33 Signal Regiment, formerly known as 763 Communication Regiment, is a primary reserve
Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the 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 respo ...
unit of the
Royal Canadian Corps of Signals
The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals (RCCS or RC Sigs; french: links=no, Corps des transmissions royal du Canada, CTRC) is a component within the Canadian Armed Forces' Communications and Electronics Branch, consisting of all members of that person ...
(part of the
Communications and Electronics Branch
The Communications and Electronics Branch (french: Branche des communications et de l'électronique, link=no) is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF). The army component of the branch is designated the Royal Canadian Corps of Sign ...
) in
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
Location
The unit is currently located at Major
Edward James Gibson Holland
Edward James Gibson Holland (2 February 1878 – 18 June 1948) was a Canadian recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest and most prestigious award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and Commonwealth fo ...
VC Armoury at 2100 Walkley Road,
Ottawa
Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...
,
Ontario
Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
.
History
33 Signal Regiment began on 12 October 1922 as the 3rd Battalion, Canadian Corps of Signals. It was redesignated as the 3rd Divisional Signals Regiment in 1926 and was divided into signal companies for the 1st and 2nd Canadian Divisions in the Second World War. Following the war it became the 3rd Signal Regiment until 1970 when it was allocated to Canadian Forces Communication Command (authorized on 1 April 1965) and redesignated as 703 Communication Regiment. Its mandate was to provide operationally trained communications personnel and to support the Regular Force in ongoing peacetime tasks and activities. On 1 June 1976 the unit was renamed 763 (Ottawa) Communication Regiment. The newly formed 76 Communication Group took command of 763 Communication Regiment from 70 Communication Group on 1 April 1977. The Regiment was housed at
Wallis House
:''There is also a "Wallis House", an Art Deco building on the Golden Mile, The Great West Road, Brentford, England.''
Wallis House is a prominent landmark building in Ottawa, Ontario, Canada. It is located at the corner of Rideau Street and Charl ...
Armoury in Ottawa and its support services were provided by
CFB Ottawa. In the summer of 2010 it was renamed 33 Signal Regiment following its entrance into 33 Canadian Brigade Group (CBG).
33 Signal Regiment specializes in tactical and strategic communication, employing voice, electronic and telecommunication systems. Their mandate is to provide individual and collective support to Canadian Forces operations, both domestic and international. Many of their members have served in various UN and NATO peacekeeping missions around the world. This unit also provides communication support to the Army Reserve. Some units in the Communication Reserve also provide manning support to the Navy Transportable Tactical Command Centres.
Regimental badge
33 Signal Regiment Badge
On 15 June 2017, the new badge for 33 Signal Regiment was granted by the Governor General.
763 Communication Regiment Badge
In July 1982, Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth approved a regimental badge having a right arm rising from three rivers; the Ottawa, Gatineau, and the Rideau, the definition used by the local indigenous inhabitants for identifying the locality. The trees acknowledge the importance of logging, the original commerce of the area. Combined, they reflect the traditional source of unit members as the Ottawa Valley. The arm holds a single reflex bow to show the operational environment. A double curve motif formed from a two-string wampum completes the design. In Algonquin legend, such a motif exuded power that could be oriented inwards, such as seen on women's and children's clothing to protect the wearer, or outwards as a way to transmit the bearer's power to others, not as electromagnetic energy (as we do today) but as an intangible such as information, providing the recipient with the power of knowledge. It also forms the figure "3", significant through the unit's history. String wampum was used by natives to pass messages, with the rarer purple beads being for the important parts, and the white beads for the rest. A such, it was a primitive version of encryption, and the reason that all messengers found with one were tortured: it was important. The motto, ', is Algonquin for "anyplace, anytime". The overall design is, from the Ottawa, secure communications for others, anywhere, anytime. The Algonquin had no word for "where": they used "place".
Training
Training is a year-round activity and soldiers are expected to attend up to two weekend training activities per month. Training is conducted at E.J.G. Holland VC Armoury and other locations. Once fully trained, soldiers can apply for various full-time and part-time employment opportunities available throughout the year.
Peacetime activity
The regiment is not without distinction, having won the Malloch Trophy, symbolic of the best signals unit in Canada, both pre and post-war more than any other unit in the history of the competition.
The regimental unit has served in most places the Canadian Forces are stationed across the nation and on deployed operations.
The regiment has also shown continued support to local community and charity events such as the Scott Tokessy Baseball Tournament, the Canadian Blood Services Blood Bank, the Ottawa Food Bank and, most notably for 25 years till 2016 providing communications links and a safety presence for the
Canadian Ski Marathon
The Canadian Ski Marathon is a ski tour. It is held annually just north of the Ottawa River between the regions of Montreal and Ottawa, capital of Canada, in February and usually covers a distance of . However, it is a ski tour, not a race: partic ...
.
Deployments
The regimental unit has served in most places the Canadian Forces are stationed across the nation and on deployed operations including:
International:
* Bosnia
* East-Timor
* Israel (Golan Heights)
* United Arab Emirates
*
Operation Athena
Operation Athena was the Canadian Forces' contribution to the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan. The operation was divided in two phases: the first one took place from July 2003 to July 2005 in the Kabul region and the s ...
