After more than 37 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineer Branch, CWO Eric Baulne, CD, will retire on 16 October 2022. Anecdotes and retirement wishes may be sent to Mr. C.A. Kletke at Carl.Kletke@forces.gc.ca.
Chief Warrant Officer (CWO) Eric Baulne enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) in March 1981 in the reserve unit of 10 Field Engineer Squadron (10 FES) in Quebec City. In November 1983, he started his engineer qualification level 3 training at 5 Combat Engineer Regiment (5 CER) in Valcartier under the Youth Training Employment Program (YTEP).
In November 1984, he was officially posted to 5 CER. He took his combat diver course in 1985 and took part in a number of major exercises in Wainwright, Alberta, and Gagetown, New Brunswick.
In 1987, he was posted to 4 CER in Lahr, Germany. He was quickly called upon to help his team by using his German to talk to the locals. In November of ’87, he was promoted to the rank of Corporal and took his Master Corporal course in 1990. Throughout his posting, he had the chance to participate in several diving exercises at the international level with the Germans, Dutch, French, Americans, and Belgians.
Back at 5 CER in summer 1990, he immediately participated in Operation Salon (Oka crisis) in Quebec, during which time he was promoted to the rank of Master Corporal. In 1993, he was posted to the Recruit School in Saint-Jean as an instructor and took his 6A course the same year in Chilliwack, British Columbia. He was promoted to the rank of Sergeant in 1994 and was posted to the Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean as a drill instructor for officers. When the Collège closed in 1995, he returned to 5 CER.
In July 1996, he left for a mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina as commander of an engineering section until January 1997. He was promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer in 1999 after taking his 6B course, and he participated in a mission in East Timor as an engineer troop Warrant Officer from October 1999 to March 2000.
From April 2000 to January 2003, he was posted to 10 FES, where he worked as operations Warrant Officer, training officer, and acting unit Sergeant-Major. Back at 5 CER in 2003, he held the positions of training Sergeant-Major and regimental operations Warrant Officer. He was posted to Kingston, Ontario, from 2005 to 2006, took the Army Technical Warrant Officer course, and was promoted to the rank of Master Warrant Officer in 2006. In July 2006, he was once again posted to 5 CER as Sergeant-Major of 52 Field Squadron (SSM). During his posting period, he participated in two buildups, a number of counter improvised explosive devices (C-IED) courses, and a deployment to Kandahar, Afghanistan, from August 2007 to March 2008, as SSM and member of the IED tactical exploitation team.
After 25 years of service with the Regular Force, CWO Baulne returned in July 2008 to the unit where he enrolled, 35 CER. He was promoted to the rank of Chief Warrant Officer on 19 September 2009 and became the first Chief Warrant Officer of 35 CER. He also works for Mine/EOD CLR Inc. in Quebec City, where he acts as quality controller, diving supervisor and unexploded ordnance clearance technician.
In summer 2012, he took a first retirement from the CAF, joined the Supplementary Reserve and accompanied his wife, who was posted to Geilenkirchen, Germany, from 2012 to 2015. During this period, he worked for the public service with the CAF Health Services Group. Upon his return to Canada, he continued to work with the CAF Health Services Group in Ottawa until September 2016.
In October 2016, he joined the reserve as part of the Canadian Army HQ (CA) as the first in the position of G1 Dress and Ceremonial. In this post, he received a key appointment as CWO. His legacy includes the CA Dress Manual, which he wrote, the creation of the CA Dress and Ceremonial Committee (CADCC) and the badge project for CA operational dress.
CWO Baulne is retiring after more than 41 years of service with the Canadian Armed Forces and the public service. In addition, he is a member of the Association des Sapeurs à la Retraite de Québec (Quebec Retired Sappers Association). He is married to CWO Marie-Claude Brulotte, he has a daughter, Sandra, and grandson, Loïk.
In retirement, Eric will dedicate lots of time to his family and close friends and will enjoy traveling and scuba diving.
I will always have a place for the CAF family, CA, Engineers, and combat divers in my heart.