After 10 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineer Branch, Cpl Darcy Kehler will retire on 20 May 2024. Anecdotes and well wishes may be sent to MCpl R.C.M. MacKeigan at Robert.MacKeigan@forces.gc.ca.
Cpl Darcy Kehler joined the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in May 2014 as a Refrigeration and Mechanical Technician (RM Tech) at the Calgary Detachment of the Winnipeg Recruitment Centre. Following basic training and Development Period 1 (DP1) at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME), his first posting was to Real Property Operations Unit West (RPOU West) at CFB Edmonton as an apprentice technician in the RM Shop. While at RP Ops, he was tasked to assist with a camp build in Resolute Bay, Nunavut, in support of Search and Rescue (SAR) Techs training.
In January 2019, Cpl Kehler was posted to 1 Combat Engineer Regiment (1 CER) where he participated in various regimental routines, exercises, training, and courses. During his time with the Regiment, he returned to CFSME to complete DP2 journeyman training, deployed on a technical assistance visit (TAV) to Latvia in 2019 for Op REASSURANCE, and then completed two full tours for the same operation in 2020 and 2023.
In May 2024, Darcy will retire from the CAF after ten years of dedicated service to Canada and the Engineers. He will look back fondly at the friendships, experiences, skills, and lessons learned while employed as an Engineer, and will apply this knowledge as a civilian refrigeration technician in Edmonton, Alberta. Darcy is set to marry his fiancé, Linda, who he met while on deployment in Latvia.