Overview

After receiving first-rate academic and equipment training, you will be responsible for the maintenance of all internal and external shipboard communications equipment and systems, including radio navigation aids and beacons.

Main Benefits

• Subsidized training provided
• Opportunities for advancement

Enrollment Program

If you are interested in this occupation, the Canadian Forces can subsidize your training at a civilian community college or at the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School Detachment in Newfoundland and Labrador.

What They Do

Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) are responsible for the maintenance of all internal and external shipboard communications equipment and systems, including radio navigation aids and beacons. As technicians, they do not perform any operator duties.

Qualification Requirements

Personnel in this military occupation must, at minimum, have successfully passed high school mathematics from a Canadian educational establishment and demonstrate a high level of aptitude for electronics. Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) must be able to work under emergency conditions, to quickly adapt to unfamiliar problems, to endure occasional periods of long work hours in order to achieve objectives, and to promptly diagnose and correct equipment deficiencies. They must work as members or leaders of technical teams, quickly understand orders, and improvise where necessary to achieve objectives. They must be dependable and discreet given their access to classified material.

The CF has introduced a series of recruitment allowances for eligible NCM applicants entering the Regular Force.

• $10,000 signing bonus for NCMs with a post-secondary diploma or certificate
• $20,000 signing bonus for civilian trade-qualified NCMs
• $20,000 signing bonus for Military Occupation-qualified NCMs

These allowances apply to new recruits, re-enrolees and Reserve Force members who are transferred to this target Military Occupation group.

Depending on their qualification level, many recruits are also eligible for incentives such as promotion to the rank of Acting Corporal immediately after successful completion of basic training.

Training

The first stage of training for all new recruits is the 13-week Basic Military Qualification (BMQ) course at the Canadian Forces Leadership and Recruit School in Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu, Quebec.

Upon completion of the BMQ, Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) attend Naval Environmental Training at the Canadian Forces Fleet School (CFFS) in Esquimalt, British Columbia or Halifax, Nova Scotia. Training takes approximately five weeks to complete. The second part is the Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) Apprentice Course which is given at the Canadian Forces Naval Engineering School (CFNES) in Halifax and lasts approximately 63 weeks. 
 
Working Environment

Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) are trained for service on ships and submarines stationed at Halifax, N.S., or Esquimalt, B.C. They carry out the duties of their profession at sea, in port and on land. Duties at sea are performed in exposed areas and in enclosed, confined spaces above and below the waterline, under all weather and environmental conditions. As with all sea-going personnel, Naval Electronics Technicians (Communications) are sailors first and technicians second.

Opportunities For Advancement

Opportunities for advanced and specialty training are available as your career progresses. For those who demonstrate the required ability and potential, there are countless opportunities for advancement, promotion and advanced training.

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