After more than 27 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, LCol Mike van Marum, CD, will retire on 09 April 2021. Anecdotes, congratulatory messages, and pictures can be sent to Maj M.J.J.P. Bosse at Maxime.Bosse@forces.gc.ca.

LCol Michael van Marum enrolled in the Canadian Armed Forces in 1993 as a Direct Entry Officer. Right after U of Alberta Mechanical Engineering, he was off to CFB Chilliwack for Basic and Military Engineering training.

Mike (only his lovely wife Michelle calls him Michael) was posted to Cold Lake in 1996, where he filled all 4 Wing Construction Engineering Squadron positions, from Contracts O, 41 AEF Comd to Requirements O. Promoted to Captain in 1999, he spent the majority of that year on pre-deployment training with 1 CER and deploying with them to Kosovo on OP KINETIC Roto 0.

Posted to CFSME in 2002, he was course officer for A Flt (RM, ED, EGS) occupations, followed by the CE Superintendent and Airfield Engineering Officers. In 2005, he was posted to 1 Cdn Air Div HQ/A1 AF Trg to manage the CE Qualification Standards and Basic Training Lists. Promoted to Major in 2008, he filled the A3 Force Protection Engineer and A4 CE Infrastructure 2 positions. During this time he also deployed to Khandahar Airfield twice, both tours serving as the NATO Base Engineer.

In 2012, he was fortunate to simply hop across the airfield and join the 17 Wing CE Sqn team as their OC, as well as being awarded the NATO Meritorious Service Medal.

Promoted to LCol in 2013, he was posted to CFB Borden as the CO Technical Services Branch. While delving into all things supply, land maintenance, transportation and signals, he also transferred Base CE to the newly formed CF Real Property Operations Group. In 2016, Mike’s surname paved the way for a move to the NATO Joint Force Command Brunssum headquarters in The Netherlands. While there, Mike had the privilege to take part in three Knokke-Heist marches amongst many other unforgettable commemorative events.

In 2019, the van Marum family bid a fond, ancestral farewell to The Netherlands and moved to Ottawa where Mike assumed the position of Deputy Commander, CF Real Property Operations Group.

Mike retires from the Canadian Armed Forces after 28 years of service, thankful to have had the opportunity to work with and learn from so many Military Engineers over the years, particularly those 14(!) years in Cold Lake and Winnipeg. He is grateful that after retirement he is able to continue working for the CME family, this time as a DND employee. Later this summer, Mike, Michelle and son Garrett will be moving to the “retirement” home on Mississippi Lake, where plenty of water sports and home improvement projects await.