The Corps of Engineers (ENGR) () is the military engineering branch of the Defence Forces of

Ireland Ireland (, ; ; Ulster Scots dialect, Ulster-Scots: ) is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean, in Northwestern Europe. Geopolitically, the island is divided between the Republic of Ireland (officially Names of the Irish state, named Irelan ...

. The Corps is responsible for combat engineering, construction engineering, and

fire fighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

services within the Defence Forces. The main role of the combat engineers is to provide engineering on the battlefield; the Corps has successfully leveraged its skill and expertise in several of the

Irish Army The Irish Army () is the land component of the Defence Forces (Ireland), Defence Forces of Republic of Ireland, Ireland.The Defence Forces are made up of the Permanent Defence Forces – the standing branches – and the Reserve Defence Forces. ...

's deployments on

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is the Earth, global intergovernmental organization established by the signing of the Charter of the United Nations, UN Charter on 26 June 1945 with the stated purpose of maintaining international peace and internationa ...

operations.

History

Following the establishment of the

Irish Free State The Irish Free State (6 December 192229 December 1937), also known by its Irish-language, Irish name ( , ), was a State (polity), state established in December 1922 under the Anglo-Irish Treaty of December 1921. The treaty ended the three-ye ...

on 6 December 1922 General Routine Orders were issued which laid down the organisation of the first centralised Defence Forces. From an engineering point of view there were three particular problem areas to be overcome:- *The Barracks and Posts throughout the state were in great need of repair following the

War of Independence Wars of national liberation, also called wars of independence or wars of liberation, are conflicts fought by nations to gain independence. The term is used in conjunction with wars against foreign powers (or at least those perceived as foreign) ...

and the

Civil War A civil war is a war between organized groups within the same Sovereign state, state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies.J ...

. *There was a general shortage of materials. *Most of the railway system was in disarray with many towns cut off. To meet these requirements three (3) Corps were set up: *The Works Corps - to carry out repairs and reconstruction. *The Salvage Corps - to recover materials from damaged buildings for use elsewhere. *The Railway Protection, Repair and Maintenance Corps - to rebuild the railway system. The Corps of Engineers was established and took over from these three Corps with effect from 1 October 1924. In 1931 Field Engineer Companies and the School of Military Engineering were added to the establishment.

Roles

The Corps has a wide variety of roles, covering conventional warfare, and training for the Defence Forces. With such a wide range of skills, the Engineer Corps provide a variety of support to the Army. This support includes anything from the provision of: * Mobility ** Clearing terrain obstacles ** Constructing roads and bridges ** Demining * Counter mobility ** Planting landmines ** Digging trenches and ditches ** Demolishing roads and bridges **

Demolition Demolition (also known as razing and wrecking) is the science and engineering in safely and efficiently tearing down buildings and other artificial structures. Demolition contrasts with deconstruction (building), deconstruction, which inv ...

s * Survivability ** Building

fortification A fortification (also called a fort, fortress, fastness, or stronghold) is a military construction designed for the defense of territories in warfare, and is used to establish rule in a region during peacetime. The term is derived from Lati ...

s ** Camp Construction: Camp Clara (Monrovia, Liberia), Camp Clark (Kosovo) * General Engineer Support ** Counter Terrorist Search **

Fire fighting Firefighting is a profession aimed at controlling and extinguishing fire. A person who engages in firefighting is known as a firefighter or fireman. Firefighters typically undergo a high degree of technical training. This involves structural fir ...

& RTA ** EOD ** CBRN defence ** Humanitarian Demining

Missions

The Corps have seen active service in UNMIK),

Somalia Somalia, officially the Federal Republic of Somalia, is the easternmost country in continental Africa. The country is located in the Horn of Africa and is bordered by Ethiopia to the west, Djibouti to the northwest, Kenya to the southwest, th ...

( UNOSOM II), Congo ( ONUC),

Lebanon Lebanon, officially the Republic of Lebanon, is a country in the Levant region of West Asia. Situated at the crossroads of the Mediterranean Basin and the Arabian Peninsula, it is bordered by Syria to the north and east, Israel to the south ...

( UNIFIL),

Liberia Liberia, officially the Republic of Liberia, is a country on the West African coast. It is bordered by Sierra Leone to Liberia–Sierra Leone border, its northwest, Guinea to Guinea–Liberia border, its north, Ivory Coast to Ivory Coast–Lib ...

( UNMIL) &

Chad Chad, officially the Republic of Chad, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of North Africa, North and Central Africa. It is bordered by Libya to Chad–Libya border, the north, Sudan to Chad–Sudan border, the east, the Central Afric ...

( EUFOR Tchad/RCA) - where the Engineer Corps was deployed to construct Camp Ciara in advance of a contingent of more than 500 troops. Army engineers were deployed alongside personnel from the Naval Service and NSR in early 2020 as part of Ireland's response to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

Equipment

* Aardvark Midi Mine flail * DOK-ING MV-4 Remotely Operated Mine flail * Cyclops Mk4 Remotely Operated Vehicle * Remote Firing Demolitions Equipment (BIRIS, PRIME, DRFD) * Mabey Johnson Bridge * Infantry Assault Bridge * FFV 013 Area Defence Munition * Rigid-hulled inflatable boats (RIBs) (Delta 7 metre, Lencraft 5.1 metre dive, and Lencraft 7.5&6.5 metre intruder RIBs)

Corps of Engineers Units (2013)

*1st Engineer Group (Replaced 1st Field Engineer Company) *2nd Engineer Group (Replaced 4th Field Engineer Company) *Engineer Section, Air Corps. Attached Irish Air Corps *Engineer Section, Naval Service. Attached Irish Naval Service *Engineer Group, Logistics Base Curragh

Disbanded (Defence Forces Re-org 2012)

*2nd Field Engineer Company * 31st Field Engineer Company *62nd Field Engineer Company *54th Field Engineer Company

Future developments

As in all aspects of society, legislative changes and technological advances have required workforces to become more specialised and more highly skilled. The Irish Defence Forces is no exception - requiring specialist skilled engineers. Compared with Defence Forces in other countries e.g. British and French Armies, the number of engineers in the Irish Defence Forces is low, 5.5% against 8.8% and 12.8% respectively.

Gallery

Image:Bridge Building (4706573298).jpg, Bridge building Image:Bridge Demolition.JPG, Demolition using Hayrick shaped charges File:Aardvark mine flail detonating a landmine.jpg, Aardvark Joint Service Flail detonating an Anti-Tank Landmine Image:Camp Construction2.jpg, Installing Lighting Towers Image:Fire Fighting.jpg, Fire Service DFTC

References

External links

Official website
{{Irish Army & Army Reserve Engineers, Corps of Military engineer corps Military units and formations established in 1924