Second Retirement

A message from Mr Gilles Guignard:

Distinguished Ladies and Gentleman

After 43+ years of service in the Army Reserves, CAF and the Public Service which included 20 years in Ottawa with almost half that time spent in ADM(IE) along with four Air Force and two Navy postings, I am formally announcing my retirement from DND. Making this decision was a difficult one but the timing is right with the recent arrival of our first grandchild, Ruby.

It is with a great sense of pride and gratitude that I reflect on all the rewarding experiences and opportunities I had in my career. I wish to thank everyone that I worked with or met over the years and I am truly grateful for the friendships that were forged along the way. I was very fortunate to have met some truly fantastic people during my time in the CAF and the Department, and it would be my honour to invite you in sharing the celebration of not only my time in DND and the Public Service, but also in the recognition of the many years of support Sue has provided me along this journey.

The retirement function will take place at the Legion Branch 638, 60 Hines Rd, Kanata, Ontario, http://kanatabr638.ca/Location.php on 7 February 2020. Meet and greet will commence at 1500 hrs, followed by a farewell portion at around 1600 hrs, consisting of stories and presentations from friends, family, and concluding the evening with some socialization.

Hope to see you there,

Yours truly,

Gilles

P.S. – Please forward this invitation on to others that may have been omitted or missed P.S.S. – from the Organizing Staff:

Note from the Organizers:

Please R.S.V.P. to Line Allen LINE.ALLEN@forces.gc.ca<mailto:LINE.ALLEN@forces.gc.ca> (cc’d) no later than 3 February 2020.

A $5 donation at the front door would be appreciated to help offset the costs of the hall.

Should you wish to give a presentation or tell a story, please contact CWO Shawn Mercer (shawn.mercer@forces.gc.ca<mailto:shawn.mercer@forces.gc.ca>) (also CC’d) as soon as possible.  Please be advised, we kindly request that stories/presentations be kept to a maximum of 5 minutes in length.

First Retirement

Lieutenant-Colonel Gilles Guignard joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a Direct Entry Officer in 1985 after completing a Civil Engineering degree at Université de Moncton in New-Brunswick and having spent 8 ½ years in the Reserves with the 2nd Royal New-Brunswick Regiment in Bathurst and the 8th Canadian Hussars in Moncton.

Upon graduating from Military Engineering phase training in Chilliwack, British Columbia in 1986, Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard’s first posting was to Canadian Forces Station Goose Bay, Labrador as the Planning and Requirements Officer. He was then promoted to Captain in 1989 and posted to Ottawa where he worked on constructing the Forward Operating Locations in Inuvik, Yellowknife, Rankin Inlet and Iqaluit as part of the North American Air Defence Modernization Project Management Office.

In 1993, Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard was posted to North Bay and held the positions of Engineering Officer and Requirements Officer, followed by a posting to St John’s, Newfoundland as the Station Technical Services Officer in 1996.

Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard then returned to Ottawa in 1999 and worked for 4 years as a Project Director and Program Manager for the Air Force under the Directorate of Air Programs. During that time, he also deployed to Aviano, Italy on OP Apollo Roto 5 (2000) and completed the 160km Nijmegen march (2001). He was subsequently selected for a Post-Grad in Engineering Management at Ottawa University, sponsored by ADM(IE) in 2003.

Upon his promotion to Major in January 2005, Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard’s next job was as an analyst for the Director of Realty Asset Planning until December of that year when he was quickly transferred to Canadian Forces Support Unit (Ottawa) to manage the National Capital Region realty asset portfolio. In July 2007, he was posted to Bagotville as the Wing Construction Engineering Officer and deployed to Kandahar, Afghanistan in June 2009 for a 6 month tour with Regional Command (South) Engineer Staff.

Upon his arrival back in Canada at the end of 2009, Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard was again posted to Ottawa, this time as a Project Manager in ADM(IE) under the Director of Construction Project Delivery (DCPD). In September 2010, he moved up internally within DCPD to the role of Team Leader for Air Force, Canadian Forces Housing Agency and Northern projects where he was promoted to his current rank in January 2011. When the Director’s position became vacant due to a short notice operational tasking in March 2012, Lieutenant-Colonel Guignard stepped up a third time within the DCPD organization to serve as Director until July 2014 when he was posted to the Royal Canadian Navy as the Director of Naval Infrastructure Requirements.

Lieutenant Colonel Gilles Guignard married Susan Tyler in 2009. He has three children Michel (29), Stephane (27) and Julie (26) from a previous marriage and now has two step-daughters Lauren (30) and Christa (29).

Upon his retirement on 19 January 2015, Gilles will immediately take on a second career as a public servant in ADM(IE) and will remain in the Ottawa area. {zkh}