On 7 April, 2011, Sgt John Rudy will be retiring from the Canadian Forces after 34 plus years of Loyal and Dedicated Service to Queen and Country.

John was born in a small town called Marathon ON, on the north shore of Lake Superior in 1956. He joined the Canadian Forces in Dec 1976, attending basic training in Cornwallis, Nova Scotia.

He started his basic infantry training in Wainwright, Alberta with the 1st Battalion (Bn) Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry (PPCLI). Upon completion, Sgt Rudy stayed with the1st Battalion and was sent on his first United Nations tour to Nicosia, Cyprus in 1978.

Upon his return from Cyprus, Sgt Rudy completed a jump course in June 1979 and subsequently was posted to 2nd Airborne Commando in Petawawa, ON. There he completed his second UN tour to Cyprus 1981/1982 with the Pathfinders as a Recce Patrolman and as a Lynx driver. After his deployment overseas, Sgt Rudy was posted to the 3rd Battalion (PPCLI) in Victoria BC where he completed his second tour to Cyprus in 1988.

A remuster was in order; so in Dec 1990, Sgt Rudy started training to become a Construction Technician. This led him, in obtaining his carpenter licence as well as a posting to Borden, ON, including Wasaga Beach. In 1996 an opportunity to deploy with NATO arose with an overseas tour to Bosnia. Sgt Rudy’s next posting was to 1 Engineer Support Unit (1 ESU) in Moncton, NB, where he deployed to the jungles of East Timor in Oct 1999 by far his best tour ever. In Jul 2003, he was posted to Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME) in Gagetown NB, where he spent five years. He was posted to Trenton in 2008 and finally back to Gagetown in 2010 to the Engineer Branch to fill his current position as Contracts Manager.

Sgt Rudy has numerous courses under his belt along with many visits to foreign countries. He plans to revisit some of these countries with his wife Mary Anne and dog Napoleon. They will be residing in the New Maryland area before becoming Snow Birds. John and Mary Anne are planning to grab at life and live it, without looking back. Mary Anne and John have a son Jason.

Sgt Kaizer is the OPI for this retirement: Anecdotes or messages may be sent to: Sgt Kaizer at Kaizer.KM@forces.gc.ca. A luncheon will be held on 24 Nov 10 from 1100-1500hrs at the WO and Sgt’s Mess A4 Annex at CFB Gagetown in Oromocto, NB.