Signals Officer
- Thread starter Noid
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After looking at Wikipedia to see exactly what a Computer Engineering degree entails, I doubt you'll be doing much of that stuff at all. You're an officer, and will administer Signals NCMs in providing communications networks. Maybe later in your career you'll get to work in project management, where you'll define CAF requirements, but you won't be designing the nuts and bolts yourself.
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From the point of view of someone who has a P.Eng., you won't need to leave the military to obtain your P.Eng. Designation.
I would suggest that you discuss this with the PEO registrar to determine what is acceptable experience in your field. Register with PEO as soon as you are eligible to do so. Meet with your assigned Mentor and discuss your situation with him/her.
You may be surprised as to what is considered as acceptable experience. Particularly when you are placed in positions of responsibility, leadership and management skills, and so forth. Being an engineer of any sort is not all technical skills. You will do many things over your career (either military or civilian) that aren't directly related to the technical aspects of your degree, but are still skills that an engineer needs to have.
But the best advice you can get right now is to dialog with PEO and get their input. Your situation is not unique, and is actually quite common. They have dealt with many before you, and may even be able to direct you to CF members who can give you more details on how they dealt with their 4 years of EIT experience.
I would suggest that you discuss this with the PEO registrar to determine what is acceptable experience in your field. Register with PEO as soon as you are eligible to do so. Meet with your assigned Mentor and discuss your situation with him/her.
You may be surprised as to what is considered as acceptable experience. Particularly when you are placed in positions of responsibility, leadership and management skills, and so forth. Being an engineer of any sort is not all technical skills. You will do many things over your career (either military or civilian) that aren't directly related to the technical aspects of your degree, but are still skills that an engineer needs to have.
But the best advice you can get right now is to dialog with PEO and get their input. Your situation is not unique, and is actually quite common. They have dealt with many before you, and may even be able to direct you to CF members who can give you more details on how they dealt with their 4 years of EIT experience.
donaldk
Member
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Similar to the above post. Go on PEO's website, contact a mentor/PEO representative in your area, and have a meeting with him and inquire about Engineer-In-Training. They will decide (Mentor/PEO) whether your current job entails engineering work (hint: engineers do not always do hard engineering, but often manage engineering related operations or work with something related to engineering). If eligible then the clock will start when you became a CELE/SigO and of course dues will be appropriately assessed for time served in Ontario.
From my own experience (dealing with APENS, not PEO), I commissioned as a MSEO at 22 June 2009, which was deemed when the clock started for my EIT (even though I did not enroll into EIT until 2011). Thus I had to pay dues retroactively to APENS for EIT as all time was done in Nova Scotia. Since I had 2 years experience logged off the get, I did my NPPE exam (NPPE is much easier than PEO's PPE). I will be seeking my P.Eng license from APENS come this June since its the 4 year mark.
Good Luck!
From my own experience (dealing with APENS, not PEO), I commissioned as a MSEO at 22 June 2009, which was deemed when the clock started for my EIT (even though I did not enroll into EIT until 2011). Thus I had to pay dues retroactively to APENS for EIT as all time was done in Nova Scotia. Since I had 2 years experience logged off the get, I did my NPPE exam (NPPE is much easier than PEO's PPE). I will be seeking my P.Eng license from APENS come this June since its the 4 year mark.
Good Luck!
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Caution: 1) I'm not an engineer; and 2) I've been retired for a long time; but:
I knew several Signals officers who were also PEngs - they were, mainly, officers who, at about the rank of capt or maj, left the field force and specialized in engineering. Many rose to the comfortable rank of colonel, having spent most of their careers, after grad school, in Ottawa. But the PEng qualified officers who worked for me (when I headed up a quite specialized directorate in NDHQ) were MARE and CELE(Air) (I had one Signals officer - a BSEE but not a PEng, as I recall - on staff when I arrived, but I fired him for cause).
There was, and I'm guessing still is, a requirement for a modest Signals engineering cadre, but the officers who work in and lead it must have a good grounding in a Signals officers core business - supporting combat units in the field - before becoming technical specialists.
I knew several Signals officers who were also PEngs - they were, mainly, officers who, at about the rank of capt or maj, left the field force and specialized in engineering. Many rose to the comfortable rank of colonel, having spent most of their careers, after grad school, in Ottawa. But the PEng qualified officers who worked for me (when I headed up a quite specialized directorate in NDHQ) were MARE and CELE(Air) (I had one Signals officer - a BSEE but not a PEng, as I recall - on staff when I arrived, but I fired him for cause).
