After more than 30 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers Branch, CWO Emmanuel Chouinard, CD, will retire on 04 August 2022. Anecdotes and retirement wishes may be sent to MWO W.B. James at Warren.James@forces.gc.ca. 

Chief Warrant Officer Chouinard joined the Canadian Armed Forces in 1992 as a reservist with the Fusiliers du St-Laurent Regiment.

In August 1994, he transferred to the Regular Force as Combat Engineer and was posted to the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering at CFB Chilliwack. After completing his training in December 1994, he was posted to 5e Régiment de génie de combat in Valcartier. As a Combat Engineer, CWO Chouinard has deployed overseas to Croatia 1995, Haiti 1996-97, and Bosnia-Herzegovina 1999- 2000. He also participated in one domestic operation during the Ice Storm of 1998 in Montérégie, QC.

In 2000, CWO Chouinard accepted an occupation transfer to become a Construction Technician. In the fall of 2000, he was employed as a carpenter in the 5e Troupe de construction in Valcartier, QC.

In June 2005, CWO Chouinard was appointed MCpl and transferred to CFB North Bay. During this assignment, he worked as the supervisor of the carpentry and painting workshop.

In January 2007, CWO Chouinard returned to the 5e Troupe de construction, but this time as a Sergeant. From there, he deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan, in 2007-2008 and again in 2009, where he worked jointly with Defense Construction Canada in the Contract Section as contract manager.

In the summer of 2010, CWO Chouinard was promoted to Warrant Officer and posted to Valcartier Engineering Services. He was employed as project manager for small improvement projects and as the assistant to the Planning Officer. CWO Chouinard deployed again, but this time as a mentor in Kabul, Afghanistan, from November 2012 to June 2013.

Promoted to Master Warrant Officer in 2013, he was posted to the 1 Engineer Support Unit where he was employed in a Specialist Engineer Team for one year before being appointed as the 11 Engineer Squadron Sergeant Major. In 2017, CWO Chouinard deployed to Latvia as a Senior Technical Engineering Advisor.

Promoted to his current rank in 2017, he was appointed Sergeant Major of the Real Property Operations Unit (Quebec) in Montréal. In 2019, he was appointed Unit Chief Warrant Officer of 1 ESU until July 2022.

CWO Chouinard will stay in Kingston with his wife and their son to pursue a career in the construction industry