RHODESIAN CORPS
OF ENGINEERS

A Brief History of the Engineers Roll of Honour Army Home Page Site Home Page Contact Us

Formation: 1 January 1964

Roles

These are as follows:

a. Engineer Directorate (Engr.)
The command and control of all engineer effort in the Army including advice on engineer aspects.

b. School of Military Engineering (SME.)
The roles of the School of Military Engineering are:

i. Basic combat engineer instruction for trainees from Depot Rhodesia Regiment (DRR) and Depot Rhodesian African Rifles (Dep RAR.)

ii. Combat engineer instruction for all regular engineer recruits.

iii. Combat engineer instruction on advanced courses for members of Rhodesian Corps of Engineers (RhE).

iv. All army engineer training as directed by Army HQ.

v. Assault pioneer courses as directed by Army HQ.

vi. Specialist engineering courses as directed by Army HQ.

vii. The control of all apprentices and the co-ordination of all apprenticeships within RhE.

viii. Conduct of user trials on all new or improved techniques or equipment of a military engineering nature.

c. Combat Engineer Squadrons.
The roles of the combat engineer squadrons (1, 2, 3 and 4 Engineer Squadrons) are:

i. To provide combat engineer support to the units of their respective Brigades.

ii. If engineer control is centralised, to provide combat engineer support to the Army as directed by Army HQ.

d. 5 Engineer Support Squadron.
The roles of 5 Engineer Support Squadron (5 Engr Sp Sqn) are:

i. Workshop Troop

(a) To carry out minor works on buildings, ranges and other installations as directed by Army HQ.

(b) To construct temporary field accommodation as directed by Army HQ.

(c) To carry out trade testing of tradesmen for the purposes of classifying or upgrading.

ii. Dog Troop

(a) To train all mine dogs and handlers up to the standard required for deployment on operations.

(b) To provide continuation training for all dogs and dug handlers.

(c) To provide mine dog teams for operational deployment.

iii. National Service Field Troop (NS Fd Tp)

(a) To provide the combat engineer reserve.

(b) To carry out continuation training of engineer national service personnel.

iv. Plant Troop

(a) To carry out heavy plant construction as directed by Army HQ.

(b) To maintain and repair heavy plant.

(c). To train operators, and mechanics for heavy plant.

v. Pookie Troop

To maintain and operate pookies as directed by Army HQ.

e. Boat Squadron.
The roles of Boat Squadron (Boat Sqn) are:

i. To implement the operational boat policy as directed by Army HQ.

ii. To train Army boat operators.

iii. To maintain and repair all Army boats.

iv. To implement the operational radar policy as directed by Army HQ.

f. Border Minefield Squadrons
The roles of border minefield squadrons (6 and 7 Engr Sqn) are:

i. To carry out construction of border minefield obstacles as directed by Army HQ.

ii. To maintain the border minefield obstacle as directed by Army HQ.