defence of Latvia, the Baltics, and all of NATO,” battlegroup commander Lieutenant-Colonel Wade Rutland told reporters on Saturday in Latvia.

It’s a different kind of mission for the Canadian Forces, with an unusual definition of success.

“It’s a bit of a funny mission success criteria, that if nothing happens, we'll all go home happy,” Rutland added.

The troops will be stationed at Camp Adazi, a Latvian military base just outside of Riga.

Canada’s Lieutenant-Colonel Hugo Delisle was given the monumental task of getting the base ready for the Canadian troops, essentially transforming a muddy field into a fully-functioning camp so soldiers could hit the ground running.

“When they arrive, they can walk in and start working the next day,” Delisle said.

The camp, which is completely independent and self-sustaining, includes specialized trucks to transport water and fuel, tents where soldiers will sleep, bathroom trailers to shower in and custom prefab offices to work in. Everything was shipped in hundreds of seacans across the Atlantic from Canada.

In the coming days, the rest of the battlegroup will join up with the Canadians.

Canadians in Latvia to keep calm and carry on in face of massive Russian military exercise

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News

The Canadian military is taking a wait-and-see approach to a massive Russian military exercise scheduled to take place on the border of the Baltic states this summer — but the country it's being asked to protect is decidedly more nervous.

Defence officials in the United States said this week that they will pay close attention to the drills, which are expected to involve between 70,000 and 100,000 Russian troops equipped with tanks, armoured vehicles, aircraft and helicopters.

The exercise known as Zapad, or West, occurs every few years and Latvia's ambassador to Canada, Karlis Eihenbaums, says it is always a nerve-rattling time.

"The previous exercise was not very comfortable for us," he said in an interview. "We were always uncomfortable with these exercises because of the size. It's huge."

The fact Russian troops are practising to advance into the West is even more alarming.

"You cannot feel safe," Eihenbaums told CBC News.

Related:
Forces iron out challenges ahead of Latvia deployment
Canadians prepare to face cyberwarriors in Latvia mission
Canadian-led battle group to deploy to Latvia, to deter Russia

The timing is particularly significant for Canadian troops and aircrew.

The Russian exercise will kick off just as the multinational, Canadian-led NATO battle group in Latvia is fully activated, and as a flight of CF-18s resume air-policing missions over the Baltic.

The first of 450 Canadian troops are expected to deploy to their base near Riga, Latvia, next month, and they will be joined over the summer by hundreds of other soldiers from Poland, Italy, Spain, Slovenia and Albania.

Brig.-Gen. Simon Hetherington (centre) is commander of the 3rd Canadian Division which oversaw the training of the the troops deploying to Latvia. (DND\MCpl Melanie Ferguson)

Eihenbaums said the NATO deployment, coming in the face of the Russian exercise, will make for a time of extraordinary tension.

Some of that strain, at least for Western military officials, also involves the expectation that Russia will upgrade its missile defences in Kaliningrad, a sliver of land tucked between Poland and Lithuania. Moscow is thought to be permanently upgrading its nuclear-capable Iskander ballistic missile systems, which are capable of hitting targets hundreds of kilometres away.
'Tripwire' battalions

The Liberal government agreed last summer to lead one of four NATO battalions that are being deployed in eastern Europe as a check against possible Russian expansionism.

The tiny Baltic countries are members of the Western military alliance and asked for the deterrence measures.

The battle groups have been referred to as "tripwires," much to the chagrin of the army, because in the event of a full-scale Russian military action, they would be quickly overwhelmed. In fact, the U.S. think-tank the Rand Corporation estimated in a 2016 report that the Baltic states could be overrun in as little 36 hours.

It is that kind of operation that Russian troops will be practising in September.

A spokesperson for the Department of National Defence, Col. Jay Janzen, said every sovereign nation "has the right to exercise its military forces and Zapad falls into that category."

He pointed out Canada will be conducting its own drill at the base in Wainwright, Alta. But exercise Maple Resolve involves just 7,000 troops.
Is there a threat?

Whether the Canadian military believes there's a threat from the manoeuvres on the Latvian border will depend on how Russian troops conduct themselves, said Janzen.

"If the purpose of the exercise is to prepare their troops, it is not a matter of concern to the Canadian Armed Forces," he said. "If they are close to the border and the intent is to send a message, that would be of concern."

The situation would be far less tense, Eihenbaums said, if Moscow invited NATO, or other international groups, to observe the exercise.

"What we would be happy to see is that our militaries would be able to monitor the situation," he said. "It would make this exercise more transparent, as it should be among neighbours if they are talking about mutual trust."

CAF Working to Iron Out Challenges Ahead of Latvia Deployment

By: Murray Brewster, CBC News 

Some NATO allies are calling it "Noah's Ark."

The description of the Canadian-led battle group being assembled in Latvia this summer is more than just a cheeky reference to the disparate collection of nations that make up the force of 1,500 heavily-armoured troops.

