Après plus que 23 ans de service loyal et dévoué aux Forces armées canadiennes et aux Génies militaires canadiens, l’Adjum Erica Oliver, MMM, CD, a pris sa retraite le 07 février 2021. Les messages de félicitations et les de meilleurs vœux peuvent être envoyés à l’Adjum G.T. Gombert à Ted.Gombert@forces.gc.ca.
MWO Oliver was born in Halifax, Nova Scotia, in 1979. Shortly thereafter, she moved to Upper Tantallon, Nova Scotia, where she grew up. During her last year of high school, she enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces Reserves with the Princess Louise Fusiliers in Halifax, Nova Scotia. In 1997, she transferred to the Black Watch Royal Highland Regiment while attending Concordia University in Montreal, Quebec. Realizing her calling was with the military, three years later, she underwent a component transfer into the Regular Force as a Combat Engineer. She began her training at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineer (CFSME) in Gagetown, New Brunswick. Upon graduation, she was posted to 5 ieme Regiment de Genie du Canada (5e RGC) in Valcartier, Quebec.
In 2003, MWO Oliver returned to CFSME to attend QL5. In 2003, she also played professional hockey with the Quebec Avalanche in the National Women’s Hockey League. In February 2004, MWO Oliver deployed to Afghanistan on Op ATHENA Roto 1 as a member of the Explosive Ordnance Disposal (EOD) team. Upon returning from Afghanistan, she began training for the Combat Diver course, which she successfully completed in November 2005. An avid athlete, MWO Oliver was selected as the Land Forces Female Athlete of the year in 2007.
In 2009, MWO Oliver again deployed to Afghanistan on Op ATHENA Roto 7 as a Section Commander of a Combat Engineer Section. Not long after returning from Afghanistan, she deployed to Haiti in January 2010 on Op HESTIA as a Recce Sgt and Combat Engineer Section Commander. Upon returning from Haiti, MWO Oliver was posted to the CFSME in Gagetown, New Brunswick. She was employed as a Tactical Breaching and Tactical Search instructor until 2012 when she became the Army Dive Centre (ADC) Sergeant-Major (SM). During her time as ADC SM, she successfully completed her basic parachutist course.
In July 2015, MWO Oliver was posted to 2 Combat Engineer Regiment (2 CER) in Petawawa, Ontario where she became the Airborne Troop Warrant Officer. In 2016, she was posted to RMCC in Kingston, Ontario, to attend the year-long Army Technical Warrant Officer Program (ATWOP) from which she graduated in June 2017.
MWO Oliver then returned to 2 CER in July 2017 and quickly deployed to Iraq on OP IMPACT from August 2017 to March 2018. She was posted to the Directorate of Land Requirements in Ottawa in February 2019.
MWO Oliver received a CDS Commendation for her actions in Afghanistan in September 2009. She also received a Command Commendation for her efforts in Haiti in 2010. MWO Oliver was invested into the Order of Military Merit in February 2015.
MWO Oliver holds a Bachelor’s degree in Military Arts and Science and she is currently studying at York University for a Master’s degree of Science in International Humanitarian Affairs.
Upon her retirement, Erica intends to spend as much time as possible in nature with her husband, Scott, and possibly pursue a PhD.