After more than 35 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, Maj Dave Jane, OMM, CD, will retire on 13 May 2022. A Depart with Dignity will take place on 11 May 2022 at 1500 hrs at the Gatineau Golf and Country Club: 160 Rue du Golf, Gatineau, QC J9J 0R1. Congratulatory messages and best wishes can be sent to R.J. Dunning at Rick.Dunning@forces.gc.ca.

Major Dave Jane will retire from the CAF on 13 May 22 after a career of nearly 36 years. He joined the Naval Reserves as a Bosun in the famous naval city of Regina, SK, in 1986 on his 17th birthday. In 1988, he transferred to the Regular Force as a Pilot and following some hair-raising landings in early 1989, he followed the advice of his Flight Instructor and became a firefighter.

Upon completion of his QL3 course in 1989, he was posted to Cold Lake. While in Cold Lake, he was an active volunteer firefighter and a Big Brother in the Big Brother/Big Sister organization.

In 1994, he was posted as a “Plank Owner” to the newly built frigate HMCS Calgary, where he was a member of the commissioning crew and sailed for three years as a helicopter crash rescue and shipboard firefighter. During this posting, he was on operations in the Persian Gulf and Adriatic Sea, adjacent to the former Yugoslavia, as well as exercises throughout South America and the Pacific.

Following his tour with the RCN, Dave was posted to CFB Greenwood where he was promoted to Master Corporal. While in Greenwood, he was very active with the Wing Critical Incident Stress  Response Team, providing assistance to fellow first responders following stressful emergencies. 

In 2001, he was posted to the Canadian Forces Fire Academy as a fire service instructor where he was promoted to the rank of Sergeant and was recommended for commissioning as a Construction Engineering (CE) Officer in 2003.

Following his CE Officer Course at CFB Gagetown in 2005, he was posted to CFB Trenton to the Canadian Joint Incident Response Unit where he served as a Special Operations Forces Chemical Biological Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) specialist officer, providing counter-terrorism CBRN response to the Government of Canada and the Canadian Armed Forces. During this posting, he was on operations across Canada, in Eastern Europe, and in Afghanistan. 

In 2009 he assumed the role of CFB Trenton Fire Chief. During this posting, he finished a Bachelor of Applied Business: Emergency Service Management degree, oversaw the deployment of firefighters to Haiti for Op HESTIA, and lived his dream job of Fire Chief for two years. 

Following the promotion to his current rank in 2011, he was posted to Tyndall Air Force Base in Florida for a three year exchange with the United States Air Force (USAF). There, he was Chief of Contingency Training for the USAF Civil Engineers at the Air Force Civil Engineer Center. 

In 2014 he was posted to the newly stood up Real Property Operations Group HQ in Ottawa as the J1 where he spent nearly two years scrambling to learn the role of an Admin Officer. 

In 2016, he was posted back to his fire service family and became the Operations Officer in the Canadian Forces Fire Marshal (CFFM) office where he will finish his career.

Highlights of his career are numerous but an exchange with the flight deck firefighters on the US Navy aircraft carrier USS Independence in the Persian Gulf and circumnavigating the world while posted to HMCS Calgary in 1995 are near the top. Maj Jane has been awarded the United States Meritorious Service Medal, Chief of Defense Staff Commendation, and is appointed as an Officer of the Order of Military Merit.

Maj Jane plans to remain in the Ottawa area where he will watch his son, 2Lt Aaron Jane, carry on the Jane name in the RCAF and try to convince his wife, Melissa, that retirement should come sooner rather than later. In retirement, Dave can be found by the river where he and his youngest son, Lachlan, will adventure in their campervan.