Published April 29, 2014
MWO Hatch was born in Old Perlican Newfoundland. He enrolled in the Canadian Armed forces in 1977 as an Artilleryman. Pte Hatch started training in Cornwallis Nova Scotia on 04 Mar 1977 and after completing his Basic Training he was posted to CFB Petawawa with the 2nd Royal Canadian Horse Artillery. During his short posting to Petawawa where basic Arty skills were developed he also had the opportunity to take part in training exercises in Norway and a 2 month exchange program with a British Arty unit, where adventure training in Scotland and Whales were much enjoyed. From there he was posted to CFB Lahr Germany in May 1979. During his 6yr posting to Germany, Cpl Hatch met his lovely wife Birgit in the summer of 1980 and they married in Apr 1982.
In the summer of 1985 MCpl Hatch, after spending some time working on minor renovation projects with WCE Lahr decided it was time for a change and remustered to the Engineers. He was posted to back to Canada to CFB Shearwater in Jul 1985. From there it was off to Sunny Chilliwack for his QL3 training as a structural technician. Upon completion of his QL3 he was posted to CFB Borden in Jun 1986 where he remained, honing his construction skills until Jun 1991. In the summer of 1991 MCpl Hatch accepted the challenge of maintaining the infrastructure at CFS Bermuda.
From Bermuda the next stop was CFB Kingston in Dec 1993 where he was employed with WCE working at the married quarters service center for the next 4 yrs.
The next move for Sgt Hatch and family was to CFB Gagetown with 4 Engineering Support Regiment. During this posting Sgt Hatch took part in deployments to Bosnia and Eritrea.
Upon completion of this posting and 20+yrs from the “Rock” WO Hatch was posted to CFB Gander as the WCE Engineering Officer. Also during this posting WO Hatch had the opportunity to fill the position of Wing Construction Engineering Officer. Although the completion of this tour was planned to be the final move, in Mar 2004 MWO Hatch relocated to CFB Moose Jaw, Sask.
After a very enjoyable 3yr posting to Saskatchewan in July of 2007 MWO Hatch returned to CFB Gander as Wing Construction Engineering Officer where he finished his career in Mar 2009. Raymond and his wife Birgit will be retiring and remaining in the Gander area.