Captain (retired) Colin Muise remembers “running around as a 17-year-old in training, with a bag and webbing.
“A lot has changed since then in health care – stuff is just amazing.”
14 Wing Greenwood’s community health nurse was recognized February 9 with a 45-year service award to Canada, as Brigadier-General Scott Malcolm and Chief Warrant Officer Martin Bédard of Canadian Health Services Division visited 26 Canadian Forces Health Services.
“It is truly an honour and a privilege fur us to present this to you for your career,” said Malcolm. “You have shaped the institution for almost half a century, and we don’t give out these awards very often.”
Muise enlisted in 35 (Sydney) Medical Company as a medical assistant in 1976, and spent 10 years here as he advanced to warrant officer and company sergeant major. He became a registered nurse in 1986, and joined the Regular Force that year. Over the next 20 years, Muise served in nursing officer roles across the country; in 2004, he returned to Canada from Geilenkirchen, Germany, joining 26 CFHS as the senior nursing officer and then manager. In 2006, Muise deployed to Landstuhl, Germany, the first air evacuation liaison officer to manage the repatriation of Canadian Armed Forces members injured in Afghanistan. Later that year, he returned to 26 CFHS as a civilian community health nurse; in early 2007, he accepted a Reserve component transfer and joined 1 Canadian Field Hospital, Detachment Ottawa. He continued to serve as a Reserve nursing officer until he retired after 42 years of uniformed service in February 2019, again becoming a civilian nurse in Greenwood. He will mark his 47th year with Health Services in April, and plans to retire May 25.
“It’s an honour to be recognized, but it is time for me to be thinking about what is next. I’ll be 64 in February; I’ve had 19 years in Greenwood in uniform and not. Overall, my career has had its ups and downs – but there have been a lot more positives than negatives.
“Our service, our role, our job – it’s to look after the members of the Canadian Armed Forces, and our most important resource is you, the people who come here every day and do their job.”
Muise said, come May, he won’t miss coming to work every day, but “I will miss the people who make it a professional and good experience. Thank you for all the support of me, and my colleagues.”
Malcolm and Bédard presented Command Coins to several members of the branch, recognizing dedication and exceptional work. Captain Damen Meade, a health care administration officer with 26 CFHS’ Detachment St. John’s, joined the presentation virtually; other recipients included pharmacy staffer Paul Perry, primary care nurse Venessa Boudreau and senior preventative medicine technician Sergeant Sandra Marcoux.