It underlines some of the very real challenges military planners face, including how much intelligence data Canadians can share with their partners on the ground and what restrictions — known as caveats — the other nations will impose on the use of their troops.

The constraints some European NATO members placed on their soldiers during the Afghan war, notably forbidding them from operating in southern provinces where the Taliban were present, were a major source of tension among the allies.

Nations operating alongside Canada in Latvia will also be coming with caveats, some of which have raised eyebrows at alliance headquarters in Brussels, said defence officials, who were only authorized to only speak with the media on background.

They would not be specific about the restrictions, other than to say officials are working through the matter.

The Trudeau government agreed to the open-ended deployment at last summer's NATO summit in Warsaw, where the western military alliance announced it would place four battalion-sized formations in the three Baltic States and eastern Europe to act as deterrent against a resurgent Russia.
Diverse team
Canada will deploy 450 soldiers, including a headquarters team and a company of infantry soldiers driving the army's new (light armoured vehicle) LAV 6 fighting vehicle, a larger more powerful version of the troop carrier used in Afghanistan. They will be joined by: A troop of tanks from Poland; Two companies of mechanized soldiers travelling in armoured vehicles — one each from Spain and Italy; and infantry soldiers from Slovenia, Albania and Latvia.

"We are certainly recognized as taking on a diverse team," said Brig.-Simon Hetherington, commander of the 3rd Canadian Division, which is training the first rotation of Canadians for deployment in a few weeks.

One of the important preoccupations for commanders will be deciding what intelligence can and cannot be shared.

"Nobody is in the Five-Eyes there so we've got to be careful about what we do there in that regard," said Hetherington, referring to the long-standing intelligence-sharing network among Canada, the U.S., Britain, Australia and New Zealand.

It's not your grandfather's Cold War, Canadian and NATO officials insist

What also makes this deployment different is the cyber threat posed by Russia and the expectation that so-called fake news will be used to drive a wedge between the NATO troops and the Latvian population.

To that end, Hetherington says soldiers are being schooled and reminded to be careful what they post online and where they post it.

"We need to educate our soldiers. What do they say on social media? How do they say it? That's a direct link to the cyber threat," he said.
Cyber vs. 'fake news'

Karlis Eihenbaums, Latvia's ambassador to Canada, says public opinion in his country overwhelmingly supports the NATO deployment.

His country has not faced the same kind of cyberattacks as neighbouring Estonia, but has struggled against disinformation campaigns.

A military unit from Canada marches during a 2014 military parade marking Polish Armed Forces Day, in Warsaw, Poland, where Canadian soldiers were taking part in military exercises. Canada is preparing to lead a multinational battle group in Latvia that will include Polish tanks, as part of NATO's deterrence measures against Russia. (Czarek Sokolowski/AP Photo)

"What is good is our Western allies understand the urgency to do something about this," he said.

There are other more pedantic details for the Canadian-led force to consider.

"The language issue: That's always a challenge, particularly at the junior level," Hetherington told CBC News in an interview. "Our Polish isn't that good and I doubt the young (non-commissioned officer) from Poland's English is going to be that great."

Mechanics is another issue: "How do we communicate? We've all got different radio sets, different comms systems, digital and analogue. We have to work through that."
Tripwire battalions

A study by the Rand Corporation, a U.S.-based think-tank, estimated it would take less than 60 hours for Russian troops to overrun Latvia, Estonia and Lithuania in the event of a full-blown crisis.

The NATO battalions have been loosely described as a "tripwire" to guard against any interference similar to what to has unfolded in Ukraine over the last three years.

Troops from the U.S. Army's 173rd Infantry Brigade Combat Team parachute from a Boeing C-17 Globemaster III during a NATO-led exercise in May 2014 that including parachuting, airborne operations and infantry skills. (Kacper Pempel/Reuters)

The sobering scenarios are on the minds of soldiers, particularly as tensions with Moscow remain high in the aftermath of allegations of tampering in the U.S. election.

"We need to be prepared for the worst case," said Hetherington.

"This is about showing the solidarity of our alliance. The willingness of Canada to be prepared to defend one of NATO's allies."

In theory, the battle groups would be expected to hold out until NATO could muster its high-readiness rapid reaction force — something that could take days.

Privately, Latvian officials don't believe help would arrive in time, an assessment Hetherington, as a professional military officer, shares.

"It would be over very quickly," he said.

"Are we a tripwire? I've never liked that term. We are a show of assurance. We are a show of deterrence. We hope that everything, like every other war that's happened out there; that diplomacy and other means of national power are going to be the way we avoid the worst case scenario."

Canada Expanding OP REASSURANCE to Black Sea Region

By: Zane Schwartz, National Post

Canada will send troops to the Black Sea region to combat Russian influence there, NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg announced Wednesday.

