CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: I’m Corporal Natalie Clouthier from London, Ontario — and I’m a Geomatics Technician currently posted to the Mapping and Charting Establishment in Ottawa, Ontario.
Geomatics Technicians use the most advanced IT equipment and cutting-edge geospatial technology to create a virtual view of the landscape that’s used to plan and conduct important operations in Canada and around the world. They collect and analyze geospatial data from different sources to produce digital or paper maps using Advanced Geomatics Information Systems.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: Something that we frequently do — we will give commanders a picture of what they can see from a certain point in their battlespace. And that lets them ensure that all of their equipment, all of their vehicles can maintain communication throughout the exercise. We can also give a better picture of a convoy route, for example, to avoid choke points or potential points of ambush.
Geomatics Technicians are directly involved in the military planning process and can influence decisions at the highest levels.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: Because a Geomatics Technician’s role is ingrained into the Intelligence cycle, as a Private you might be called upon to brief a product to a Major or to possibly even higher than that. So having the confidence in yourself and in your work is very important as a Geo Tech.
Geomatics Technicians are an army trade, but they can work with the Army, Air Force, Navy and Special Forces to create maps and charts for all operations. Geomatics Technicians must regularly complete ground surveys to ensure the accuracy in all mapping products. This can include surveys of military airports, runways, remote sites in the North, or foreign cities overseas using highly accurate GPS receivers and other survey instruments such as LiDAR and Electronic Total Station systems.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: I’m very proud of the work that I do as a Geomatics Technician. I know that the information that I provide with my products is going to be used to potentially save lives or to better inform the commanders of an operation so that the operation can be successful.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: For me, the coolest part about being a Geomatics Technician is the fact that I get to let my imagination go a little bit in my projects. It takes a lot of analytical thinking to make a product, but when it comes right down to it, you have to have a creative side. And that’s what I love about it — I get to take my creativity and blend it in with the science of performing an analysis to make a really nice product.
After completing their studies, Geomatics Technicians may be posted to one of four brigades, within one of several headquarters units across Canada, or to the Mapping and Charting Establishment, the Geomatics Centre of Excellence in Ottawa. Reservists in this job return to their home unit and continue to work under supervision. In their first year on the job, Geomatics Technicians continue to develop their
soldier skills and geomatics capabilities within the trade.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: You may start out at the high-readiness unit and you might see a few deployments within your first couple of years. If you start out in our web-mapping services troop, you’ll be helping maintain and develop our portal service that we offer online for digital mapping. You may choose to specialize in survey, so you might go directly into a survey troop and be deployed on survey jobs throughout the country and around the world. I think the Canadian Forces Geomatics Technicians are quite possibly the only Geomatics Technicians that see this kind of variety in their job.
CORPORAL NATALIE CLOUTHIER: The first word that comes to mind for me is “diverse.” You’re always working on a different type of product; you’re always working with a different team; you’re always working for a different client. So you’ll never see the same thing twice. So if you’re a person who likes variety in your job, and quite a bit of challenge, the Geomatics Technician trade is probably for you.