After more than 22 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, Cpl Stephen Last, CD, will retire on 15 February 2022. A Depart with Dignity ceremony will take place on 11 February 2022 in Comox, BC. Congratulatory messages and best wishes can be sent to Sgt E.A. Cabana at Elizabeth.Cabana@forces.gc.ca.
After more than 22 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, Cpl Stephen Last, CD, will retire on 15 February 2022. Cpl Last joined the Canadian Armed Forces on 27 September 1999, in Esquimalt, BC, as an Artilleryman. After completing his basic and trades training, he was posted to 2nd Regiment Royal Canadian Horse Artillery, based in Petawawa, Ontario. He completed two operations in the former Yugoslavia and in Afghanistan and two Disaster Assistance Response Team (DART) operations in Sri Lanka and Pakistan. While serving in Pakistan, he received notification that Canada was forming a new Special Forces unit; the Canadian Special Operations Regiment. After completing the first grueling six-month course and the Basic Para course, Cpl Last was off to Afghanistan for a second, and then a third time, with Khandahar as his destination. By 2016, he was headed over to Iraq to join the fight against ISIS. After 17 years with two combat units, he decided to prepare for his eventual departure from the CAF. He received an occupational transfer to Electrical Distribution Technician within the Canadian Military Engineers, and subsequently completed DP1 trades training. He was posted to 19 Wing Comox on 12 August 2017. He currently resides in Qualicum Beach, BC, which will be his final posting. His love of guitars and stringed instruments, combined with woodworking, will take him to the next phase of his life; (hopefully) attending the Summit School of Luthiers in Qualicum Bay, BC.