The Communications and Electronics Branch () is a

personnel branch Employment is a relationship between two parties regulating the provision of paid labour services. Usually based on a contract, one party, the employer, which might be a corporation, a not-for-profit organization, a co-operative, or any oth ...

of the

Canadian Armed Forces The Canadian Armed Forces (CAF; , FAC) are the unified Military, military forces of Canada, including sea, land, and air commands referred to as the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and the Royal Canadian Air Force. Under the ''National Defenc ...

(CAF). The army component of the branch is designated the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals ().

History

Major Wallace Bruce Matthews Carruthers (13 February 1863–21 October 1910) was the founder of the Canadian Signalling Corps, forerunner of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals and the Communications and Electronics Branch. In the 1968 unification of the Canadian Forces, functional similar components of the Royal Canadian Navy, Canadian Army and Royal Canadian Air Force were combined into the new Communications and Electronics Branch. During the Boer War, Carruthers noted the importance of tactical signalling in a successful campaign. Observing the employment of heliographs, semaphore flags and lamps, he realized there was a need for a unit to provide proper training in the use of these systems. Upon his return to Canada in 1902, he wrote a paper on signalling for the Royal Military College Club and championed an establishment of a signalling corps. In 1903, the formation of the Canadian Signal Corps was authorized by General Order 167. It was the first signal corps in the British Empire and is the forerunner of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals. On 3 February 1903, now Major Carruthers was appointed as one of two inspectors of signalling. Setting up his headquarters in Kingston, Ontario, he was responsible to the Militia Council for the supervision of instruction and practice of signalling and the inspection of signallers and their equipment. In 1904, the Provisional School of Signalling was established, with schools held in Kingston, Ottawa, Winnipeg, Montreal, Halifax, London, Quebec and Toronto over the next 2 years. Training began in earnest in 1905 in summer militia instructional camps or in provisional schools set up in those eight cities. 546 officers and men from the rural corps were trained in semaphore at the summer camps and 68 of those had qualified as signallers over the next few years. A reorganization of the corps in 1906 made Carruthers the Canadian Corps of Signal's commanding officer. He received the title of Assistant Adjutant General for Signalling In April 2013, the army component of the branch was officially designated with its historic title, the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals, but it remains a part of the C&E Branch.

Uniform

*Cap badge: A silver depiction of Mercury with golden lightning bolts on either side placed on a field of blue. *Army shoulder title: ** English: "RCCS" (all uniforms) ** French: "" (all uniforms) *Miscellaneous: ** The signalman's trade qualification badge (worn on the lower sleeve of the Service Dress jacket) is the only such trade badge that features colours (blue and white) instead of just gold.

Customs and traditions

*Colonel-in-Chief:

Anne, Princess Royal Anne, Princess Royal (Anne Elizabeth Alice Louise; born 15 August 1950) is a member of the British royal family. She is the second child and only daughter of Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip, Duke of Edinburgh, and the only sister of King ...

*Branch flag: Horizontal bicolour, French grey (Munsell Notation 5PB5/2) over dark blue (Munsell Notation 7.5PB2/2). It is commonly believed that the colours of the flag represent "grey skies over blue waters"; however, the colours were inherited from the officer's Mess Dress uniforms of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS), which were in turn inherited from the 21st Lancers, the first unit of Major Carruthers, founder of the RCCS *Home station:

CFB Kingston Canadian Forces Base Kingston (also CFB Kingston) is a Canadian Forces base in Kingston, Ontario. History The Barriefield Military Camp, commonly called Camp Barriefield, was established as a military base at the outbreak of the First World ...

Ontario Ontario is the southernmost Provinces and territories of Canada, province of Canada. Located in Central Canada, Ontario is the Population of Canada by province and territory, country's most populous province. As of the 2021 Canadian census, it ...

*Motto: , "Swift, Accurate, Watchful"); motto inherited from the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals *Nickname: **"Jimmies" – after "Jimmy", the nickname given to the Roman god Mercury as patron (and insignia) of Signals in Commonwealth countries; the origin of this particular sobriquet for the god is unknown; there are a number of theories as to why 'Jimmy' was adopted as a term of endearment for the emblem. The most widely accepted is that it came from a very popular Royal Signals boxer, Jimmy Emblem, who was the British Army Champion in 1924 and represented the Royal Signals Corps from 1921 to 1924. **"Sigs" – after the abbreviation of "Signals" **"Sig Pigs" – rhyming slang name; sometimes used deprecatingly by non-Signalmen, generally with pride by Signalmen *Authorized march: " The Mercury March" *Branch colours: French grey and dark blue *Miscellaneous: **Signals units follow the cavalry practice of naming their units "regiment" for "battalion", "squadron" for "company", and "troop" for "platoon". **Trained

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s in Signals or Communications units are styled "Signaller" or "Sig" for short.

Training

Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics

The Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics (CFSCE) in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada, on the northeastern end of Lake Ontario. It is at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River, the south end of the Rideau Canal. Kingston is near the Thousand Islands, ...

was founded in 1937. Initially, CFSCE provided training in Communications and Electronics in Canadian Army and now in the

. CFSCE provides basic, intermediate and advanced training to military personnel in the field of Communications and Electronics.

Occupations

Military occupations and military occupation codes (MOCs) within the branch are listed below. Also listed are the uniform environment restrictions. Military occupations that have previously existed in the C&E Branch are listed below.

