MWO Al J. Plume, CD will be retiring from the Canadian Armed Forces on 22 July 2016 after 35 plus years of loyal and dedicated service to the CAF and the CME Branch (please see attached bio).
A retirement ceremony will be held in his honour on the 3rd of June, 2016, from 11:30 to 13:00, at The Royal Canadian Legion Branch 110, 19 Quinte St., Trenton, ON. Congratulatory messages, anecdotes, and farewell wishes can be forwarded to Sgt Shaun Postma . Please contact Sgt Postma (shaun.postma@forces.gc.ca, CSN - 827-4441) if you wish to attend. A luncheon featuring cold cuts and salad will be available for $7.00 per person. Please provide a response by May 26th to ensure we have the correct numbers for the meal. Thank you.
MWO Al Plume was born in Brockville, Ontario. After growing up in the Cold War Era, Al Plume was eager to serve his beloved country and joined the CAF fresh out of high school in July of 1981. Initially enlisting as an Infantryman, he conquered Basic Training in Cornwallis that summer, and was shipped to Wainwright to test his might with the PPCLI. Successful in his QL3 and Winter Warfare training courses, Pte Plume was posted to Winnipeg, Manitoba, to serve with the PPCLI 2. During this posting he completed his first six-month overseas tour in Cyprus.
During his next posting in Gagetown, Cpl Plume saw the light and remustered to join the Canadian Military Engineer family as a Drafting Technician. He was whisked away to Chilliwack in Beautiful BC in December of 1986 to complete his QL3 training for his new found trade. He went on to complete his Junior Leadership Course and QL5 before a posting to North Bay in 1991. Near the end of this posting, Cpl Plume was deployed to Bosnia for six months in 1998. Shortly after returning home, he was posted to 1 CEU in Moncton, New Brunswick.
During his early years with 1 CEU, Cpl Plume deployed for three months to East Timor in late 1999. After surviving the Decade of Darkness, and the near technological apocalypse of Y2K, Al was promoted to Master Corporal in December of 2000. Returning home from a three month stay in Eritrea early 2001, MCpl Plume went on to complete his QL6A course, paid a nostalgic visit to Bosnia for a few months, and soon afterwards received his promotion to the rank of Sergeant in 2003.
Still knees-deep with this posting to 1 CEU, freshly promoted Sgt Plume continued to travel the world, serving diligently overseas, except now he was only allowed to do so in Afghanistan for reasons unknown. He made two visits to Kabul in 2003 and 2004, and then travelled to Kandahar in 2005. A posting to Trenton in 2006 seemed like a nice break from the hectic pace in Moncton, but that was not to be.
Shortly after moving to Trenton, Sgt Plume was sent to Kandahar again in 2006-2007, returning home to be promoted to the rank of Warrant Officer and completed has Intermediate Leadership Qualification. His reward for all of his hard work was another, and finally his last, six-month tour overseas in 2009-2010, once again of course to Kandahar. Now that WO Plume had spent enough time in Afghanistan to declare citizenship, he was posted to Toronto, Ontario, receiving his promotion to Master Warrant Officer in July of 2010. MWO Plume returned to WCE in Trenton in 2012 as Ops Supt, lent his expertise to the Deployment Readiness Training Standardization and Evaluation Team for a year, and completed his Advanced Leadership Program in 2014. Al was then moved back to CE as Ops Supt.
Now in 2016, MWO Plume has seen the light once again. Always calm under pressure, MWO Plume has served our country through thick and thin, and after three and one-half decades of honourable service, Al is finally preparing for his next life as a civilian, ready to enjoy the freedom he has truly fought for. The same worldly freedom all Canadians have today to enjoy, which we pay thank-you for, thanks to the dedicated service from our men and women in uniform like Master Warrant Officer Al Plume, CD.
The Canadian Military Engineer family wish Al and his wife Charlene, who has spent the last 28 of her years supporting Al at home and abroad, all the best in your retirement years.