April 3 - Letter from the Chief Military Engineer

April 3, 2020 - Defence Stories

To all members of the Canadian Military Engineer family,

We are in the midst of a world crisis which is far from over and which could affect our lives in the coming weeks and months even more than it has already. Whether we are Reserves or Regular Force, Army or Air Force, military or civilian, DCC, retired or a family member, we are all facing the same thing. Challenging times are before us, but this will pass.

All meetings of Engineers, serving and retired, which were planned for the next few months, have been cancelled. Some of these will be rescheduled, but most will not. On the positive side, the CMEA continues to operate fully as most of our work is online. Volume IV of the CME History is progressing very well and will be published within a year (many of our more senior family members will be able to personally relate to the events described as the history covers the period from 1972 right up to the start of the Afghanistan war). Doug Foreman is now nearing completion of the Engineer Airborne History.

Our Chief Military Engineer’s office is operating with a reduced staff at NDHQ Carling, with the remainder working from home. Much planning has been underway over the past three weeks to enable the Minister of National Defence’s announcement of the 24,000 CAF members, both Regular Force and Reserves, ready to aid fellow Canadians. Multiple simultaneous requests for assistance are expected, and members of the Engineer Branch will be woven into all of these responses.

Those of you currently serving may be aware, from CANFORGEN 049/20 and the letter from the CDS, that there will be disruptions to both postings and deployments.  The situation will continue to evolve as we approach Annual Posting Season, so please remain flexible and do not make any commitments until you are certain of your move.  Also, the number of deploying troops will be reduced. This will ensure the safety of our deployed troops while maintaining facilities, so that we can quickly re-establish our full operations once the environment is safe.  Although some will lose this opportunity for deployment, there will be others. 

The best thing to have happened amongst us during these times has been how so many Engineers who haven’t been in contact with each other for years are reaching out and establishing contact now. This is outstanding. As we mentioned, the CMEA continues its work without missing a beat. Of note is that our President, Richard Dickson, has sent a note to all Chapter Presidents describing increased funding and direction on procedures for our ‘Engineer in Need Program’. The CMEA is anticipating that some members of our family will face challenges that they can help with. Here is where all of us can play a very important role. We ask you all to contact Engineers you know to ensure that they are coping. If they need help, do it, or rally your friends to help. If someone needs money urgently, contact your local CMEA chapter. This requires some effort, but let’s not allow members of our family to suffer in isolation; let’s help.

We wish all of you good fortune during this trying period.

CHIMO,