There was, and I'm guessing still is, a requirement for a modest Signals engineering cadre, but the officers who work in and lead it must have a good grounding in a Signals officers core business - supporting combat units in the field - before becoming technical specialists.
Hi , I was reading previous Signal Officer forums on the site.
It seems that to join as a Signal Officer you would need a degree in electronics or computer science ( from what I understood ) but the latest answer was in 2004 ...
If I check on the Forces.ca Website a a DEO , this is what they say : If you already have a university degree, the Canadian Forces will decide if your academic program matches the criteria for this job and may place you directly into the required on-the-job training program following basic training. basic training and military officer qualification training are required before being assigned.
So my question is : is is still Electronic and Computers related degree ? or it changed from 2004 ?
I'm still digging more into the other forums , but if anyone has the answer , I would greatly appreciate
It seems that to join as a Signal Officer you would need a degree in electronics or computer science ( from what I understood ) but the latest answer was in 2004 ...
If I check on the Forces.ca Website a a DEO , this is what they say : If you already have a university degree, the Canadian Forces will decide if your academic program matches the criteria for this job and may place you directly into the required on-the-job training program following basic training. basic training and military officer qualification training are required before being assigned.
So my question is : is is still Electronic and Computers related degree ? or it changed from 2004 ?
I'm still digging more into the other forums , but if anyone has the answer , I would greatly appreciate
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I recomend you to visit your local CFRC to get all information.According my experience it can be different time to time and trade to trade.
yeah that's what I was planning on , but my CRFC was closed yesterday ( vacation ) so I thought about asking it here ! but I do plan on calling them , and also figure out what exactly the job is , since the video does show you the nicest things , but I'm looking into a typical day as a SIG O ....
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krimynal said:
Paperwork and sending emails.
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I just finished the new iteration of BSOC and it is now called SOTC (Signal Officer Troop Commander Course)
Mod 1 covers signal theory, an introduction to different systems and the employment of Signal Capabilities.
Mod 2 covers being a Duty Officer, Recce officer and troop commander (battle procedure) with some aspects of admin (writing training plans and interview and counselling).
This ran about 5 months.
In addition you will also do 2 weeks of ISSO.
This encompasses DP 1 for a Signal Officer (Reg and Res).
DP 2 is now called SJSO (Signal Junior Staff Officer) which encompasses more os the Signal Estimate and Mission Analysis.
Mod 1 covers signal theory, an introduction to different systems and the employment of Signal Capabilities.
Mod 2 covers being a Duty Officer, Recce officer and troop commander (battle procedure) with some aspects of admin (writing training plans and interview and counselling).
This ran about 5 months.
In addition you will also do 2 weeks of ISSO.
This encompasses DP 1 for a Signal Officer (Reg and Res).
DP 2 is now called SJSO (Signal Junior Staff Officer) which encompasses more os the Signal Estimate and Mission Analysis.
My question is pretty straight forward , just wondering if there was any SigO on the site ? I'm looking to change my degree , and I have some questions about the real work of a SigO.
I've watched the videos on Force.ca , went through some posts here on the website , but must of them were from the recruiting point of view , more than the actual job of a SigO , some posts were about SigOp , but that's the NCM side of things.
Basically I wanted to know what a SigO was doing on a regular basis , I get that it's all about communication and networking , but does he actually touch that stuff , or he is the officer in charge of the ncm's who do it ?
Other than reading and sending emails , what does he really do in a regular day of work?
I'm wondering between Arty Officer and SigO , 2 very different trades but I'm still looking , I've joined the reserve here as a Arty NCM for the time of my degree.
Thanks !
I've watched the videos on Force.ca , went through some posts here on the website , but must of them were from the recruiting point of view , more than the actual job of a SigO , some posts were about SigOp , but that's the NCM side of things.
Basically I wanted to know what a SigO was doing on a regular basis , I get that it's all about communication and networking , but does he actually touch that stuff , or he is the officer in charge of the ncm's who do it ?
Other than reading and sending emails , what does he really do in a regular day of work?
I'm wondering between Arty Officer and SigO , 2 very different trades but I'm still looking , I've joined the reserve here as a Arty NCM for the time of my degree.
Thanks !
yeah ! from what I read though , I seem to find out ( I might be REALLY WRONG here ) that SigO tends to do more paperwork and administration stuff then the Arty Officer.
I do know that being an Officer means Paperwork , administration , field planning , etc. But I think , that SigO does less field Exercise , seems to do less on-hand training
Like I said I might be wrong !
I do know that being an Officer means Paperwork , administration , field planning , etc. But I think , that SigO does less field Exercise , seems to do less on-hand training
Like I said I might be wrong !
