Sgt Dennis McKellar joined the CF on April 19, 2005 as a Combat Engineer. He will be retiring on the 22 Feb 2019 with 13+ years of service.
Upon joining the Engineers he completed his basic training in Saint-Jean and his QL3 at CFSME. After completion of his training, he was posted to 4 ESR in April 2006 and immediately started his work up training for task force 1-07 Afghanistan. He departed for tour in Feb 2007 and returned in August 2007.
He completed QL5 (DP2) in August 2008, and returned to 4 ESR to begin preparation for Exercise CO-OPERATIVE SPIRIT in Holenfeld, Germany. After this Exercise in fall 2008 he was transferred to 48 Sqn as the Tpt NCO where he completed various wpns and driving courses. He was promoted to Corporal on Exercise ROYAL THUNDER II April 2009.
He moved to 42 Fd Sqn in June 2009, fulfilling various roles within the troop from Sect 3/IC to troop store man. He completed his PLQ in Oct 2011 and was promoted to MCpl Jan 2012. He became the SQMS 2IC & MT Rep.
As a MCpl, Sgt McKellar was posted to CFSME July 2013 where he instructed & mentored Holding Tp & DP1 students until promoted to his current rank in Dec. 2016. He proudly served a a course NCO as this was a career goal of his to mentor as he had been mentored in his early days. From there in July 2017, he was posted back to 4 ESR where he is finishing his career.
Sgt McKellar has been happily married to Tina McKellar for 18+ years. They have three children; Shawn 23, Aislinn 16 & Chloe 13 and the family dog (the baby) Rosie, his Lhasa Apso.
For his retirement they plan to stay in the local area and will be taking more well-deserved family vacations and focusing on strengthening his mental health. His DWD will take place on 22 Mar 2019 at the SNR NCOs mess Annex Bldg A4, at 1300 hrs. There will be a $5 charge. Congratulatory messages or anecdotes and RSVP if attending to Sgt Russell by the 20 March 2019 at bruce.russell@forces.gc.ca.