After more than 24 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineer Branch, Maj D.I. Holsworth, CD, retired on 29 January 2024. A DwD function will be held at the RMC Senior Staff Mess, 9 Point Frederic Drive, Kingston, on Friday, 14 June 2024, from 09:30 to 11:00 hours. Please RSVP and send anecdotes and well wishes to Maj Z.D. Albers at Zachary.Albers@forces.gc.ca.
Major David Ian Holsworth retired from the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) on 29 January 2024, after 25 years of honourable service.
David was born in Germany, grew up in a bilingual military family and lived in numerous garrison communities such as Kingston. His military career started in 1999 at the Royal Military College of Canada (RMC) where he graduated with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering, building lifelong friendships and teamwork as part of the college men's volleyball team.
In 2003, David was posted to 5e Regiment du genie de combat, Valcartier. After training arduously as a junior officer, he was finally afforded the opportunity to deploy Afghanistan in 2007 with 53e Escadron du genie combat on OP ATHENA. It was during these years that he truly learned "the way of the sapper" from his NCOs.
David met Kim Bailey in 2008 while completing the Army Operations Course and then moved to Ottawa where he worked with the joint engineer staff at Expeditionary Force Command. His efforts there supported engineer operations in Afghanistan and Haiti following the 2010 earthquake. David continued his education at University of Ottawa and continued to compete in CAF regional and national volleyball championships. He also honed his golf skills, earning him a spot on the national military golf team that competed in the World Military Golf Championships in Namibia in 2009.
In 2010, David completed the Field Squadron Commander's Course , was promoted to Major and was posted to 1 Combat Engineer Regiment where he was fortunate to have been given the opportunity to command a field squadron. After an arduous year of work-up training, David deployed on his second tour to Afghanistan to assist with mission close-out in the Kandahar region.
David and Kim returned to Kingston where they were wed in 2013. David completed a Master of Applied Science in RMC's Mechanical & Aerospace Engineering Department in 2015 and then stayed on to teach a multitude of engineering courses as a military faculty member. In 2019, David then joined the Army Doctrine Centre as the lead officer on engineering doctrine.
David and Kim have been blessed with two healthy and energetic boys, Justin and Philippe. After a quarter of a century of service to Canada, David will stay in Kingston to devote time to his family and the completion of his Doctorate at RMC. He leaves the military with great pride in his achievements, lifelong friendships with comrades and teammates, and an immense respect for the true grit of the Sappers and NCOs with whom he had the pleasure to serve.