The six infantry members of section One Two Bravo had been travelling across southern Estonia for a week, along with a crew of three in their Light Armoured Vehicle. Crawling down a dirt road, they learned of nearby enemy tanks. One Two Bravo dismounted to begin their hunt.
The section was among some 1,000 Canadian soldiers who took part in a NATO military exercise called Steadfast Defender. From January to the end of May, more than 90,000 allied forces from every NATO nation have participated in exercises across Eastern Europe with the goal of demonstrating the alliance’s ability to defend NATO members from threats.
In mid-May, around 400 Canadian troops took part in a Steadfast Defender exercise called Spring Storm, many of them mechanized infantry from 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment based at Gagetown in New Brunswick. Their (simulated) mission: stop an enemy incursion of Estonia from its eastern border with Russia using tanks, helicopters, machine guns firing blanks and other equipment.
The Canadian fighting contribution for Spring Storm was centred along Highway 6, which runs through southern Estonia, in the counties of Parnu and Viljandi. Canadian, Spanish, Italian, Danish and Estonian forces were tasked with defending against British, French and Estonian troops simulating invaders pushing from the east. The Canadians spent long days in simulated exercises, and on breaks ate and slept in and around their LAVs.
The front line between the two forces shifted in both directions many times over the course of Spring Storm. At one point the Canadians defeated the British troops in a defensive battle, but in another battle were wiped out by a French company.
“It’s real,” said 25-year-old Alex Zaremba, Captain of Two Platoon. “There are people who were born here under the Soviet Union. They know what it’s like and don’t want that again.”
With a population of 1.3 million, Estonia is 13 times smaller than Ukraine and shares a border with Russia on its east. The three Baltic states of Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania have all made considerable contributions to NATO and the Ukrainian war effort.
“Canada is privileged to not have an enemy on our borders that wants to destroy what we have,” said Major Jason O’Rourke, commanding officer of Golf Company of the 2nd Battalion, Royal Canadian Regiment.
Canada has had a permanent presence in the Baltics since 2017 under Operation Reassurance, which is currently the largest overseas mission for the Canadian Armed Forces and will increase to up to 2,200 troops by the end of 2026.