First all-female Provost Marshal team on Operation UNIFIER

September 28, 2020 - Lt(N) Kevin Moffat, Joint Task Force – Ukraine Public Affairs Officer

When I first met Captain Emilie Bouchard during a Key Leadership Engagement session in Ottawa earlier this year, I was very intrigued by her career progression.

Her becoming a qualified military police (MP) officer in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) was a road less travelled.

“I started my career in a bakery,” she said.

Now, four years later, Capt Bouchard is the Task Force Provost Marshal on Operation UNIFIER, Canada’s training mission in Ukraine.

“Although I enjoyed my job helping manage the bakery, I knew I wanted something different. I wanted a career that would bring the best out of me and take me to the next level,” said Capt Bouchard, whose husband is also a CAF member.

Capt Bouchard’s passion for law enforcement runs in the family – her father is a retired police officer in a residential area close to Montreal. To make her dream a reality, she completed a bachelor’s degree in security and police studies from the University of Montreal in 2009; however, she had trouble finding employment in her field after graduating.

While employed at the bakery, and searching for jobs in her spare time, she enquired about a career in law enforcement with the Canadian Army and went to a recruiting session.

“I was sold,” Capt Bouchard said. “The benefits, opportunity for advancement, high-level training, the camaraderie; I really had no idea that the military had so much to offer.”

Shortly thereafter she submitted her application online, and the rest is history.

Capt Bouchard arrived in Ukraine in June 2020 and is serving on Op UNIFIER. She serves alongside her non-commissioned counterpart and ‘right-hand’ Sergeant Sandra Calhoun. Sandra is a strong contributor and valued member of Joint Task Force – Ukraine (JTF-U). She brings approximately 15 years of military police experience to the mission and is a veteran of Afghanistan.

Like Capt Bouchard, Sgt Calhoun also had a passion for law enforcement at a young age. She enlisted after hearing about all of the unique opportunities the military had to offer. One of the most appealing aspects of military service was that women could enrol in any occupation and serve in any environment. She also appreciated that in the CAF personnel are selected for training, promotions and placements based on rank, qualification, and merit – she would have an equal opportunity for advancement.

When asked about the benefits women bring to the mission, the current commander of JTF-U and former commanding officer of 1st Regiment, Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, Lieutenant-Colonel Ryan Stimpson said: “Diversity and inclusion of women makes the Task Force stronger, better and more agile when dealing with the unique challenges commanders encounter on training missions. Diversity among our ranks improves our understanding of the human dimension when providing sophisticated training to our Ukrainian counterparts and affords deeper saturation of what is being taught. That’s why no matter which community an individual comes from, gender they associate to, or background they have, we welcome diversity in all of its forms. Diversity is strength in the CAF and on Op UNIFIER.”

In the several months that Capt Bouchard and Sgt Calhoun have worked together in Ukraine, they have had the opportunity to utilize their different but complementary perspectives. On several occasions the duo developed and delivered presentations and NATO-compatible training packages to Ukrainian military police.

Approximately one month into her tour, Capt Bouchard had the opportunity to inform her Ukrainian counterparts at the 25th Military Police Training Centre (25 MPTC) on the benefits women bring to the CAF. Her presentation was titled: ‘Leadership and Women in the Military.’ The informative presentation provided a brief overview on leadership and women in uniform with a focus on how women bolster the MP trade. She also discussed the functional differences between military police officers and non-commissioned members (NCMs).