Canadian troops return to Base Gagetown after 4 months spent training Ukrainian soldiers

A group of soldiers from Base Gagetown returned home this week after a four-month deployment in Poland, helping to train Ukrainian troops battling Russian forces. 

Master Cpl. Matthew Claridge said the work was very rewarding.

"It's one of the greatest things I've got to do," said the 41-year-old Nova Scotia native. 

"If I couldn't be in the battlefield beside them, the next best thing is to just give them my experience and our team's experience."

Claridge was one of about 45 members of 4 Engineer Support Regiment deployed to Poland since last October under Operation UNIFIER to support the Polish-led sapper training program for troops from Ukraine. 

Operation UNIFIER was originally launched in 2015 at the request of the Ukrainian government and was extended last year until March 2026.  

The Canadian soldiers are providing training on a range of "engineering skills, including engineering reconnaissance, the use of explosives for demolition work, and de-mining," according to information provided by the Department of National Defence. The DND also said the Canadians were teaching skills related to the use of the Leopard 2 tank in combat, and teaching advanced medical skills "to bolster the Ukrainian military's ability to save lives."

WATCH | Old and young, farmer and teacher: N.B. soldiers taught Ukrainians life-saving skills:

New Brunswick soldiers reflect on their time in Poland training Ukrainians

1 year ago

Duration 0:54

Soldiers from New Brunswick's Base Gagetown spent four months in Poland teaching Ukrainian troops battling Russian forces.

Claridge said his group was "strictly focusing on the field engineer side and how to deal with some of the threats that the Ukrainians are seeing."

He said they were training groups of about 120 Ukrainians each month.

Cpl. David Greene, who also returned to Gagetown on Monday, said Ukrainian troops ranged in age from 20 to 57, from all walks of life before the war began and with a broad range of experience military experience — from none to career soldiers. 

"Some were brand new — just raw recruits with maybe a month in the military, and some have been fighting for years. So there was a very large variety of what people would get, what these soldiers would be looking for," said Greene. 

Regardless of experience, Claridge said they were all motivated to be there to learn.

"A lot of the people that showed up, they wanted to be there because they understood the importance of learning these skills and drills because down the road, it really will save their life." 

Claridge said they've already received information or "intel" from students, complete with video in some cases, of them using what they learned from the Canadians in the field in real-life situations. 

"So it was again very humbling to see that what we were actually doing there was making a difference," said Claridge. 

Greene said the training received from Canadian soldiers could save lives one day. 

"They will be in a situation where these skills will be useful and they'll have them," said Greene. "It's those kind of thoughts that help me know I made a difference and my peers made a difference and we continue to make a difference."

Greene said he's found himself being "quite introspective" about the experience since returning from the deployment.

"I find myself looking inside a lot, thinking about the people I've met, the good I've done." he said. 

"It's not often you get to directly impact the world stage [and] get to meet somebody for a month and try and do everything you can do to help these people, and help them through the trials and tribulations ahead of them, and then just see them off and and then move on to the next," he said.

"It's taken some processing, I will say." 

Greene said the reality and proximity of the conflict in Ukraine was driven home when an interpreter arrived for work one day looking "sullen." He asked the woman if she was OK and discovered that "one of her best friends had been hit in a rocket explosion.

"These aren't news stories or clips on social media. These are things that are happening, and the things we see and the things we hear about are only the tip of the iceberg. It's horrible."

He said the experience "really validated my sense of purpose and what I was doing there and what, I think, us as Canadians are doing every day."