- AFTER 19 YEARS OF LOYAL AND DEDICATED SERVICE TO CANADA AND THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES, WARRANT OFFICER D. NEELY WILL RETIRE ON 16 AUG 2023.
- WO NEELY ENLISTED IN THE CANADIAN ARMED FORCES IN JULY 2004 AS A SIGNAL OPERATOR. AFTER COMPLETING BASIC TRAINING AT CANADIAN FORCES LEADERSHIP AND RECRUIT SCHOOL (CFLRS) SAINT-JEAN SUR RICHELIEU, HE HEADED TO THE CANADIAN FORCES SCHOOL OF COMMUNICATIONS AND ELECTRONICS (CFSCE) IN CFB KINGSTON TO COMPLETE HIS TRADE QUALIFICATION TRAINING. HIS FIRST POSTING WAS TO THE CANADIAN FORCES JOINT SIGNAL REGIMENT (CFJSR) IN CFB KINGSTON WHERE HE SPENT THE FIRST THREE YEARS OF HIS CAREER AS A COMMAND POST OPERATOR AND SIGNALS DISPATCH SERVICE DRIVER. DURING THIS TIME, HE WAS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF CORPORAL AND DEPLOYED TO AFGHANISTAN, FROM JAN TO OCT 2008 WITH THE JTFA-REG COM (S) HQ.
UPON HIS RETURN FROM DEPLOYMENT, WO NEELY WAS POSTED TO 731 SIGNAL SQUADRON IN CFB SHILO. PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF MASTER CORPORAL IN 2010, WO NEELY WAS THEN POSTED TO THE SECOND PRINCESS PATRICIA’S CANADIAN LIGHT INFANTRY (2PPCLI) AS THE SIGNALS PLATOON IS NETWORK ADMIN DET IC. IN 2012 HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO BRAVO COMPANY AS THE COMPANY SIGNALLER, PROVIDING SUPPORT TO EXERCISE MAPLE RESOLVE. IN 2013, WO NEELY DEPLOYED TO AFGHANISTAN TO THE OP ATTENTION NATIONAL COMMAND SUPPORT ELEMENT.
IN 2015 WO NEELY WAS PROMOTED TO THE RANK OF SERGEANT AND POSTED TO THE CANADIAN FORCES NETWORK OPERATIONS CENTRE (CFNOC) AS A NATIONAL HELPDESK NETWORK OPERATIONS SECTION SUPERVISOR. HE WORKED SHIFT WORK UNTIL MAY OF 2017 WHEN HE WAS TRANSFERRED TO THE CFNOC SURVEILLANCE TEAM AS A SHIFT SUPERVISOR. IT WAS HERE THAT HE SUBMITTED HIS NOI TO JOIN THE NEWLY CREATED CYBER OPERATOR TRADE. HE WAS GRANTED HIS COT TO CYBER OPERATOR IN JUL 2019 WHILE WORKING AS THE CFNOC CURRENT OPS WO. IN 2020, WO NEELY RETURNED TO CFSCE IAS THE CYBER OPERATOR TRAINING TECHNICAL LEAD AND 2IC. HERE HE ASSISTED IN THE DEVELOPMENT AND DELIVERY OF THE CYBER OPERATOR DP1.2 QUALIFICATION. AFTER A SHORT ONE YEAR STINT WITH CFSCE, WO NEELY WAS POSTED BACK TO CFNOC AS A CYBER PROTECTION TEAM LEAD. HE ASSISTED WITH MULTIPLE OPS AND TRAINING ACTIVITIES. HE IS FINISHING HIS CAREER AT CFNOC AS A TECHNICAL MENTOR AND ADVISOR.
- WO NEELY WOULD LIKE TO THANK HIS FAMILY, ESPECIALLY HIS WIFE SARA, AND THEIR CHILDREN ABBY AND ASHER, FOR THEIR UNENDING SUPPORT AND UNDERSTANDING. HE WILL BE MOVING BACK TO MANITOBA WITH HIS FAMILY UPON RELEASE AND GOING BACK TO SCHOOL TO CONTINUE WORKING WITHIN THE CYBER SECURITY INDUSTRY.
- A DWD CEREMONY WILL BE HELD AT THE CFS LEITRIM ALL RANKS MESS, 3545 LEITRIM RD, OTTAWA, ON THURSDAY, 29 JUNE 2023 COMMENCING AT 1200 HRS.
PLEASE RSVP FOR THE DWD AND SEND ANY CONGRATULATORY MESSAGES, PICTURES, AND AMUSING ANECDOTES TO WO R. WHITNEY AT ROBERT(dot)WHITNEY(at)FORCES(dot)GC(dot)CA NLT 15 JUN 23. ANY OTHER INQUIRIES MAY BE SENT TO CPO2 D. HARRIS AT DANIEL(dot)HARRIS(at)FORCES(dot)GC(dot)CA.