“I’m pleased to confirm that several nations indicated their willingness to contribute to our presence in the Black Sea region, on land, at sea and in the air,” said Stoltenberg, adding that the countries involved include: “Canada, Germany, the Netherlands, Poland, Turkey and the United States.”

The deployment is in addition to the troops Canada has already committed to Operation Reassurance in Eastern Europe.

Department of National Defence spokesperson Evan Koronewski confirmed the Black Sea deployment. It will include CF-18s stationed in Romania and a RCN frigate in the Black Sea.

Stoltenberg said he intends to confirm the plans by the next meeting of NATO defence ministers in February.

Stoltenberg also announced a land brigade in Romania, but Canada will not be part of that, Jordan Owens, press secretary of Defence Minister Harjit Sajjan, said Thursday.

Romania, Russia, Ukraine and Turkey are among the countries that border the
Black Sea. Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan has described it as “almost a Russian lake” as a result of the Russian military presence there.

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Canada has 220 armed forces members deployed in Poland as well as about 250 aboard HMCS Charlottetown as part a maritime task force formed by NATO. HMCS Charlottetown could deploy to the Black Sea or, if its rotation is up by the time the order to move comes, the frigate replacing it will go.

Rona Ambrose, the interim Conservative leader, criticized Justin Trudeau’s government this week for its failure to disclose basic facts about Canadian troops fighting ISIL.

Stoltenberg’s announcement comes on the heels of rising tensions between Russia and NATO following the breakdown of a ceasefire on Oct. 3 brokered by the two countries in Syria.

For Operation Reassurance, about 4,000 soldiers divided into four battalions will deploy in Poland, Lithuania, Estonia and Latvia. Canada is leading the battalion based in Latvia.

Stoltenberg announced that Albania, Italy, Poland, and Slovenia would contribute to the Latvia battalion.

Sajjan Traveling to Paris, Eastern Europe

DND Press Release

Ottawa – National Defence / Canadian Armed Forces

Defence Minister Harjit S. Sajjan will travel to Central and Eastern Europe between October 24 and 29 to attend key international meetings including with the Counter-ISIL Ministerial Meeting of the Global Coalition against Daesh in Paris, and NATO Defence Ministers’ in Brussels. He will continue to Riga, Latvia, and speak at the Riga Conference which is known as a unique venue for dialogue on international security issues between leading global decision makers.

Canada is committed, active and engaged in addressing the evolving international security environment with allied and partner nations globally.

1,650 CAF members heading to Europe

Defence Minister Jason Kenney announced yesterday that Canada will partake in the largest NATO exercise in Europe since the end of the Cold War in 1991.

Operation TRIDENT JUNCTURE-15 will be held in late September to early November in Spain, Portugal, and Italy; and will include more than 25,000 troops from NATO members. Canada will be sending a contingent of 1,650 troops, including elements of the RCAF, RCN, and Land elements, including Special Forces.


The Conservative government, despite not spending the NATO requested 2% of GDP on defence has been a large supporter of NATO's response to Russian aggression in Eastern Europe. Canada is still deciding on how many members (if any) of the CAF it will contribute to the NATO Rapid Reaction Force. However, Ottawa officially offered the RCAF spy planes, tanker aircraft and strategic lift capabilities to the Rapid Reaction Force, which is set to triple in size from the current 13,000 members.

Two weeks ago, the CAF announced that it would provide staff officers to work at the Rapid Reaction Force command centres in Latvia, Lithuania, Estonia, Poland, Bulgaria, and Romania.

Despite Canada's slow decision making process in sending troops to be part of the reaction force, Canada has had 200 infantry rotating through Eastern Europe since the summer of 2014, and according to DND, plans for the continued rotation is set for as far as March 2016.

Opponents are saying that Canada is planning on establishing a permanent presence in Europe, much like it did between 1946 and 1991 in Germany. However, DND says no permanent planning is in the process, as it is not cost-effective and in most cases too expensive.

Canada, Ukraine,and Russia; Georgia as part of NATO?

Following the NATO Summit yesterday, Defence Minister Rob Nicholson again told Russia to back off in Ukraine.

NATO announced that it will establish six regional command posts (in Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, and Bulgaria) and expand the current Rapid Response Unit from 13,000 troops to 30,000 troops.

When asked if he thought the Rapid Response Unit would provoke Russia, and cause a larger conflict instead of ending the current situation in the Ukraine, Nicholson shrugged off the question. "Take a look at the way NATO is runs and has always run." Nicholson did stand firm on Canada not arming the Ukrainian Forces, but mentioned that the U.S. is still considering it.

It is true NATO has always encroached onto Russia territory, and pushed to have its defensive forces as close to Russia as possible. Now Georgia (which went to war in 2008 against Russia) is pushing for membership to NATO, and Canada fully supports the inclusion of the former Soviet state.

Russia on the other hand, has not yet backed down to any NATO placement in Europe, and believes the Rapid Response Unit will only cause further conflict.

To read the original Ottawa Citizen article:
Defence Minister Nicholson not worried about Russia