After more than 26 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, MWO Philippe Blanchet, CD, will retire on 01 May 2023. A depart with dignity ceremony will take place on 30 June 2023 at the WOs’ and Sgts’ Mess - Rockcliffe Room (2nd floor) , 4 Queen Elizabeth Drive, Ottawa, from 12:00 to 17:00 hours. Please RSVP and send any well wises or anecdotes to Shane Tighe at Shane.Tighe@forces.gc.ca.

Master Warrant Officer Philippe Blanchet joined the Canadian Armed Forces as a combat engineer in May 1996 and left for Chilliwack, British Colombia, for a year for his trade course. Posted to 4 ESR in 1997, he worked mainly in the Resource Troop with a few quick tasks with 22 Field Troop and the unit medical section. He deployed to Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu for OP RECUPERATION in 1998 and to Eritrea on OP ECLIPSE from December 2000 to June 2001 as a section member.

Upon his return, he changed trades to Geomatics Technician and was posted in August 2001 to Mapping and Charting Establishment in Ottawa to attend his new trade course.

As a Geomatics Technician, he was posted to 5 CER in Valcartier in 2004 where he was promoted to Sgt and deployed to Afghanistan on OP ATHENA from August 2007 to March 2008 as the Geomatics Support Team (GST) commander. In 2008, he went back to Ottawa where he was employed in the geomatics support squadron operations cell. He moved again in 2009 to become the GIS and survey instructor at the Canadian Forces School of Military Engineering (CFSME) in Gagetown. Promoted to Warrant Officer, he stayed only a year and then was sent to the University of New Brunswick to complete a GIS certificate from August 2010 to April 2011.

His last move in 2011 would be back to Ottawa to the Mapping and Charting Establishment as the Survey Warrant Officer, Course Warrant, and life-cycle material manager. He deployed to Afghanistan again on OP ATTENTION from February to November 2012 as the Afghan National Army geospatial mentor. Promoted to Master Warrant Officer in 2017, he became the geomatics support squadron Sergeant Major and the center of excellence MWO. He was then posted to DLCSPM in 2019 where he became the life-cycle materiel manager for the NDGSS for what would be the last four years of his military service.

He is married to his very patient wife, Martine, with whom he has two marvellous boys: Thierry and Bernard. His intent is to stay in Gatineau as a public servant at DLCSPM where he hopes to use his 26 years of military experience to continue supporting the geomatics trade.