Units

Regular Force units

* 1 CMBG Headquarters and Signal Squadron * 2 CMBG Headquarters and Signal Squadron * 21 Electronic Warfare Regiment * 3 CDSG Signal Squadron * 4 CDSG Signal Squadron (formerly

2 Area Support Group Signal Squadron 2 Area Support Group Signal Squadron (2 ASG Sig Sqn) was a Regular Force Army unit within the Canadian Forces. The Squadron (army), squadron was responsible for delivering secure and non-secure communication and information systems across Land F ...

) * 5 CDSG Signal Squadron * 5 CMBG Headquarters and Signal Squadron () * Canadian Forces Information Operations Group **Canadian Forces Electronic Warfare Centre (CFEWC) **Canadian Forces Information Operations Group Headquarters (CFIOGHQ) **Canadian Forces Network Operations Centre (CFNOC) **Canadian Forces Signals Intelligence Operations Centre (CFSOC) **Canadian Forces Station Leitrim * Canadian Forces Joint Signal Regiment *

Canadian Forces School of Communications and Electronics Canadians () are people identified with the country of Canada. This connection may be residential, legal, historical or cultural. For most Canadians, many (or all) of these connections exist and are collectively the source of their being ''C ...

Information Management Information management (IM) is the appropriate and optimized capture, storage, retrieval, and use of information. It may be personal information management or organizational. Information management for organizations concerns a cycle of organiz ...

**7 Communication Group ***76 Communication Regiment ***77 Line Regiment

Reserve Force units (up to 31 March 2012)

*70 Communication Group Headquarters **700 (Borden) Communication Squadron **705 (Hamilton) Communication Squadron **709 (Toronto) Communication Regiment **763 (Ottawa) Communication Regiment **772 Electronic Warfare Squadron Kingston *71 Communication Group Headquarters **712 (Montreal) Communication Squadron **

713 (Beauport) Communication Regiment __NOTOC__ Year 713 ( DCCXIII) was a common year starting on Sunday of the Julian calendar, the 713th year of the Common Era (CE) and Anno Domini (AD) designations, the 713th year of the 1st millennium, the 13th year of the 8th century, and the ...

() **714 (Sherbrooke) Communication Squadron *72 Communication Group Headquarters **721 (Charlottetown) Communication Regiment ** 722 (Saint John) Communication Squadron **723 (Halifax) Communication Squadron ** 725 (Glace Bay) Communication Squadron ** 728 (St. John's) Communication Squadron *73 Communication Group Headquarters **734 (Regina) Communication Squadron **735 (Winnipeg) Communication Regiment **736 (Thunder Bay) Communication Squadron **737 (Saskatoon) Communication Squadron **745 (Edmonton) Communication Squadron **746 (Calgary) Communication Squadron **749 (Red Deer) Communication Squadron *74 Communication Group Headquarters **741 (Victoria) Communication Squadron **744 (Vancouver) Communication Regiment **748 (Nanaimo) Communication Squadron

Reserve Force units (from 1 April 2012)

Listed by Canadian Army Area and parent Brigade Group *4th Canadian Division **31 Canadian Brigade Group ***31 Signal Regiment (formerly 705 (Hamilton) Communication Squadron) **32 Canadian Brigade Group *** 32 Signal Regiment (formerly 700 (Borden) Communication Squadron and 709 (Toronto) Communication Regiment) **33 Canadian Brigade Group *** 33 Signal Regiment (formerly 763 (Ottawa) Communication Regiment) *2nd Canadian Division **34 Canadian Brigade Group ***34 Signal Regiment (formerly 712 (Montreal) Communication Squadron) **35 Canadian Brigade Group ***35 Signal Regiment (formerly 713 (Beauport) Communication Regiment, and 714 (Sherbrooke) Communication Squadron) *5th Canadian Division **36 Canadian Brigade Group *** 36 Signal Regiment (formerly 721 (Charlottetown) Communication Regiment, 723 (Halifax) Communication Squadron, and 725 (Glace Bay) Communication Squadron) **37 Canadian Brigade Group *** 37 Signal Regiment (formerly 722 (Saint John) Communication Squadron, and 728 (St. John's) Communication Squadron) *3rd Canadian Division **38 Canadian Brigade Group ***38 Signal Regiment (formerly 734 (Regina) Communication Squadron, 735 (Winnipeg) Communication Regiment, 736 (Thunder Bay) Communication Squadron, and 737 (Saskatoon) Communication Squadron) **39 Canadian Brigade Group *** 39 Signal Regiment (formerly 741 (Victoria) Communication Squadron, now B Squadron, 2 Troop; 744 (Vancouver) Communication Regiment, now A Squadron; and 748 (Nanaimo) Communication Squadron, now B Squadron, 1 Troop) **41 Canadian Brigade Group *** 41 Signal Regiment (formerly 745 (Edmonton) Communication Squadron, 746 (Calgary) Communication Squadron, and 749 (Red Deer) Communication Squadron)

CFS Alert

Staffing at CFS Alert are the responsibility of the Branch. In the past members were drawn by the

RCAF The Royal Canadian Air Force (RCAF; ) is the air and space force of Canada. Its role is to "provide the Canadian Forces with relevant, responsive and effective airpower". The RCAF is one of three environmental commands within the unified Canad ...

Canadian Army The Canadian Army () is the command (military formation), command responsible for the operational readiness of the conventional ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces. It maintains regular forces units at bases across Canada, and is also re ...

Order of precedence

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Communications And Electronics Branch Canadian Armed Forces personnel branches Military communications units and formations Military units and formations established in 1968