Published April 29, 2014
After some 25 years of dedicated and loyal service, Major Cary Arthur Baker will be retiring from the Regular Force on 7 September 2009. Cary, a Civil Engineer graduate from the Technical University of Nova Scotia enrolled in the Canadian Forces in December 1984 with the Prince Edward Island Regiment (17th Armoured Recce). He completed Armoured RESO Phases II and III in the late 80s. In August of 1988 he was accepted into the Regular Force as a Military Engineer under the ROTP program. In 1991 he attended the basic para course and completed his Combat Engineer training in February 1993.
Cary’s first posting (which he would rather forget!) was to CFB Det Wainwright, Alberta where he served in the Construction Engineering section as the Plans Officer, the Requirements Officer and as the acting Base Construction Engineering Officer. In 1995 he was posted to 4 Engineer Support Regiment (4ESR) at CFB Gagetown as the Officer Command 45 Engineer Heavy Equipment (EHE) Squadron.
In 1996, Cary was seconded to the British Army Royal Engineers as the 2nd in Command of 26 Armoured Engineer Squadron based in Hohne, Germany. During the next two years he deployed to Poland with the 7th Armoured Brigade as part of Ex ULAN EAGLE in 1996 and deployed to Bosnia in 1997 as part of the Kings Royal Hussar’s Battle Group with SFOR. He also attended the British Army Combat Team Commander’s Course (CATC) in 1997.
Cary was posted to the 1st Canadian Division HQ in 1998. Over the next several years he attended Canadian Land Forces Command Staff College, served in the J5 and JEngr Staff of the newly formed Joint Headquarters (CF JHQ) in Kingston. In early 2001 he deployed with the UNMEE in Eritrea as the CF JHQ Mission Closure Team Engineer. In 1999, he attended the US Army Air Assault School at Fort Drum New York. In 2001, he was posted back to 4ESR as the Regiment’s Deputy Commanding Officer.
After repeated attempts at JTF2 selection in 1999/2000, Cary was promoted to his present rank in June of 2002 and there after was posted to the Dwyer Hill Training Centre (DHTC) in Ottawa working in the J3 Counter Terrorism and Special Operations (CTSO) office. In June of 2005 he was posted to the NATO Joint Force Command HQ Brunssum in the Netherlands and served in the J3 Special Operations Branch as the NRF and ISAF SOF Plans Officer. He also filled the role of Canada’s Special Operations Liaison Officer to NATO. During that tenure he deployed numerous times to Africa and Afghanistan and taught on several NATO Combined Joint Special Operations Component Command (CJFSOCC) Planning Courses. In October 2007, he was awarded the MSM for his contribution to the NATO Response Force (NRF) exercise in Cape Verde Africa where he was charged with the planning and execution of the Special Operations part of the exercise and for developing a Military Assistance training program in order to enhance the Counter Insurgency (COIN) skill sets of the Cape Verde Coast Guard Marines. In August of 2008 he was posted to Tactics School at CTC as Directing Staff (DS) Engineers.
Cary has decided to take a defense contractor position with Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) based out of Florida and will be working/jet setting between Fredericton and Mons, Belgium as a member of the new NATO Special Operations Coordination Centre J7 Training Education Support Team. He will also be transferring to the reserves as a member of 37 CBG HQ to help stand-up 37 CER. Cary, his wife Sheila who is a local elementary school teacher, and their two children Noah and Ceilidh plan to make Fredericton their home for the foreseeable future. Needless to say, they will also be spending much more time at their cottage in PEI. They invite you to look them up if you are ever in the Fredericton area.