Glebokie, Poland - Members of the Canadian Armed Forces participated in a special ceremony hosted by the Polish Army today in Glebokie, Poland, to welcome them to their home base.

Since their arrival in May 2014, Canadian Armed Forces members have been involved in a number of partnership engagements with our European allies in collective training exercises in Poland, Germany, Lithuania and Latvia.

Attendees for the ceremony included: Her Excellency Alexandra Bugailiskis, the Canadian Ambassador to the Republic of Poland;  Zbigniew Ptak, the mayor of Drawsko Pomorskie; Michal Hypki, the mayor of Kalisz Pomorskie; Colonel Daniel Geleyn, the Canadian Defence Attaché to Poland; and Colonel Stanislaw Kaczyński, Commanding Officer of Poland’s 25th Air Cavalry Brigade.

Quick Facts

• Approximately 200 soldiers predominately from November Company of the 3rd Battalion, The Royal Canadian Regiment, are headquartered in Glebokie Training Area, situated in the area of Drawsko Pomorskie, Poland.

• The Central and Eastern Europe exercises enhance Canada’s operational readiness and interoperability with our allies and security partners, as well as strengthen their collective capability to respond in a timely and effective manner to a variety of operational contingencies in Europe and around the world.

Quotes

“The warm Polish welcome received by our Royal Canadian Regiment troops underscores the strong ties that bind Canada and Poland. We stand together in defending the NATO Alliance, and in demanding that Vladimir Putin end his illegal occupation of Ukrainian territory.” 

The Honourable Jason Kenney, Minister of National Defence

"I am very proud of the professionalism and commitment of our soldiers. We look forward to working closely with our European partners to maintain our skills and readiness. On 16 March, we begin a two week training event with 1st Battalion, 25 Air Cavalry Brigade (Polish Armed Forces). Working together, our platoons will practice airmobile movements and small unit tactics. This continues our work both with our host nation and the larger mission of integrating with NATO armed forces." 

Major Jonathan Hubble, Land Task Force Commander

src:news.gc.ca