Communications and Electronics Branch

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The Communications and Electronics (C&E) Branch is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces (CF).

1 History
2 Uniform
3 Customs and traditions
4 Occupations
5 Order of precedence

[edit] 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 of the Canadian Forces.

[edit] Uniform

Cap badge:
Army shoulder title:
- English: "SIGNALS" (all uniforms)
- French: "TRANS" (Service Dress tunic), "TRANSMISSIONS" (all other uniforms)
Miscellaneous:
- Officers may wear box spurs with Mess Dress, perpetuating the cavalry heritage of the Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (through the Royal Canadian Engineers)
- 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

[edit] Customs and traditions

Colonel-in-Chief: Her Royal Highness, The Princess Royal

Flag of the Communications and Electronics Branch

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, Ontario
Motto: Velox Versutus Vigilans (Latin, "Swift, Skilled, Alert"); 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 in that it came from a very popular Royal Signals boxer, called 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
- "Rubberheads" - Nickname applied only to Communicator Research personnel; considered pejorative or insulting when used by non-Communicator Research personnel. Etymology is unknown
Authorized march: "The Mercury March"
Branch colours: French grey and dark blue
Miscellaneous:
- Signals units (including Communication Reserve units) follow the Cavalry practice of naming their units "Regiment" for "Battalion", "Squadron" for "Company", and "Troop" for "Platoon".
- Trained Privates in Signals or Communications units are styled "Signalman" or "Sig".

[edit] Occupations

Military occupations and military occupation codes (MOCs) within the Branch are listed below. Also listed are the uniform environment restrictions.

MOC	Occupation	Abbrev	Uniform
Officers
083	Communications and Electronics Engineering (Air)	CELE (AIR)	Air
084	Signals	SIGS	Land
Non-commissioned members
052	Lineman	LMN	Land
215	Signal Operator	SIG OP	Land
226	Aerospace Telecommunication & Information Systems Technician	ATIS TECH	Air
227	Land Communication and Information Systems Technician	LCIS TECH	Land
291	Communicator Research Operator	COMM RSCH	Sea, Land, Air