ALUKSNE, Latvia — NATO is conducting its largest military deployment exercise ever conducted along Latvia’s border with Russia and Belarus this week. Dubbed “Resolute Reforger”, a Canadian-led multinational NATO brigade of roughly 3,000 soldiers, 2,000 of which are Canadian, have left their base in Adazi, Latvia and fanned out to the east in separate units. CTV News is currently embedded with battalions and squadrons along NATO’s eastern flank, where all roads lead to either Russia or Belarus. Fourteen nations now make up the multinational brigade and they’re all taking part in this week’s exercise where finding a battle-ready rhythm between soldiers from different countries is a central focus. At one location in Rezekne, Latvia, CTV News visited a joint Canadian and Polish tank squadron. They both use Leopard tanks, though the vehicle kits differ and soldiers from the two countries rarely get to leave the base in Adazi together to train in real-world combat scenario exercises. CTV News has been asked to withhold the names of the soldiers we interviewed for this story to protect their identities. A Canadian Armed Forces Major, commanding the squadron, says bringing the tanks and soldiers from the two countries east to train together helps him “understand how (the Polish unit) works. Different countries have different procedures so when we go out on a mission, we’re able to work together,” he said. To the south in Daugavpils, just 50 kilometres from the Russian border, CTV News visited a trench training exercise where Italian, Spanish and Canadian soldiers are running through drills shoulder to shoulder in a simulated combat exercise. The unit’s Captain second-in-command told CTV News, that there’s “groups of 30 Canadians, working with 30 Spanish, working with 30 Italians. This is all about improving our ability to conduct joint operations,” he said. He adds the ability to practice moving this many soldiers across the country is also invaluable. “This terrain specifically and this region of Latvia is where we would have to move in order to conduct real-life combat operations near the Russian border. If there was an attack, we’d want to fight it here, away from the capital city of Riga,” said the Captain. The threat from Russia, to Latvia’s east, has only grown since the full-scale invasion of Ukraine. CTV News also visited a shooting range where a group of Polish, Italian and Canadian soldiers were receiving instruction from a Spanish commander, who was encouraging the troops to trade firearms and get out of their comfort zone. “It’s all about timing, precision and being quick together as one cohesive unit,” said one young lieutenant. Over a number of days, CTV News has observed soldiers from different allied NATO nations try and work in lockstep including armoured units, international battle groups, engineers, medics, and the list goes on. They’re all in a race together to try and build interoperability, preparing to move as one towards an uncertain future. The soldiers who have spoken to CTV News while we’ve been embedded with NATO forces have each echoed a similar sentiment. They’re not here along the border of Russia searching for war, but if it was to arrive along NATO’s eastern flank, they say they’d be ready.
