joining the RCEME

[BadEnoughDudeRescueRonny]

Hi all, I've been considering several different trades if I'm successful in re-enlisting a few years from now. One of my passions is welding. I'm pretty darn handy with Stick and pretty good with MIG. I'm going to be taking welding night classes starting in December to improve my skills. Given that I love to weld, in what support trades would welding be a common practice?

The only problem is that I was a former officer and I don't think I possess the academic qualifications to be an EME officer, nor do I suspect that an EME officer would be out in the shop striking arcs.

Do I have any options?

 

[aesop081]

Materials technician

http://www.forces.ca/en/job/materialstechnician-41#video-0

Aircraft Structures Technician

http://www.forces.ca/en/job/aircraftstructurestechnician-126#info-1

 

[BadEnoughDudeRescueRonny]

Materials technician

http://www.forces.ca/en/job/materialstechnician-41#video-0

Aircraft Structures Technician

http://www.forces.ca/en/job/aircraftstructurestechnician-126#info-1

Thanks for giving me the info on another trade option to decide over when that time comes  .

 

[BernDawg]

EGS Techs and PH Techs weld as well.
Good Luck.

 

[medicineman]

Clearance Diver...just doing it underwater.

MM

 

[BernDawg]

Clearance Diver...just doing it underwater.

MM

Well, my internal soundtrack just changed...  ;D

 

[medicineman]

Chick a bow wow...my bad.

MM

 

[Pusser]

Hull Technicians weld as well (and are also the shipboard plumbers and carpenters)

 

[dapaterson]

Hull Technicians weld as well (and are also the shipboard plumbers and carpenters)

And, in French, their occupation is the best pickup line.  "Me?  Oh, I'm a highly trained technician.  What kind?  Funny you should ask..."

 

[Don7799]

I'm a certified c.w.b welder in tig and mig wondering if the Mat Tech branch would be a good home for me?

 

[MedCorps]

I don't think there are many Mat Techs looming these parts.  I will weigh in as I have has a number of Mat Tech work for me in the past. RCEME guys feel free to contradict / clarify. 

If you like welding then Mat Tech is not a bad direction to go for starts! There is way more to this occupation then just welding however. Unlike the civilian world where many welders, weld for a living the Mat Tech is expected to work with all materials including welding (all types, including plasma cutting), basic machining, sheet metal / metal refinishing, textiles (industrial sewing / adhesives), fiberglass/composites (often on vehicles), respiratory mask repair, and painting/rust proofing. It is a pretty cool job and is always in demand in the unit (at least first line field units), moving task to task (and skill to skill) getting production work done. 

If most/all of these other skills sound interesting as well as working both in a shop and out of a truck in the field as well as field soldiering then the Mat Tech occupation in the RCEME Corps might be for you. 

If you are interested I would wait and see if somewhere here also weighs in, but at the same time drop by a recruiting centre and talk to them... see what they have to offer.

Good luck!

MC

 

[Terrier]

I'm a certified c.w.b welder in tig and mig wondering if the Mat Tech branch would be a good home for me?

If you're considering Mat Tech, also look at ACS... it's basically the same job, but ACS gets spec pay. I'm RCEME, and agree that Mat is a very useful / diverse trade, but why not get paid more?

 

[sidemount]

The other one you could look at if the navy interests you is hull tech.

Im an RCEME guy myself
I can say without a doubt the mat tech guys ive worked with have done some amazingly crazy repairs and made equipment servicable that I thought would just be scrap metal. They also fabricate parts, from scratch, that we cant get.

So mat, acs, or hull tech would be a good fit for your skill set. Its deciding which other stuff, that comes along with the job, you would enjoy most.

 

[Sandore]

I remustered to Mat Tech from combat engineer a few years ago. The majority of what we do involves welding, but by no means does that mean you'll be laying dimes for 8 hours a day. A lot of our job is being available for when something get busted on the shop floor that our Vtechs can't fix themselves. So many bolt extractions.

After you are DP2 qualified you can challenge your Red Seal as well. Feel free to PM if you have any other questions.

 

[mariomike]

Saw this in Ask a CAF Recruiter. Adding it to the "Trades with welding" discussion for future reference.

Original Post
"One of my passions is welding. I'm pretty darn handy with Stick and pretty good with MIG. I'm going to be taking welding night classes starting in December to improve my skills. Given that I love to weld, in what support trades would welding be a common practice?"


Occupations related to welding 
http://milnet.ca/forums/threads/122359/post-1422582/topicseen.html#new
"i'm wondering if there are any other jobs that are more specific to welding?"

 

[Pusser]

Hull Technicians in the Navy do a lot of welding (including MIG for those who are qualified - it's a special qualification).  They also do a lot of plumbing and carpentry (with a little cabinetry on the side).