In the past, signalling skills have included the use of: Heliograph, Aldis lamp, semaphore flags, "Don R" (Dispatch Riders) and even carrier pigeons.
Modern signallers are responsible for the battlefield voice and data communication and information technology infrastructure or in common English terms, they may carry a backpack radio transceiver used to communicate to forward operating bases (large and small outposts for the military), using a variety of media.
In addition to day-to-day soldiering, the signaller is required to be competent at a number of skill levels in the following topics: In an air force, a signaller, an aircrew member, is a person trained to communicate between the aircraft, its base and units in the area of operation, by means of radio or other digital communications.
Signallers in Canada are responsible for the majority of radio, satellite, telephone, and computer communications within the Canadian military.
[2] See also: Land Mobile Radio System, Walkie-Talkie, Transceiver The US and European powers, especially during World War 1 and World War 2, have employed extensive use of field telephones and other methods of transmitting messages like carrier pigeons, runners were essentially army messengers and couriers that ran from place to place, culminating in the extensive World War 2, Korea and Vietnam use of the backpack transceiver, eventually becoming unit-based radio and unit-to-HQ based field "telephone".