ASSOCIATION NEWS

Vol. 2, Issue 1, Spring 2023

Greetings to our Members!

Yes, all former and serving members (Regular Force and Reserve) of the C&E Branch and its founding elements are automatically members in perpetuity of the C&E Association. Your family members are welcome to apply for Associate Membership. See everything about us and the rest of the C&E Family at https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/association.

NEW MEMBERS OF THE BOARD

The Board of Directors is pleased to announce two new members!  Sergeant Christian Marcotte was born to military parents and spent most of his youth moving from base to base, He lived in Germany, Nova Scotia, and various cities in Quebec. Sgt Marcotte joined the CAF in September 2001 as a Comm Research Operator (now SIGINT analyst), transferred to ATIS Tech, and has served at CFS Leitrim, CFB Bagotville, CFSCE, and CFJSR. Sgt Marcotte is now our new Association Secretary. Welcome, Sgt Marcotte!

We are also pleased to welcome aboard Corporal David Tran from 41 Signal Regiment.  Cpl Tran has been an Army Reservist for 5 years as an Army Communication and Information System Specialist and is currently employed on a Class B contract in the Quartermaster shop at HMCS Tecumseh.  Cpl Tran is an Acting Director until his appointment can be ratified by the membership at the next General Meeting, and he will focus on membership development.  Thanks for volunteering to help!

UPDATE FROM THE C&E BRANCH CHIEF

Members of the C&E Branch,

I would like to take this opportunity to highlight a few things that the Branch Office is working on for 2023.

First off, planning is already underway for this year’s C&E Week, which will take place during the 23 to 28 October timeframe. This year’s theme will be Reconstitution and we are working hard to increase engagement for this year’s event. I would like to remind everyone that C&E Week is for everyone and not just for currently serving CAF members. The C&E Family is encouraged to come out and take part, whether it is during the working groups and panels, attending the meet and greet or the mess dinner, or simply visiting the Museum and Home Station. Whether it is virtual or in-person, I look forward to seeing you all!

Next, I would like to highlight that recognizing the accomplishments of our members continues to be a priority for me. Nominations for the Colonel-in-Chief Award, Heritage Awards, Branch Commendations, and Branch Member and Subaltern of the Year are all important ways to celebrate the excellence of the C&E Family.  While some awards are only presented during C&E Week, some can be presented at any time, so don’t wait to nominate a deserving person. That said, official nomination calls for the C&E Member and Subaltern of the Year will be going out soon too, so I hope to see great nominations from all of the occupations again this year. By the way, you can always find nomination criteria and process details in the C&E Branch Standing Orders posted on the CMCEN web page, so I encourage you to have a look and consider nominating someone for an award.

The Museum in Kingston needs our support. If you are not already supporting them either through a pay allotment (Regular Force serving members) or through Canada Helps (Reserves or retired members), please consider doing so. Donations are what keep the Museum going and they need our help to keep our history and heritage alive and available for everyone to see. If you haven’t been to the Museum in a while, I encourage you to check it out. There are many amazing changes and additions to the Museum that you might not know about, so I encourage you to pay them a visit or check out their website (https://www.candemuseum.org/) for more info. If you are interested in donating, please see your Orderly Room or visit Museum Foundation’s Canada Helps campaign (https://www.canadahelps.org/en/dn/14172). Your generosity and support are truly appreciated.

Finally, there is a dedicated group of folks, both in the Branch Office, the C&E Association, and in Museum who work hard to ensure the C&E Family is supported. My thanks to every one of them for their dedication and support! Remember, you can always catch the latest news on the web (https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/), on Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/RCMCE.CMCEN) and on Twitter (https://twitter.com/cmcen_rcmce)!

As always, I am here for you. Feel free to drop me a line or send me your questions and concerns. I can be reached by e-mail ([email protected]) anytime.

CWO (Mr Gnr) / Adjuc (mtre can) Alex Arndt, CD

Branch Chief, Communications and Electronics Branch

VETERANS’ CORNER

We’re introducing a new feature to better serve our retired members. For this issue, we would like to draw your attention to some websites where several links lead to information that can be useful to those of us who retire from the military to become …veterans!  Watch this space for more news and information.

https://letstalkveterans.ca
https://www.ombudsman-veterans.gc.ca/en

HERITAGE AWARD PROGRAM – CALL FOR NOMINATIONS

As part of the Communications & Electronics Association’s Awards and Recognition Program, the Heritage Awards supplement other forms of recognition in our community such as Branch commendations and the Foundation’s Philanthropic Award. In this instance, these awards are intended for presentation to persons and organizations who promote our heritage and honour our legacy through their actions.  More detail on the Heritage Awards themselves, the Nomination and Submission Guide, and the Nomination Form are found at https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/heritage-awards/ Think about it and submit a nomination!!

CONFERENCE OF DEFENCE ASSOCIATIONS

Included in the mandate of your Association is to represent the Branch at the Conference of Defence Associations (CDA). Indeed, we are a charter member of the Conference whose mission is to inform the Canadian public at large and advocate decision-makers on defence and security issues of national interest. This allows us retired folks to represent the interest of our Family in a way that serving members can’t. Your President recently attended the CDA’s general meetings and Ottawa Conference. This organization does good work in advocating for us and your Association makes sure our voice is heard.

MEMBER BENEFITS

As part of our service to C&E Association members, we approach companies and service providers to negotiate favoured rates and services for you.  TD Insurance provides preferred rates for home, auto, tenant, cottage, and travel insurance.  For more info, check out https://www.tdinsurance.com/affinity/cmcen.

UNIT AND ASSOCIATION NEWSLETTERS

We’re pleased to report that we are starting to get updates and newsletters from units and C&E associations from across the country.  One of the core functions of the C&E Association is to “connect with and promote a close association with all members of our extended C&E military community”.  If you have anything you’d like to share, be it news, a picture, or even a newsletter from your own local association, send it to [email protected] and we’ll do our best to include it.  Please enjoy!

32 SIGNAL REGIMENT DESPATCHES

The Honorary Colonel of 32 Signal Regiment Ken Lloyd has graciously shared some of the back issues of “Despatches”, published by the 32 Signal Regiment Family Council.  You can find them here: https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/32-signal-regiment-dispatches/.  Thanks for sharing your news and updates, and we hope to see more!

77 LINE REGIMENT – THE CABLE

77  Line Regiment has been sharing its newsletter “The Cable” with CMCEN for some time now, and we are including them here so people can see them all in one place:  https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/77-communication-regiment-newsletters/

BLAST FROM THE PAST – 741 COMMUNICATION SQUADRON

Lieutenant Colonel (ret’d) Mike Hayes, a past Commander of 74 Communication Group, dug up these old gems from the 741 Communication Squadron newsletters in the mid-Eighties.  I (Dave W) served in that unit back then and it was a thrill to see some of my own stuff in there.  You can find them here: https://cmcen-rcmce.ca/741-communication-squadron-newsletters