12 (Force Support) Engineer Group is an engineer formation of the

British Army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...

History

The group can trace its origins to 12th Engineer Brigade which was originally created to command the reserve Airfield Damage Repair regiments. In 1989 the brigade was under the command of the Eastern District,

United Kingdom Land Forces United Kingdom Land Forces was a command of the British Army responsible for generating and preparing forces for current and contingency operations. The commander of the forces was known as Commander-in-Chief, United Kingdom Land Forces, who in ...

and was headquartered at

Waterbeach Waterbeach is an expanding village north of Cambridge on the edge of The Fens, in the South Cambridgeshire district of Cambridgeshire, England. It was designated a "new town" in 2018. History Early periods Waterbeach is on the Car Dyke, a Rom ...

. By 1989, the brigade had a mix of regular and reserve units. and the brigade had the following structure: * Headquarters -

RAF Waterbeach Royal Air Force Waterbeach or more simply RAF Waterbeach is a former Royal Air Force station located in Waterbeach, Cambridgeshire which is about north of Cambridge, England. The site was transferred to the Royal Engineers, part of the British A ...

** 39th Airfield Damage Repair Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers ** 529 (Air Support) Special Team,

Royal Engineers The Corps of Royal Engineers, usually called the Royal Engineers (RE), and commonly known as the ''Sappers'', is a corps of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces and is heade ...

- ** Airfields Works Group,

** 50 Construction Field Squadron,

** ''216 Airfield Damage Repair Squadron,

(Volunteers)'' ** ''217 Airfield Damage Repair Squadron,

(Volunteers)'' ** ''218 Airfield Damage Repair Squadron,

(Volunteers)'' ** ''219 Airfield Damage Repair Squadron,

(Volunteers)'' After the

Options for Change Options for Change was a restructuring of the British Armed Forces in summer 1990 after the end of the Cold War. Until this point, UK military strategy had been almost entirely focused on defending Western Europe against the Soviet Armed Forces, ...

force reductions, the brigade was re-titled as the 12 (Air Support) Engineer Group, however it remained at

. The 12th Engineer Group was formed after the conversion of the former 12th Engineer Brigade. In 2005, as a result of the

Delivering Security in a Changing World The 2003 Defence White Paper, titled ''Delivering Security in a Changing World'', set out the future structure of the British military, and was preceded by the 1998 Strategic Defence Review (SDR) and the 2002 SDR New Chapter, which responded to ...

White Paper, the group was moved under the command of the new 8th Force Engineer Brigade. Before the initial

Army 2020 Army 2020, was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the 2010 Strategic Defence and Security Review. Background The British Government gave an indication of its proposals for the future structure of the Army in ea ...

changes, the group had the following structure: * Headquarters -

** 25th Air Support Engineer Regiment,

** 39th Air Support Engineer Regiment,

** '' 71st Engineer Regiment,

'' ** ''73rd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers''

Structure c.2017

After the

Army 2020 Refine Army 2020 Refine was the name given to the restructuring of the British Army, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015. Army 2020 Refine The Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015 announced that the structure of the Reac ...

reforms, the group was retitled as 12 (Force Support) Engineer Group remaining under the

8th Engineer Brigade 8th Engineer Brigade (8 Eng Bde) is an engineering support formation of the British Army, which forms part of 1st (United Kingdom) Division. History In August 2001, Headquarters Royal Engineers, Theatre Troops was established as a subdivision o ...

. Its responsibilities changed from Airfield Support to "support to Theater Entry, Route Maintenance, and Enabling Airfield Operations". The group's current structure is: * Headquarters - Wittering ** 36 Engineer Regiment, Invicta Park Barracks ** 39 Engineer Regiment ** 71 Engineer Regiment - Paired with 39 Engineer Regiment ** 75 Engineer Regiment - Paired with 36 Engineer Regiment ''(Specialized in Logistical and waters crossing)''

Commanders

Commanding Officers of the group included:Regiments and Commanding Officers, 1960–
* 2005–2008: Col. Andrew M. Mills * 2008–2010: Col. Frank R. Noble * 2010–2013: Col. Andrew W. Phillips * 2013–2014: Col. Jason C. Rhodes * 2014–2017: Col. Matthew Quare * 2017–2020: Col. Thomas G.J. Marsden * 2020–Present Col. Simon D. Millar

References

{{Reflist Groups of the Royal Engineers Military units and formations established in the 1970s Organisations based in Moray Group sized units of the British Army