Major Shawn A. Milley, CD will be retiring on 19 May 2016 after 21+ years of service in the Canadian Armed Forces.
Maj Milley was born and raised in Glace Bay, NS and is married to Sandie also of Glace Bay. Together they have two children Marissa (17) and Brandon (14). He enrolled in the Canadian Forces in Halifax, NS in November of 1994 as a member of the Army Reserve. During his time in the Army Reserve, he was employed with 33 Service Battalion (Halifax) and 35 Service Battalion (Sydney) as a Vehicle Technician. In 1996, he received a Component Transfer to the Regular Force as a Naval Acoustic Operator and served aboard HMCS Fredericton including one tour of duty with NATO STANAVFORLANT.
In 1998, Major Milley accepted an Occupational Transfer to Water Fuel Environment Technician trade. Upon completion of his trades training at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME) in Gagetown, NB, he was posted to 14 Wing Greenwood, NS. In May of 2001, Major Milley was selected into the University Training Plan for Non-commissioned Members and was appointed to the rank of Officer Cadet. Under this program, he attended Acadia University in Wolfville, NS and completed a BScH (Environmental) in December 2003. In 2004, Major Milley was posted to CFB Gagetown, NB where he completed his Construction Engineering Phase Training.
Upon completion of Phase IV, in July of 2005, Major Milley was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant and posted to 144 Airfield Engineering Flight Pictou County, NS where he assumed the duties of Officer Commanding. During his tenure as Officer Commanding, he returned to CFSME as a member of the Directing Staff instructing the Phase III Construction Engineering Course. In October of 2006, he was selected to lead a group of Reserve Construction Engineers to Kandahar, Afghanistan as part of the Force Enhancement Beddown Technical Assistance Visit. In December 2006, while in Afghanistan, he was promoted to the rank of Captain.
On returning to Canada, Major Milley was selected to receive occupational specialty training at the Royal Military College of Canada under the Subsidized Post Graduate Education Program. He completed his degree, Masters of Applied Science in Environmental Engineering, in May 2010 and was nominated for the Governor General’s Gold Medal Award for Academic Achievement.
Following completion of his Masters Degree Major Milley was posted to 1 Canadian Air Division as an environmental staff officer. His duties have included being the team leader for environmental management reviews at Wings across Canada, Air Force environmental subject matter expert for deployments, fund manager for environment funds across the Air Force, air and water quality subject matter expert for the Air Force, and project manger for numerous environmental projects.
In July 2011, Major Milley was posted to the Royal Military College of Canada as the College Engineering Officer and promoted to his current rank.
Shawn and Sandie plan on remaining in the Kingston, ON area.