Service battalion

A service battalion (svc bn; French: bataillon des services or bon svc) is a unit of the Canadian Forces (CF) that provides combat service support to a brigade group and its elements.

It is able to fight in a defensive role as well as provide the vital logistical support to sustain the operations of the other units within the brigade group.

Service battalions are normally subdivided into:

The unit flag of a service battalion is steeped with the traditions of its founding corps. The flag is a tri-color with the top and bottom equaling 2/5ths of the height each and the centre equaling 1/5th of the height. The official colours of the unit flag are Oriental blue (top) and Marine Corps Scarlet (bottom) with an intervening gold stripe. Then it has a large white Arabic numeral representing the number of the Service Battalion emblazoned on both sides in the flag's centre. These regal colours have a long history of association with army services. The Oriental blue colour of the flag is reminiscent of the Royal Canadian Ordnance Corps (RCOC) flag while the gold colour can be found on the former banners of the Royal Canadian Army Service Corps (RCASC), the Royal Canadian Electrical Mechanical Engineers Corps (RCEME), and the Royal Canadian Army Pay Corps (RCAPC). The Scarlet colour may have some reference to the Royal Canadian Army Medical Corps (RCAMC); the Militia Medical Companies were, for a short period in the early 1970s, incorporated into the Service Battalion organizations. More correctly it refers to the Scarlet accoutrements’ on the RCOC and RCEME dress uniforms earned through its close association with the Royal Canadian Artillery in the early 1900s. This flag was designed by Chief Warrant Officer Phil Raven during his time as regimental sergeant major of 2 Service Battalion in the 1970s.

The following are the current service battalions in the CF, by brigade:

Historically, 3 Service Battalion was located at CFB Gagetown, New Brunswick, in support of 3 CIBG until disbanded in the early 1970s. 3 Svc Bn served as the "Experimental Service Battalion" from 1963, when brigade-level combat service support resources were pooled under a single commanding officer and headquarters. This model has served the Canadian Army, albeit with some changes, since being adopted by the other brigades in 1968. Based in the Federal Republic of Germany, 4 Service Battalion was created at CFB Soest in 1968 and moved to CFB Lahr in 1970 in support of 4 CMBG until the close out of Canada's NATO commitment there in 1993.

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