RMR deploys in Landing Craft for Exercise Xerus Endurci

Article written by Lieutenant Alex Ray

Westmount, Quebec – 09 November 2022: Ile St Thérèse, Quebec – October 28 to 30, 2022: The Royal Montreal Regiment (RMR) deployed 4 Platoon, who were part of 450 reservists deployed to the island in the heart of the St Lawrence off the shores of the Island of Montreal to take part in Exercise Xerus Endurci. 125 support personnel made up of the Canadian Coast Guard, Naval Reserve and 438 Tactical Helicopter Squadron also took part in the exercise. The aim of the exercise was to practice dismounted light infantry maneuvers to validate the capacity of operational platoons operating in civilian sectors with complex terrain.

The RMR deployed as 3 Platoon in A Company, 34 Canadian Brigade Group’s (CBG) Reserve Light Infantry Battalion’s (RLIB). The battalion deployed from an assembly area in St Hubert to the port of Montreal in the early hours of Saturday morning. The troops of A Company loaded onto Canadian Coast Guard’s NGCC Martha L. Black and left the port of Montreal where they anchored to the southwest of Ile St Thérèse. The troops were then dispatched onto landing craft which took them to their disembarkation point.

Once disembarked, the RMR, along with 4R22R moved into their Company assembly area which was being secured by the Blackwatch who had inserted via helicopter. Battalion reconnaissance elements linked up with the RMR. From there, A Company’s platoons moved into their respective patrol bases to reorganize and brief plans for infiltration to their objectives.

The reconnaissance det attached to the RMR led the platoon to their objective rendezvous point. The platoon’s leadership then scouted the firebase and attack position from which the RMR was to launch its attack. The terrain was flat, demarcated by harvested corn fields, ditches and tall grass making undetected maneuver around the objective difficult.

H-Hour came, and the firebase roared into action covering the assault’s movement to their line of departure. Without missing a beat, the assault broke out into a corn field and pushed through irrigation ditches adjacent to the enemy’s position. With speed and aggression, the assaulting troops overtook the enemy position.

The RMR then conducted an evacuation of the wounded, managed by the medic that was attached to the platoon

Casualty treatment and evacuation were emphasized as one of the many challenges the RLIB platoons would face during the exercise.

The exercise successfully demonstrated the ability of Canadian Armed Forces Reserves to rapidly deploy troops via maritime and air assets, in addition to conducting coordinate raids at the battalion level on enemy objectives.