1. CWO A. DEGRUCHY WILL RETIRE FROM THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES (CAF) ON 22 JULY 2018 AFTER 29+ YEARS OF LOYAL AND DEDICATED SERVICE TO CANADA, THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES, AND THE ROYAL CANADIAN CORPS OF SIGNALS.

2. CWO DEGRUCHY ENROLLED AS A RADIO TECHNICIAN ON 21 OCTOBER 1988, AT CFS ST JOHN’S, NL. UPON COMPLETION OF HIS BASIC TRAINING, POET AND QL3 IN JANUARY 1990, HE WAS POSTED TO BASE MAINTENANCE, CFB GAGETOWN.

3. IN 1993 CWO DEGRUCHY WAS POSTED TO 76 COMM GP HQ DET OTTAWA WHERE HE SPENT TIME IN THE AUDIO/VISUAL SECTION AS WELL AS NDMC (WORKING ON THE CALL BELL SYSTEM AND PUBLIC ADDRESS/PAGING SYSTEM). IN 1996 HE WAS POSTED BACK EAST TO BASE MAINTENANCE, CFB HALIFAX (LATER KNOWN AS TEME) AND WAS PROMOTED TO MCPL IN 1999 THEN SUBSEQUENTLY TO SGT IN 2005. THE PROMOTION TO SGT CAME WITH ANOTHER POSTING BACK TO OTTAWA AT THE CANADIAN FORCES ELECTRONIC WARFARE CENTRE AS THE ELECTRO-OPTIC AND INFRARED SGT AND THEN ON TO THE ELINT (ELECTRONIC INTELLIGENCE) SGT POSITION IN THE RADAR CELL. UPON PROMOTION TO WO IN 2008 CWO DEGRUCHY MOVED ACROSS THE CITY TO CFNOC AND BECAME A MEMBER OF THE TECHNICAL SECURITY INSPECTION TEAM. IT WAS DURING THIS PERIOD IN OTTAWA THAT HIS APPETITE FOR TRAVEL WAS BORN. VISITS TO WESTERN EUROPE, JAPAN, GREECE, AFGHANISTAN, MASSET TO GANDER TO ALERT (AND ALL POINTS IN BETWEEN) AND SEVERAL LOCATIONS IN THE USA (FLORIDA, WASHINGTON, DC, TEXAS, ALABAMA AND A ROAD TRIP FROM ONTARIO TO CALIFORNIA AND BACK IN A CUBE VAN) FOR TAVS, INSPECTIONS, EXERCISES AND TRAINING THAT CEMENTED HIS DESIRE TO TRAVEL.

4. CWO DEGRUCHY WAS POSTED BACK TO HALIFAX IN 2011 AS THE EMSEC SUPERINTENDANT WITH MARLANT HQ AND THEN AFTER A BRIEF STINT OF ONE YEAR HE MOVED UP TO LFAA HQ (NOW 5TH CDN DIV) AS THE FOREMAN OF SIGNALS. OTTAWA WAS CALLING ONCE AGAIN IN 2017 AND UPON PROMOTION TO HIS CURRENT RANK WAS APPOINTED AS THE CANADIAN ARMY MASTER OF SIGNALS. HE PLANS TO STAY INVOLVED AS A RESERVE CLASS A WITH 36 CBG HQ IN HALIFAX.

5. CWO DEGRUCHY WILL REUNITE WITH HIS WIFE, DAUGHTER, TWO SONS  BACK IN HALIFAX WHERE THEY HAVE ALREADY BUILT THEIR RETIREMENT HOME AND PLANS TO GO BACK TO SCHOOL IN SEPTEMBER TO CHANGE TRADES AND BECOME AN ELECTRICIAN. HE HAS ALREADY PASSED THE TORCH TO HIS TWO BOYS WHO ARE ALREADY REGULAR FORCE MEMBERS IN PETAWAWA, ON, TO CARRY ON THE MILITARY TRADITION.

6. CWO DEGRUCHY HAS REQUESTED A LOW-KEY DWD ON 26 JUNE 18 FROM 1130 – 1300 HRS, LOCATION TO BE DETERMINED. IF YOU WISH TO ATTEND, MAKE IT KNOWN TO: (CONTACT REMOVED 2023 APR 20 BY ADMIN. SEND INQUIRIES HERE: https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/contact/).