MWO Aret Akcakiryan, CD retires from the Canadian Armed Forces on the 15th of December 2017 after 37+ years of dedicated service to the CAF and the
CME Branch (See bio attached). Friends and colleagues are welcome to attend his depart with dignity presentation function which will take place at CFSME
Gagetown; Bldg J-10, Commandant's Assembly Area on the 20th of October 2017 at 1400hrs. Congratulatory messages or anecdotes can be sent to WO Dale Hickey by the 6th of October 2017 dale.hickey@forces.gc.ca<
MWO Aret Akcakiryan (aka: Aky) joined the Canadian Military Engineer family as a Primary Reserve in Montreal, Quebec, in January 1980. He served in 3 Field Engineer Regiment for 12 years, during which time he carried out all of the Field Engineer functions up to the position of Squadron Sergeant Major. Concurrently, from 1988-92, he was also employed at Force Mobile Command Headquarters in St Hubert working on doctrine production for the Senior Staff Officer Field Engineers. Then in 1992, he and his family moved to Halifax, NS where was employed for another 2 years as the Area Engineer Resources WO in Land Force Atlantic Area HQ.
While serving in the Primary Reserves, MWO Akcakiryan was briefly employed as a Section Commander within 4 Combat Engineer Regiment in Lahr Germany, he has participated in 4 different RV exercises with 5 RGC, 4 ESR and Divisional Engineers Headquarters; he has also participated on 3 small unit exchanges with US 464 Engineer Battalion in Fort Drum, New York; and from 1984 to 1988 he was a constant face in CFB Chilliwack area where he was employed as CFSME/RETS instructor. So, with the knowledge and experience gained in the 14 years working as a Reservist within the Regular Force environment, he decided to permanently transfer over, however upon joining, he was also relegated to the rank of Cpl (no PLARs back then!); and he re-started his uphill climb once again to his current rank.
MWO Akcakiryan has participated on several overseas and domestic operations such as Operation Abacus, Assistance, Eclipse, Palladium, Recuperation and Operation Salon. He has served twice with 4 ESR, went on an IR posting to CFB Suffield (Ralston, Alberta) where he was the Range Maintenance WO; and also completed two stints within CFSME. In his career, he has received a few memorable honours; most noteworthy is the Vice Canadian Defense Staff Award for successfully conducting back to back mine strikes rescue/recoveries. In 1989, as a primary reserve Troop Warrant, he and his unit was awarded the Canadian Military Engineer Hertzberg Memorial Trophy for successful and complete execution of a engineer task of constructing an ACROW Bridge over the strait of the Hudson Bay River on the tundra of Rankin Inlet, N.W.T. MWO Akcakiryan has also received the Dedication to CF Sports Award, Coach of the Year, and Team of the Year Award for Soccer, and capping off with winning 8 CF National Soccer titles either as a player or a coach.
In a nutshell, MWO Akcakiryan has accomplished a lot over the 38 years; he has been at his current rank since 2009, and due to a minor health setback in 2012, his aspirations of furthering his career ceased. In his last few years while employed at CFSME, he was the Center of Excellence MWO where he supported the center’s efforts in providing guidance, quality control and corporate communication on operational, training, planning matters regarding the future of the Engineer Branch. MWO Akcakiryan is married to Roberta Akcakiryan who has stood by his side since 1987; they have 2 daughters, Alexa and Elisa. MWO Akcakiryan plans on sticking around the local area, and maintaining his affiliation to the Branch by joining the Atlantic Retire Sappers.
At Aret’s request, friends and colleagues are welcome to attend his depart with dignity presentation function which will take place at CFSME Gagetown; Bldg. J-10, Staff Lounge on the 20th of October 2017 at 1400hrs. Dress will be dress of the day or civilian casual. Congratulatory messages and anecdotes can be sent to Warrant Officer Dale Hickey. mailto:Dale.Hickey@forces.gc.ca