By 1980, he had completed his training as an infantry officer and was posted to the Royal 22e Régiment at CFB Valcartier, near Quebec City.
Laroche also served as a squad commander while attending the Royal Military College, in Ottawa as a staff officer for the Directorate of Land Information Resources (DLIR) in NDHQ, in Kingston, Ontario, where he took a position with the directing staff at the Canadian Land Forces Command and Staff College, and in Valcartier as Base Personnel Services Officer and G3 of 5 Canadian Mechanized Brigade Group.
He also served in Bosnia-Herzegovina twice (1997 and 1999) as battle group commander and as chief of staff of the 5th Canadian Multinational Brigade.
As soon as he was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general in 2007, he was given the job of commander of Joint Task Force Afghanistan rotation four.
[1][2] In the aftermath of the 2010 Haiti earthquake, Laroche was appointed the commander of a 2,000-strong Canadian military assistance force.