After more than 12 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineer Branch, Capt Matthew Clancey, CD, will retire on 15 March 2021.  A Depart with Dignity ceremony will take place within CFSME on 12 March 2021. All are welcome to attend, however numbers will be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions. Anecdotes or retirement wishes may be sent to Capt Z.J.E. Morrow at: Zachary.Morrow@forces.gc.ca.

Captain Matthew Clancey joined the Canadian Armed Forces in February of 2009 as a Combat Engineer Reservist. Captain Clancey served with 45 Engineer Squadron, in Sydney, Nova Scotia and 56 Engineer Squadron, in St John’s, Newfoundland (now 36 and 37 CER respectively). He served collectively in the reserves for 2.5 years. In the fall of 2011 he completed a component transfer to the regular force as a Construction Engineer and started within the Regular Officer Training Program (ROTP). He was then posted to Kingston, Ontario to study civil engineering at the Royal Military College.

Captain Clancey began the ROTP as a Construction Engineer, however upon completion of the Construction Engineer 1.1 he applied for a voluntary occupational transfer to the Engineer Officer trade. Captain Clancey was granted the trade change, and upon graduation from RMC in 2015, he completed the Basic Engineer Officer Course (BEOC) 1.1 and 1.2. He completed his training in March of 2016, and was subsequently posted to 4 Engineer Support Regiment (4 ESR).

While employed at 4 ESR Captain Clancey spent the majority of his time employed as a troop commander. His first year within 4 ESR he commanded 1 Field Troop, 42 Horizontal Construction Squadron. The following year he moved to 43 Counter-Improvised Explosive Device (43 C-IED) Squadron where he took command of the EROC Troop. Towards the end of his third year he was nominally the 45 Vertical Construction Squadron’s Operations Officer, and was moved soon after to fill the 43 C-IED Squadron 2IC position, until his posting to the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering in July of 2019. Captain Clancey was a very active participant, coach, and training coordinator for the 5 Div Combat Shooting Team throughout 2016 and 2017. The success of him and his team’s endeavors led to him being personally selected to coach and command the CAF Combat Shooting team to compete in two separate competitions in Arkansas, US in 2017 and 2018, for which he received a Div Comd Commendation.

He participated in three separate operations while posted to 4 ESR. The first, OP LENTUS 17-01, was the domestic response to the New Brunswick ice storm in January 2017. He supported with a composite troop providing assistance clearing downed power lines, trees, and provided food/water to the local population. His second operation was as the composite troop commander for OP PRESENCE Roto 0, Joint Task Force Support Centre – Intermediate Staging Terminal from June - August 2018. The deployment was to Burkina Faso where they supported the staging and onward movement of RCAF helicopters into Mali. His troop’s role was to provide force protection, camp construction and camp teardown.

Immediately after completing post deployment leave from OP PRESENCE he deployed to Kuwait and then on to Iraq as part of OP IMPACT Roto 7. Specifically he was employed as the Route Clearance Package Training Team (RCPTT) commander, responsible for establishing RCPTT Roto 0 (or Roto 1 depending on the document) in Camp Taji, Iraq. Their role was to instruct the Iraqi Army Engineers at the School of Military Engineering how to operate their Route Clearance Package (similar to our EROC). This task included developing all of the courseware for the 8 week course, developing relationships with the school and its commander, providing their own force protection and advising on RCP employment at the tactical and operational level as well as CIED force employment at the policy level. His team of 19 personnel and himself instructed three serials of the course between September 2018 and March 2019 mentoring 4 Iraqi Army divisions and the school’s instructor cadre on the employment of the package.

Matthew and his wife Jordan will remain in Fredericton, NB, as Matthew begins his career as a civilian engineer, practicing professionally as a civil engineer.

Matthew’s DWD will take place within CFSME on 12 March 2021, all are welcome to attend, however numbers will be limited due to COVID-19 restrictions