Published March 24, 2015 · By Don Chipman
WO Steven Higginbotham will retire from the Canadian Armed Forces on 16 Apr 2015 after 30 plus years of loyal and dedicated service to the CAF and 5 ½ years to the Public Service. He joined the CAF right out of high school on 1 September 1979, and completed basic training at CFB Cornwallis. After completing his QL3 Medical Assistant training he was posted back to CFB Cornwallis where he spent the next three years working between the hospital and the MIR. As an avid athlete, he spent much of his free time participating on the Base Sports Teams (hockey, broomball, softball and soccer) and in 1983 he remustered to the Physical Education and Recreation Instructor Trade. As a PERI, his dream job, he had postings to: Cornwallis, Gander, Shearwater, Ottawa and Halifax and a 6 month tour in Alert. When the PERI trade was dissolved in 1997, at the rank of Sgt, he chose to remain in the CAF, relinquish his rank, and take an occupational transfer to the WFE trade. Upon completion of his QL3 training in Chilliwack, he was posted to CFB Greenwood and shortly thereafter had his first tour as an engineer, to Kosovo. After two years in Greenwood he was posted to CFSME. In April 2004, at the rank of Sgt, he retired from the CAF for the first time with 24 1/2 yrs of service and joined the Public Service as an employee and the eventual supervisor of the Water Treatment Plant in Gagetown. 5 ½ yrs later, in 2009, he decided to accept a full time Reserve position, at 1ESU Moncton, where he has since re-enrolled in the Regular Force. While with 1 ESU, he was deployed to Jamaica twice and Kuwait twice. In 2013 he was posted to 8 Wing Trenton and has since completed an 8 month tour in Kuwait.
Steven and his wife Sandy will be retiring in the Moncton area where they plan on spending some quality time with family, golfing and travelling.
Friends and colleagues are welcome to attend a departure luncheon which will take place at the Royal Canadian Legion, Trenton Branch 110 on the 9th April beginning at 1200. (Dress: Dress of the day). For planning purposes please confirm your attendance to Lt. Peter Warford at peter.warford@forces.gc.ca NLT 2 Apr 2015. Congratulatory messages, anecdotes, photos, and farewell wishes can also be forwarded.