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I found Reply #37 interesting. It sort of touches on the subject.
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/17932/post-385588.html#msg385588
"I am a Signal Officer with 21 years experience in the Army."
http://forums.army.ca/forums/threads/17932/post-385588.html#msg385588
"I am a Signal Officer with 21 years experience in the Army."
yeah , the more I read about it , the less I kinda feel that I'm gonna be in the right path.
I would consider myself more of a field guy , and with that in mind , this path seems to be a lot more Logical , Bureaucratic job. Which in itself is really great , maybe not that great for me tho !
thanks for your help !
I would consider myself more of a field guy , and with that in mind , this path seems to be a lot more Logical , Bureaucratic job. Which in itself is really great , maybe not that great for me tho !
thanks for your help !
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Like most officers in most branches Signal Officers have a variety of tasks depending, especially, on where they are posted.
Sometimes a junior Sig O may have to make decisions (judgement calls) about how best to deploy and use bits and pieces of technical equipment. As a general rule (s)he will decide and soldiers will execute.
The duties of a junior officer in a field unit are quite different from those of, say, a major or lieutenant colonel in an engineering branch in HQ, but one must have been the former before being the latter.
Your degree might matter, especially if you want to work in some of the rather specialized areas. In my opinion (which is worth exactly what you are paying for it) degrees in Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Physics are the best for overall value and flexibility, next Electrical Engineering and then all the others.
I'm guessing that Signals will tell you that Computer Science is a highly desirable programme but I suspect they are wrong. My sense of how the world is evolving is that much of the work currently done by computer scientists and engineers will devolve to technicians or become the domain of a handful of folks with PhDs with little room in the middle for technology managers.
Let me give you a couple of examples: the current VCDS, LGen Guy Thibault is a Sig O, his first degree is in Math & Physics; and Gen (Ret'd) Ramsey Withers was CDS, he was also a Sig O, his degree is in Electrical Engineering (awarded by Queens because, back in the old, old days RMC did not award degrees). Your degree should teach you two things: how to think, and something, a bit, about one (or more) areas of interest. Signals, like every branch of the CF, has a need for thinkers and for men and women who can act - do the right thing and do things right - in difficult circumstances.
Sometimes a junior Sig O may have to make decisions (judgement calls) about how best to deploy and use bits and pieces of technical equipment. As a general rule (s)he will decide and soldiers will execute.
The duties of a junior officer in a field unit are quite different from those of, say, a major or lieutenant colonel in an engineering branch in HQ, but one must have been the former before being the latter.
Your degree might matter, especially if you want to work in some of the rather specialized areas. In my opinion (which is worth exactly what you are paying for it) degrees in Mathematics, Physics and Engineering Physics are the best for overall value and flexibility, next Electrical Engineering and then all the others.
I'm guessing that Signals will tell you that Computer Science is a highly desirable programme but I suspect they are wrong. My sense of how the world is evolving is that much of the work currently done by computer scientists and engineers will devolve to technicians or become the domain of a handful of folks with PhDs with little room in the middle for technology managers.
Let me give you a couple of examples: the current VCDS, LGen Guy Thibault is a Sig O, his first degree is in Math & Physics; and Gen (Ret'd) Ramsey Withers was CDS, he was also a Sig O, his degree is in Electrical Engineering (awarded by Queens because, back in the old, old days RMC did not award degrees). Your degree should teach you two things: how to think, and something, a bit, about one (or more) areas of interest. Signals, like every branch of the CF, has a need for thinkers and for men and women who can act - do the right thing and do things right - in difficult circumstances.
thanks a lot for that input !
*** EDIT ***
I'm currently doing a Bachelor Degree as a 2nd Language Teacher here in Quebec City. I have a hard time figuring this out , that's why I'm thinking of changing degrees. And since SigO needs Specific degree choices , I wanted to see what was the job prior to me doing the change.
I'm thinking either
Administration Degree with a Human Ressources view.
or
Social Communications.
The Social Comm one would let me join as a SigO , but not the admin one. The admin one tho would help me a lot with all the paperworks , administration issues as a Officer. That's why I don't know exactly !
*** EDIT ***
I'm currently doing a Bachelor Degree as a 2nd Language Teacher here in Quebec City. I have a hard time figuring this out , that's why I'm thinking of changing degrees. And since SigO needs Specific degree choices , I wanted to see what was the job prior to me doing the change.
I'm thinking either
Administration Degree with a Human Ressources view.
or
Social Communications.
The Social Comm one would let me join as a SigO , but not the admin one. The admin one tho would help me a lot with all the paperworks , administration issues as a Officer. That's why I don't know exactly !
