Master Corporal Britany Desmarteau recounts her experiences as a medical assistant during Operation UNIFIER

February 2, 2024 - Defence Stories

By Major Christopher Daniel, Senior Public Affairs Officer, Joint Task Force-Ukraine

"I was really excited when my unit told me I was getting deployed on Operation UNIFER. It was the first overseas deployment opportunity for which I was able to apply and I'm so grateful to have been chosen to teach combat medicine to Ukrainian soldiers," said Master Corporal (MCpl) Britany Desmarteau, a medical assistant from 51 Field Ambulance in Montreal. Desmarteau was deployed on Operation UNIFIER Rotation 16 as part of Joint Task Force – Ukraine's United Kingdom Training Element (UKTE).

MCpl Desmarteau joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) as a medical assistant because she always had an interest for the medical field. "I'm from a military family and growing up I've always had this admiration for our service members. I want to give back and support the people who have dedicated their lives in serving Canada." she said.

What MCpl Desmarteau likes about her trade is that she's always meaningfully employed in her home unit and while deployed. Before Operation UNIFIER, she served in two domestic operations during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of Operation LASER and Operation VECTOR.

Talking about her role during Operation UNIFIER, she said, "I had a couple of different tasks since the beginning of this tour. I was providing medical coverage during the infantry and engineer training days, and also teaching combat medicine on the medical training days. I was always busy and I loved it!"

According to MCpl Desmarteau, "The Ukrainian soldiers are very polite and have a very high standard regarding how they treat women. Some of them had medical experience and were able to explain how some things we were teaching were different from theirs, so we adjusted our presentation according to those comments."

Her key takeaway from this deployment was the camaraderie. "It was a good opportunity to develop friendships and to work with other soldiers from partner nations, which got me to increase my knowledge on their way of teaching the Ukrainian soldiers, as well as their medical protocols."

Her advice to Canadians who are thinking of joining the CAF is to accept the challenge and try it. She said that life in the CAF is a great experience. There are many opportunities to learn new skills and create lifelong friendships.

"My job is to help people when they need it most. I really enjoy this job, especially in the military. It challenges me and puts me in different situations that I wouldn't get outside of the military. If you like being challenged and helping people, I would suggest this job for you!"