– Canadian deployment with the
International Security Assistance Force
' ps, کمک او همکاري '
, allies = Afghanistan
, opponents = Taliban Al-Qaeda
, commander1 =
, commander1_label = Commander
, commander2 =
, commander2_label =
, commander3 =
, comman ...
in Afghanistan.
* Operation Attention – Canadian deployment with NATO Training Mission in Afghanistan.
* Operation Calumet - CAF role in the
Multinational Force and Observers
The Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) is an international peacekeeping force overseeing the terms of the peace treaty between Egypt and Israel. The MFO generally operates in and around the Sinai peninsula, ensuring free navigation through ...
(MFO) in the Sinai Peninsula of Egypt.
*
Operation Impact
On 3 October 2014, Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper announced that he would put forth a motion to send forces to participate in the coalition for military intervention against ISIL by deploying combat aircraft. On 7 October 2014, the Hous ...
– Canada's contribution to the US-led international coalition against ISIS.
*
Operation Reassurance Operation Reassurance (OpRe) is an initiative of the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) which dates from 2014, when NATO partners "agreed upon and began to enact a series of military measures on 16 April 2014", in response to the February 2014 annexation o ...
– Deployment in Central and Eastern Europe as part of NATO reassurance measures.
Domestic:
*
Operation Abacus – Y2K Canadian computer rollover response 1999
*
Operation Cadence
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
– Security for the 2010 G8/G20 summit.
*
Operation Laser
Operation Laser is a domestic operation of the Canadian Armed Forces for contingency planning and response in the event of a pandemic. Its three goals are: protecting CAF personnel and capability, assessing CAF capabilities to respond to a pandemic ...
– Domestic response to the
COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
.
*
Operation Lentus
Operation or Operations may refer to:
Arts, entertainment and media
* ''Operation'' (game), a battery-operated board game that challenges dexterity
* Operation (music), a term used in musical set theory
* ''Operations'' (magazine), Multi-Man ...
– Contingency plan that outlines the joint response to provide support for humanitarian assistance and disaster response (HADR) to provincial and territorial authorities in the case of a major natural disaster that overwhelms their capacity to respond.
*
Operation Nanook
Operation Nanook (OP NANOOK; french: Opération Nanook) is an annual sovereignty operation and manoeuvre warfare exercise conducted by the Canadian Armed Forces in the Arctic. Sovereignty patrols in the Canadian Arctic Archipelago and northern C ...
– To assert Canada's sovereignty over its northernmost regions, to enhance the Canadian Armed Forces' ability to operate in Arctic conditions, to improve coordination in whole-of-government operations, and to maintain interoperability with mission partners for maximum effectiveness in response to safety and security issues in the North
* Operation Nunalivut - Annual winter northern sovereignty operations
* Operation Provision - in 2016 support of the 25,000 Syrian Refugees resettlement
* Operation Recuperation - in 1998 (
North American ice storm of 1998
The North American Ice Storm of 1998 (also known as Great Ice Storm of 1998) was a massive combination of five smaller successive ice storms in January 1998 that struck a relatively narrow swath of land from eastern Ontario to southern Quebec, N ...
)
Occupations
33 Signal Regiment primarily employs the following occupations in the
Canadian Army
The Canadian Army (french: Armée canadienne) is the 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 respo ...
, among others:
* Signal Operator
* Line Technician
* Signal Intelligence Specialist
* Signal Technician
* Information Systems Technician
* Supply technician
* Human resources administrator
* Finance services administrator
* Mobile support equipment operator
* Signals officer
Equipment
The Regiment operates a variety of vehicles, including:
* Light Support Vehicle Wheeled (LSVW)
** Command Post variant
** Cargo variant
** Cable laying variant
* Light Utility Vehicle Wheeled (LUVW) Militarized Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (MilCOTS)
** Standard variant
** Cable laying variant
* Medium Support Vehicle System (MSVS) Militarized Commercial-Off-The-Shelf (MilCOTS)
![7000-MV SVSM](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8d/7000-MV_SVSM.jpg)
** Cargo variant
** Flatbed variant
* G-Wagon
![Two Canadian Forces G-Wagons](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a1/Two_Canadian_Forces_G-Wagons.jpg)
Radio and Telephone equipment includes:
* Truck mounted VHF and HF Radio systems
* Man portable (MANPACK) VHF and HF Radio systems
* Static Radio systems
* Mobile Satellite Units (MSU)
* Satellite telephones
* Switchboards
* AN/PRC-138
IRIS family of radios
* AN/PRC-521
* AN/PRC-522
* AN/VRC-513 (V) 1
* AN/PRC-513 (V) 2
Personal Weapons
* C7A2 5.56mm Rifle
* Browning 9mm Pistol
* C9 5.56mm Light Machine Gun
Honorary lieutenant-colonel
On March 24, 2010, Justin Fogarty was formally appointed honorary lieutenant-colonel of the 33 Signal Regiment. HLCol Fogarty is the managing partner of Regent Law Professional Corporation. HLCol Fogarty is now the Honorary Colonel of the Toronto Scottish Regiment.
Shortly following his appointment, HLCol Fogarty formed the Regimental Council of the Regiment, made up of 33 distinguished members from the business community to advise the Command Team at 33 Signal Regiment, promote the relationship between the business community and the Army, provide assistance on different initiatives important for the regiment and to assist in fund-raising initiatives for soldiers and their families.
References
{{Reflist, 30em
Military communications regiments of Canada
Military units and formations established in 2010