After more than 33 years of loyal and dedicated service to the Canadian Armed Forces and the Canadian Military Engineers, Sgt Stéphane Ouellet, CD, will retire on 28 January 2022. Congratulatory messages and best wishes can be sent to Sgt S.R. McNeely at Shawn.McNeely@forces.gc.ca.

Sgt Stéphane Ouellet joined the Primary Reserves with 6R22R on 16 February 1988 in Ste-Hyacinthe, Quebec. After seven years, he transferred to the Regular Force as a Combat Engineer in 1995. Upon completion of QL3 training in Chilliwack, BC, he was posted to 5 RGC in Valcartier, Quebec. In October 2004, Sgt Ouellet re-mustered to Ammunition Technician and after 14 months of courses in Borden, he was posted to CFAD Dundurn, Saskatchewan, in January 2006. In July 2008, he was transferred to CFAD Angus, Ontario, for two years before being posted to ASA, CFB Gagetown, in 2010. In 2013, he returned to being a Combat Engineer and was posted to 4 ESR. In 2018, he was posted to CFB Borden as a training Sergeant. Sgt Ouellet’s final posting was to 1 ESU in July 2021 as the 4 SET Combat Engineer.

Sgt Ouellet has five operational deployments: Cyprus 1990-91, Bosnia 1993, Haiti 1996-97, Bosnia (SFOR) 1999-2000 and 2002. He participated in four TAVs to Afghanistan between 2006 and 2010 and two ice storms in Montreal in 1998 and in New Brunswick in 2017.

Sgt Ouellet is married to Bridgette Savoie and they have two children, Maxime (10) and Xavier (7).