Key takeaways:
- Approximately 80 troops took off from Edmonton and another 20 from Trenton, Ont.
- Eighty soldiers from across the 3rd Canadian Division board an airplane while deploying to Poland to enter the lead parts already in that nation as part of the federal government’s reply to the war in Ukraine in Edmonton on Friday.
Dozens of Canadian soldiers boarded an airplane to Poland Friday for what their commander said would be an extreme but gratifying mission to support Ukrainians escaping Russian attack.
The approximately 80 soldiers who took off from Edmonton and another 20 from Trenton, Ont. will offer humanitarian aid at reception centers throughout Poland, said, Maj. Ryan Pridmore, a firm commander with 3rd Battalion Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry.
Along with a Canadian medical team, they are to help the Polish Territorial Defence Force on a two-month mission.
“Our troops are all quite pleased to be deploying,” he said. “This is what we trained for. This is why we do this job. Our soldiers are willing to reach in there and begin helping make a difference.”
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Once boots are on the floor, Pridmore said, he hopes the soldiers will be put directly to work.
“We have chaplains to deliver spiritual advice and mental health professionals when refugees come into the reception centers,” said Pridmore, who once served in Afghanistan and Kuwait.
Some of the other troops have an experience in linguistics, he added. He said Canada is ready to send back 50 more soldiers to help with the care, coordination, and resettlement of Ukrainian refugees in Poland.
“We have a unit in place who’s setting the stage, so we’re not moving in blind, but it’ll be a rather quick beginning to business once we get on the ground.”
Source – cbc.ca
