The exercise took place in the Regional Municipality of Portneuf in late October. The participants came from several regions of Quebec for the first large-scale exercise involving 5 MP Regt, which was formed April 1 this year. The regiment encompasses all police officers from Land Force Quebec Area.
Prior to the reforms introduced in the military police, the unit was called 5 Military Police Unit.
Very specific objectives
Major Stéphane Vouligny, commander of 5 MP Regt, elaborated on the three objectives of Ex POLICIER VAILLANT.“First, to bring all of the Regular and Reserve military police in my regiment together for the first time,” he said.
“[Second], to create an exercise where the military police [are outside] their comfort zone and their regular work environment, such as a military base.
During Exercise POLICIER VAILLANT, members of 5 MP Regt collaborated with and worked alongside their colleagues in the RCMP.
“[Third], now that our combat mission in Afghanistan is over, we have to orient our training towards domestic operations within Canada and learn to work with civil authorities.”
Collaboration with the RCMP
The exercise aimed to replicate a Canadian Forces operation in aid of civil authorities on Canadian soil. The members of 5 MP Regt collaborated and worked alongside their colleagues from the Royal Canadian Mounted Police.“It’s extremely important for us to work and train with the police from the Canadian Forces,” said Inspector Marc Gosselin, officer in charge of support service to the RCMP, Quebec Area. “The important thing in all this is to get to know one another and learn to communicate together. Exercise POLICIER VAILLANT was a perfect opportunity to integrate our knowledge and learn how to operate together.”
Corporal Jean-Sébastien Firreri, a military police officer, found the exercise very interesting and rewarding.
“I really appreciated the realism of the scenarios,” he said. “As military police officers, we have a duty to perform, but a domestic training operation makes us take another look at how we operate and [teaches us] to work with our colleagues in the force.”
Major Bernard Hudson, deputy commander of the Military Police Group with the Chief of the Land Staff, was pleased with the way the exercise turned out.
“I’m really satisfied with what I was able to see,” he concluded. “The exercise carried out here by 5 MP Regt covers a multitude of tasks performed by our military police, and it will become a training standard for our entire trade.”
Article and photos by Sgt Sébastien Fréchette, Army News, Montréal
