Foreman of signals (information systems)
Within the British Army, Royal Corps of Signals, a soldier selected for Foreman of Signals training must be a SNCO Class 1 Communications Systems Engineer. They will normally hold a foundation degree Military Information Systems. On completion of the course, the soldier is promoted to Staff Sergeant if the rank is not already held, and assumes the appointment of Foreman of Signals and be awarded a BSc in Management Information Systems. The holder of the appointment can be promoted through the ranks in line with current military policy from Staff Sergeant, to Warrant Officer Class 2, then Warrant Officer Class 1. To distinguish the appointment, a suffix of is used WO2, WO1).
History
The trade was originally ADP Specialist and only open to serving soldiers at the rank of Sgt. This trade dates back into the 80'sThe Supervisor started around 2002.
The title Foreman of Signals was granted to the supervisory trade formally known as Supervisor in 2007. The first Supervisor title holders completed a nine-week information systems course. After 3 courses this was extended to an 8-month course with the latest variation now approximately 12 months in length. Academically the course has evolved from a Foundation Degree accredited by Bournemouth University.
There are also approximately 1-2 Royal Marines from the Royal Marines Information Systems specialisation that also attend the Royal Signals course. They have been attending the course from around 2000