The Canadian Armed Forces are the unified military forces of Canada, including land, sea, and air commands referred to as the Canadian Army, Royal Canadian Navy, and the Royal Canadian Air Force. The CAF also operates several other commands, including the Canadian Forces Intelligence Command, the Canadian Joint Operations Command, and the Canadian Special Operations Forces Command.
The Canadian Army 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 responsible for the Army Reserve, the largest component of the Primary Reserve. The Army is headed by the Commander of the Canadian Army and Chief of the Army Staff, who is subordinate to the Chief of the Defence Staff. The Army is also supported by 3,000 civilian employees from the public service.
This is a table of the ranks and insignia of the Canadian Armed Forces. As the Canadian Armed Forces is officially bilingual, the French language ranks are presented following the English.
The Royal Canadian Medical Service is a personnel branch of the Canadian Armed Forces, consisting of all members of medical occupations. Nearly all members of the RCMS, along with the members of the Royal Canadian Dental Corps (RCDC), are employed in the Canadian Forces Health Services Group, an operational formation. The RCMS was formerly designated the Canadian Forces Medical Service until it was redesignated on October 9, 2013.
The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals is a component within the Canadian Armed Forces' Communications and Electronics Branch, consisting of all members of that personnel branch who wear army uniform. Prior to 1968 it was a combat support corps of the Canadian Army. The Royal Canadian Corps of Signals was re-instituted in 2013. It provides communication support and information systems for the Canadian Army.
The history of the Canadian Army, began when the title first came into official use in November 1940, during the Second World War, and is still used today. Although the official titles, Mobile Command, and later Land Force Command, were used from February 1968 to August 2011, "Canadian Army" continued to be unofficially used to refer to the ground forces of the Canadian Armed Forces, much as it has been from Confederation in 1867 to the present. The term was often even used in official military publications, for example in recruiting literature and the official newspaper of the Canadian Forces, The Maple Leaf. On August 16, 2011, the title, "Canadian Army", was officially restored, once again bringing the official designation in line with common and historical usage.
Before Unification as the Canadian Armed Forces in 1968, the Canadian military had three distinct services: the Royal Canadian Navy, the Royal Canadian Air Force, and the Canadian Army. All three services had a Regular (full-time) component and a reserve (part-time) component. The rank structure for these services were based on the services of the British military, the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, and the British Army. The change to a "Canadian" rank structure meant that many of the traditional (British) rank titles and insignia were removed or changed.
The uniforms of the Canadian Armed Forces are the official dress worn by members of Canada's military while on duty.
The Intelligence Branch is a personnel branch of the Canadian Forces (CF) that is concerned with providing relevant and correct information to enable commanders to make decisions.
The Royal Canadian Infantry Corps is the infantry corps of the Canadian Army and includes regular and reserve force regiments.
Permanent Active Militia (PAM), also known as Permanent Force (PF), was the proper name of Canada's full-time professional land forces from 1855 to 1940, when it was reorganized into the Canadian Army. PAM was in effect Canada's standing army, consisting of one regular infantry regiment and two cavalry regiments in 1914.
The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army. The Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps RCOC can trace its roots back to the Canadian Stores Department. Formed in 1871, the Canadian Stores Department was a civil department of the Canadian Government. This civil service was charged with control of forts, ammunition, stores, buildings and an ordnance depot left by the departing British Military.
The Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps (RCAPC) was an administrative corps of the Canadian Army with its own cap badge, and other insignia and traditions. It was established in 1906 as the Canadian Army Pay Corps. It was responsible for administering all financial matters.
The Royal Garrison Artillery (RGA) was formed in 1899 as a distinct arm of the British Army's Royal Regiment of Artillery serving alongside the other two arms of the Regiment, the Royal Field Artillery (RFA) and the Royal Horse Artillery (RHA). The RGA were the 'technical' branch of the Royal Artillery who were responsible for much of the professionalisation of technical gunnery that was to occur during the First World War. It was originally established to man the guns of the British Empire's forts and fortresses, including coastal artillery batteries, the heavy gun batteries attached to each infantry division and the guns of the siege artillery. The RGA was amalgamated with the RFA in 1924, from which time the only two arms within the Royal Regiment of Artillery have been the Royal Artillery and the Royal Horse Artillery.
The Primary Reserve of the Canadian Armed Forces is the first and largest of the four sub-components of the Canadian Armed Forces reserves, followed by the Supplementary Reserve, the Cadet Organizations Administration and Training Service and the Canadian Rangers.
In the Canadian Armed Forces, a Regular Force unit or person is part of the full-time military, as opposed to being part of the Primary Reserve which has more flexibility. There are many bases and wings across Canada, and factors like trade, career progression, and environment will affect where the person ends up. They receive more pay and benefits than members of the Primary Reserve and can be ordered into overseas deployments.
The Sri Lanka Army Medical Corps (SLAMC) (Sinhala: ශ්රී ලංකා යුද හමුදා වෛද්ය බලකාය Shri Lanka Yuddha Hamuda Vayidya Balakaya) is a specialist corps in the Sri Lanka Army which specializes in military medicine and provides medical services to all army personnel and their families in war and in peace. It is made up of 4 regular units and one volunteer unit. Headquartered in Colombo, formally at army headquarters. The corps Cap badge depicting the Rod of Asclepius. General officers and senior officers of the SLMC wear gorget patches of maroon rather than of scarlet worn by other officers of similar rank.
31 Canadian Brigade Group is part of the 4th Canadian Division, under the Canadian Army. It encompasses the southwestern portion of Ontario, and is headquartered in London, Ontario. The 31 CBG area of responsibility stretches from Hamilton to Windsor. The brigade has approximately 2,400 soldiers. Colonel Chris Brown, CD is Commander of 31 Canadian Brigade Group. The brigade sergeant-major is Chief Warrant Officer Mike Coit, CD.
Canadian military bands are a group of personnel in the Canadian Armed Forces (CAF) that performs musical duties for military functions. Military bands form a part of the Music Branch of the CAF, composed of six full-time professional Regular Force bands, 15 Regular Force voluntary bands, and 53 part-time reserve force bands. Bands of the Music Branch are often badged with the unit or Canadian Forces base insignia that they support.
32 Service Battalion is a reserve combat service support (CSS) unit within the Canadian Army. The unit is formed under command of 32 Canadian Brigade Group in the 4th Canadian Division. The Service Battalion is composed of soldiers from the Corps of Royal Canadian Electrical and Mechanical Engineers and Royal Canadian Logistics Service to include: vehicle technicians, weapons technicians, cooks, financial service administrators, human resource administrators, material management technicians and mobile support equipment operators. It is located at LCol George Taylor Denison III Armoury in Toronto, Ontario.
