Report from LCol Sarah House, CD
Assistant Chief Military Engineer
The Canadian Military Engineers hosted the NATO Senior Joint Engineer Conference (NSJEC) from 20-21 Oct, as well as the Military Engineering Centre of Excellence (MILENG COE) biannual Steering Committee Meeting on 19 October, in Québec City. Canada had the honour of being the first North American country to host NSJEC, which brought together 70 delegates, representing 35 organizations, from 20 nations. This annual gathering brings together the senior engineer of each NATO nation, representatives from the NATO Commands, including the newly minted Joint Support Enabling Command (JSEC), as well as supporting organizations like Eurocorp. Important discussions were held throughout the 2-day agenda set by the NATO co-chairs, ranging from the impacts NATO planning procedures have on MILENG capabilities and tasks to the Allied Rapid Reaction Corps’ multination initiatives.
NSJEC is convened under the administrative backbone the MILENG COE provides to this community. Canada is one of the 17 sponsoring nations of this COE and continues to have a member posted to the unit in Ingolstadt Germany, who specializes within its doctrinal branch. That post is currently filled by Major Keith Mills, who was a key enabler and member of the organizing team consisting also of LCol Sarah House (Assistant CME), Maj Ian Creighton (Br Adjt) and CWO Stacy Merriam (Br CWO).
Beyond the formal agenda, the 3-day event included social activities safely held in line with local and international COVID protocols. With all delegates and participants fully vaccinated and tested, it was quite enjoyable gathering for an East Coast Ceilidh Ice Breaker, Cabane-à-Sucre Cultural Dinner, Citadelle Tour, and to offer attending spouses registration into a program of guided tours at various Quebec City historical locations. This incredible agenda was only possible through the support of 5 RGC, members of the regiment and band of the R22R, and the RCAF Pipes and Drums of the Central Band.
During the Cultural Dinner, held inside the Manège Voltigeurs de Québec, our Senior Serving Engineer and Chief of Professional Conduct and Culture, LGen Carignan, impressed with a topical key note address touching on the criticality of allies, the strength of interoperable engineers, and the operational edge diversity brings in driving security sector reform. The stage was set (literally) by 5 RGC who conducted an MGB build inside the armoury and unbeknown to LGen Carignan the Tp Comd who approached her to place the final pin in the bridge was her daughter, Lt Amélie Lefrançois. A cool CAF moment!
For more information about the MILENG COE, cut and paste this URL into a new tab in your browser: https://milengcoe.org/Pages/default.aspx
