18781 Maj Marc Ducharme, CD (CMR 1993) will retire from the Canadian Forces on 10 May 10, after 21 years and 9 months of dedicated service to Canada. Major Marc Ducharme joined the CF in 1988 and graduated from Collège Militaire Royal de St-Jean (CMR), in 1993 with a Bachelor in Space Science. Following aerospace engineer training in Borden, Ontario, he was posted to the land aviation test and evaluation flight at 403 Squadron in Gagetown, NB. He was then selected for the Electro-Optics And Infrared (EO/IR) engineering program, which he completed at the Royal Military College, Kingston, in 1998 with a Master’s degree in electro-optics engineering. Following graduation, he was employed in DGAEPM as the technical authority for all air force night vision equipment and provided engineering and project management support to fleets and projects involving EO/IR sensors. Maj Ducharme was then posted to the directorate of joint capability production as an Intelligence, Surveillance & Reconnaissance interoperability specialist in support to the Joint Intelligence and Information Fusion Capability project and the Unmanned Aerial Vehicle joint program office. In 2006, he was assigned back to DGAEPM as the deputy weapon system manager for all Unmanned Aerial Vehicles in the CF, including the Sperwer tactical UAV, which was deployed to Afghanistan. Since July 2008, he was the EO/IR and ISR sensor team leader in DAEPM(R&CS).
Maj Ducharme is married to Catherine Alarie and they have three children; Vincent (8), Florianne (4) and a baby girl expected in early June 2010. Marc is an avid hockey player who also enjoys golfing and home improvement projects. He is also very involved in his community as a hockey coach and councillor in the municipality of Cantley, Quebec.
Marc has accepted an engineer position in the public service within the Maritime Helicopter Project. He starts his new career on 17 May 2010. A retirement luncheon will take place on 21st May 2010 at Métropolitain restaurant, Ottawa. andrew.langille@forces.gc.ca
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