Published January 12, 2023
After more than 20 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, LCol Megan Harding, CD, will retire on 31 March 2023. Anecdotes and retirement wishes may be sent to LCol P.A. Chéné at Pier-Augustin.Chene@forces.gc.ca. At the member’s request, a gathering will be held on 31 March 2023 at the 3 Brewers in Kanata.
LCol Harding joined the CAF in 2002 in Sudbury, Ontario. She attended RMC graduating in 2006 with a degree in Civil Engineering. After phase training in Gagetown she was posted to Trenton as flight commander of 81 CEF. From there, she participated in Exercise Tropical Hammer in Jamaica and then deployed to Afghanistan as the Construction Management Team 1 commander working with over 400 Afghans building Route Hyena.
Upon returning from Afghanistan, LCol Harding was posted to CE in Winnipeg and attended AOC in Kingston where she learned the finer art of operational planning and gained a greater appreciation of the RCAF. In 2012, she was promoted to Major and was the SO for CE training at 2 CAD. In 2014, she was posted to Cold Lake as the CO of 4 CES - a posting she considers to be the most fulfilling of her career. In 2017, LCol Harding was posted to RP Ops HQ in Ottawa in the J5 section. In 2018, LCol Harding was promoted to her current rank and was posted to DGDS where she was responsible for Industrial Security policy for the Department. In 2019, she graduated from JCSP and in 2022 she completed her Masters in Defense Studies.
Throughout her career, she was privileged to work with so many amazing soldiers, sailors, and aviators and would like to thank them for their support and everything they taught her along the way. She will carry those memories with her as she closes the military chapter of her life.
LCol Harding will retire in the Ottawa area and looks forward to spending more time with her son, Thomas, and travelling the world with her newfound freedom.