Canadian Military Engineers

Canadian Military Engineers
The cap badge of the Canadian Military Engineers
Country	Canada
Branch	Personnel branch of the Canadian Forces
Type	military engineer
Role	Primary: To permit friendly forces to live, move and fight on the field of battle and to deny the same to the enemy. Secondary: To fight as infantry when required.
Garrison/HQ	Home station Gagetown, New Brunswick
Motto(s)	Latin: Ubique ("Everywhere")
March	"Wings"
Anniversaries	4 December St. Barbara's Day
Commanders
Colonel-in-chief	HM The Queen

The Canadian Military Engineers (CME) is the military engineer branch of the Canadian Armed Forces. Members of the branch who wear army uniform comprise the The Corps of Royal Canadian Engineers (RCE; French: Corps du génie royal canadien).

The mission of the Canadian Military Engineers is to contribute to the survival, mobility, and combat effectiveness of the Canadian Armed Forces. Their roles are to conduct combat operations, support the Canadian Forces in war and peace, support national development, provide assistance to civil authorities, and support international aid programs. Military engineers’ responsibilities encompass the use of demolitions and land mines, the design, construction and maintenance of defensive works and fortifications, urban operations (hostile room entry), breaching obstacles, establishing/maintaining lines of communication, and bridging. They also provide water, power and other utilities, provide fire, aircraft crash and rescue services, hazardous material operations, and develop maps and other engineering intelligence. In addition, military engineers are experts in deception and concealment, as well as in the design and development of equipment necessary to carry out these operations. The official role of the combat engineer is to allow friendly troops to live, move and fight on the battlefield and deny that to the enemy.

Following the Boer War the Canadian Government realized that the defence of Canada required more than just a single infantry battalion and a few artillery batteries as part of the permanent defence force. In 1903 The Royal Canadian Engineers were founded as the basis of the permanent military engineers, while the militia had the Royal Canadian Engineers created under the leadership of a former Royal Military College of Canada officer cadet, Lieutenant-Colonel Paul Weatherbe.

One of the first tasks completed by the engineers after the declaration of war upon Germany in 1914 was for the rapid development of the Valcartier training site in Quebec. At its peak size 30,000 men were stationed here before the 1st Canadian Division was deployed to England.