Combat Engineer

Non-Commissioned Member | Full Time, Part Time

As a member of the military, Combat Engineers ensure that troops can live, move and fight on the battlefield. They perform construction and maintenance tasks, operate vehicles and equipment in support of engineer operations, and maintain field installations and facilities.

Combat Engineers have the following responsibilities:

• Construct and maintain roads, airfields, heliports, bridges, causeways, rafts, permanent and temporary buildings.
• Construct field defenses and obstacles.
• Provide drinking water by testing, purifying and filtering local supplies and by constructing local distribution systems.
• Detect and dispose of mines and bulk explosives.
• Demolish roads and bridges, and lay minefields to prevent enemy movement.
• Maintain and operate engineering equipment, including weapons, vehicles, heavy equipment and supplies.
• Provide engineer communications on the battlefield.

Combat Engineers experience the unique adventures and challenges that come with work in the field. Qualified Combat Engineers may apply to Combat Diver Training.

If you choose a career in the Regular Force, upon completion of all required training, you will be assigned to your first base. While there is some flexibility with regards to postings (relocations), accommodations can’t always be made, and therefore, you can likely expect to move at some point in your career. If you decide to join the Primary Reserve Force, you will do so through a specific Reserve unit. Outside of training, your chosen Reserve unit will be your workplace on a part-time basis, and you will not be obligated to relocate to a different base. As part of the Primary Reserve Force, you typically work one night per week and some weekends as a minimum with possibilities of full-time employment.

Combat engineers work closely with the Infantry and Armoured Corps in deployed operations. Engineers are the first on the ground to set up forward operating bases, where military members live and work to complete the mission at hand. When it’s time to move, combat engineers clear the road of improvised explosive devices and mines to make travel safer.

Combat engineers are fit, self-motivated problem solvers that are confident in handling explosives and dangerous equipment or tools. The job offers many opportunities to specialize in different areas, such as combat diving and heavy equipment operations.

The minimum required education to apply for this occupation is the completion of the provincial requirements for Grade 10 or Secondary 4 in Quebec.