Additional CAF military personnel, equipment and support vehicles being sent to Latvia

One hundred additional military personnel, along with equipment and support vehicles, are temporarily being sent to Latvia by the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) to support the military exercises of US Army Europe and NATO’s enhanced Forward Presence (eFP) battlegroup in Latvia.

The decision was made to support the defensive-focused training activities during the battlegroup’s upcoming exercises this fall and for future training events.

“The deployment of equipment and personnel to support exercises in Latvia is an outstanding opportunity for the Canadian Armed Forces to enhance the training environment of the battlegroup and demonstrates our robust interoperability within the Alliance,” said LGen. Steve Bowes, Commander, Canadian Joint Operations Command.

Specifically, the 100 additional troops are comprised of an artillery battery made up of four M777 Howitzer guns is being sent to Latvia. The battery and the troops are from the 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, garrisoned at Canadian Forces Base Shilo, Manitoba.

The artillery battery will provide indirect fire during major training events including Exercise SILVER ARROW, a Latvian-led NATO exercise in October 2017.

When it is not being used for training, the equipment will be stored in the Canadian compound at Camp Ādaži, Latvia, and the artillery personnel will return to Canada.