RETIREMENT – Captain Paul Stewart

SUBJECT: RETIREMENT – CAPT PAUL STEWART, MOSID 00179, ARTY(FD)
1. FOLLOWING 42-PLUS YEARS OF LOYAL AND DEDICATED SERVICE TO QUEENS (…HE’S SO OLD THAT HE HAS SERVED UNDER THE REIGNS OF BOTH ELIZABETH I AND II), COUNTRY AND THE GUNS, CAPTAIN PAUL STEWART WILL STAND EASY’ISH, EFFECTIVE 1 MARCH 2021.
2. A SELF-CONFESSED AUTO DIDACT AND POSSESSING OF A PHOTOGRAPHIC MEMORY, HE STATED THAT HE WAS SPEAKING BY THE AGE OF 8 AND WRITING (MOSTLY) FULL SENTENCES 4 YEARS LATER…OR WAS IT 5?
3. PAUL UNWITTINGLY JOINED 15TH FD RCA, VANCOUVER, AS A RESERVIST, UNDER THE AUSPICES OF THE STUDENT SUMMER EMPLOYMENT AND ACTIVITIES PROGRAM (SSEAP) ON 3 JULY 1978. HE DID NOT SUSPECT, AT THE TIME, THAT THIS WOULD LEAD TO A SOMEWHAT EXTENDED SUMMER JOB VIS A VIS THE REGULAR FORCE.
4. HAVING EXPERIENCED THE GOOD THE BAD AND THE UGLY (….AND THAT WAS JUST THE RECRUITING CENTRE) AND RATHER THAN REPLICATE (LOTS OF) MPRR DATA, PAUL CITES THE FOLLOWING AS CAREER HIGHLIGHTS:
A. 1 RCHA, LAHR, GERMANY 1985 TO 1990 – PARTICIPATING IN SEVERAL ‘NIJMEGAN’S’, HOSTING A CFN LATE NIGHT RADIO SHOW (…ANYONE REMEMBER NOCTURNAL EARTHWORM STEW (…GEDDIT?)?), ADVENTURE TRAINING ON THE MOSEL, ATTENDING THE WORLD HOCKEY CHAMPIONSHIPS IN STOCKHOLM AND BEING TOLD BY BSM RAY MELANSON THAT HIS PER DEPENDED UPON THE SUCCESS OF THE B BTY MONSTER BINGO. HE MANAGED TO PERFORM SOME GUNNERY CHORES TOO, EARNING HIS GERMAN PARA WINGS IN THE PROCESS (…DURING OKTOBERFEST ’86, AUS MUNCHEN!). PAUL RECALLS SOME EXCELLENT PARTNERS IN CRIME SUCH AS LONNIES GOODFELLOW, DALES BATTEN, ERICS DWYER, AS WELL AS SOON-TO-BE GENERALS STUART BEARE AND MIKE ROULEAU.
B. ASSISTANT INSTRUCTOR-IN-GUNNERY COURSE (AIG) 1990 TO 1991 – OUTSTANDING YEAR (CIRCA OKA CRISIS) SPENT ON ATL AT CTC GAGETOWN, HONING HIS TECHNICAL GUNNERY AND COURSE DESIGN SKILLS WITH THE LIKES OF CHRIS RUSK, WAYNE LEBLANC, DANNY GIROUX, A FELLOW CAST OF COMEDIANS AND FLOOR HOCKEY PLAYERS. C. 2 RCHA, PETAWAWA 2008 TO 2009 – PAUL WAS QUITE SHOCKED TO LEARN THAT THEN CO, COL (RETD) CRAIG DALTON, HAD THE FAITH AND COURAGE TO APPOINT HIM AS ADJUTANT, 2 RCHA.
PAUL RECALLS THIS AS HIS MOST FULFILLING AND CHALLENGING JOB …APART FROM THE B BTY MONSTER BINGO.
D. KANDAHAR AFGHANISTAN 2010 – ALTHOUGH PAUL FONDLY LOOKS BACK UPON HIS TENURE AS AN LO WITH 3 RCR DURING 2003 OPERATIONS IN KABUL (…NELSON LIZOTTE, RIP), KANDAHAR TURNED OUT TO BE A MORE SATISFYING EXPERIENCE, AS HE WAS CHOSEN TO FULFILL DUTIES AS ADJUTANT OF THE PRT AND SUBSEQUENTLY TFK BDE TPS. HE WAS AWARDED A CEFCOM COMMENDATION FOR HIS EFFORTS AND IT WAS PRESENTED TO HIM, NO LESS, BY LGEN (RET’D) STUART BEARE IN HIS FIRST SUCH ACT AS COMD CEFCOM

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