We regret to advise of the death of Sergeant Shane Hank Stachnik, CD of 2 Combat Engineer Regiment in Afghanistan on 3 September 2006 at age 30..

Shane was born in Edmonton AB in 1975. He started his military service in 1994 with 8 Field Engineer Regiment in Edmonton AB as a Vehicle Technician and enrolled in the Regular Force a year later. Completing his Basic Combat Engineering training in October 1995, Shane was posted to 2 Combat Engineer Regiment in Petawawa ON, the unit where he served all 11 years of his Regular Force career.

Shane completed two deployments to the Former Republic of Yugoslavia (Bosnia) in 1998 and 2001 as a section member. Promoted to Master Corporal in 2002, he served as a Section Second-in-Command in both 23 and 24 Field Squadrons. Shane deployed to Afghanistan on Operation ATHENA (Roto 0) in 2003 working in 24 Field Squadron Headquarters. Promoted to Sergeant in January 2004, Shane became a Field Section Commander in 23 Field Squadron. During a 45-day deployment to Sri Lanka as a member of Canada's Disaster Assistance Response Team in January 2005, Shane was the Water Purification Unit (ROWPU) Section Commander and supervised the production of over one million litres of potable water to the local population.

Shane deployed to Afghanistan on Operation ARCHER (Roto 3) in August 2006. On 3 September of that year, four Canadian soldiers were killed and nine others wounded during heavy fighting the Operation MEDUSA air and ground offensive against Taliban insurgents approximately 15 kilometres west of Kandahar City, Afghanistan.  Sgt Shane Hank Stachnik, CD was among those killed. He was 30 years old and left behind his fiance in Chalk River, ON and his parents in Waskatenau, AB.

A combined Memorial Service for all five recent deaths in 2 Combat Engineer Regiment will be held at Canadian Forces Base Petawawa, in Building Y-101, on 08 September 2006 at 1100 hrs. A funeral for Sgt Stachnik will be held on 11 September at Beechwood Cemetery in Ottawa, ON at 2:00 p.m. In lieu of flowers, the family requests donations to be made to a bursary arranged in Shane's name for education in mechanics. Donations may be directed to Waskatenau Legion, Waskatenau, AB, T0A 3P0.

Update Note: A 2021 Canadian Military Engineers Association Bursary was named in honour of Sergeant Shane Stachnik.