Caron enrolled in the Canadian Forces in October 1971 and after graduating from the Officer Cadet Training Programme, was commissioned in May 1973. As a junior officer he served with the 3rd Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment in Quebec from May 1973, with the 1st Airborne Commando in Cyprus from April 1974, with the 1st Battalion, Royal 22e Régiment in Lahr, Germany from August 1976 and with the Royal Welch Fusiliers in Lemgo, Germany from January 1978. He became a student at the Royal Military College of Science in Shrivenham, England in 1981 and then at the Canadian Land Force Command and Staff College in Kingston, Ontario in 1982.