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

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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 a 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 Roman waterway ...

. By 1989, the brigade had a mix of regular and reserve units. and the brigade had the following structure: * Headquarters - RAF Waterbeach ** 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 the engineering arm of the British Army. It provides military engineering and other technical support to the British Armed Forces ...

- ** 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 RAF Waterbeach. 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 Delivery may refer to: Biology and medicine *Childbirth Childbirth, also known as labour, parturition and delivery, is the completion of pregnancy, where one or more Fetus, fetuses exits the Womb, internal environment of the mother via vagi ...

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

Army 2020 Army 2020 is the restructuring of the British Army in the early and mid-2010s, in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2010. The plan, as its name suggested, was intended to be completed by 2020, though most of its reorganisations ...

changes, the group had the following structure: * Headquarters - RAF Waterbeach ** 25th Air Support Engineer Regiment,

** 39th Air Support Engineer Regiment,

** '' 71st Engineer Regiment,

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

Structure

After the Army 2020 Refine reforms, the group was retitled as 12 (Force Support) Engineer Group remaining under the 8th Engineer Brigade. Its responsibilities changed from Airfield Support to "support to Theatre Entry, Route Maintenance, and Enabling Airfield Operations". The group's current structure is: *12th (Force Support) Engineer Group, at

RAF Wittering Royal Air Force Wittering or more simply RAF Wittering is a Royal Air Force station within the unitary authority area of Peterborough, Cambridgeshire and the unitary authority area of North Northamptonshire. Although Stamford in Lincolnshire ...

Cambridgeshire Cambridgeshire (abbreviated Cambs.) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in the East of England and East Anglia. It is bordered by Lincolnshire to the north, Norfolk to the north-east, Suffolk to the east, Essex and Hertfor ...

** 32nd Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at Marne Barracks,

Catterick Garrison Catterick Garrison is a major garrison and List of modern military towns, military town south of Richmond, North Yorkshire, Richmond, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest British Army garrison in the world, with a population of around 14 ...

** 36th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at Invicta Park Barracks,

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— regiment doubles as HQ Queen's Gurkha Engineers ** 39th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers, at

Kinloss Barracks Kinloss Barracks is a military installation located near the village of Kinloss, on the Moray Firth in the north of Scotland. Until 2012 it was a Royal Air Force (RAF) station, RAF Kinloss. History RAF Kinloss The Royal Air Force statio ...

, Kinloss ** 71st Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers (V), at Waterloo Lines,

Leuchars Station Leuchars Station is a British Army installation located in Leuchars, Fife, on the east coast of Scotland, near to the historic town of St Andrews. Formerly RAF Leuchars, it was the second most northerly air defence station in the United King ...

— paired with 32 Engineer Regiment ** 75th Engineer Regiment, Royal Engineers (V), at Peninsula Barracks,

Warrington Warrington () is an industrial town in the Borough of Warrington, borough of the same name in Cheshire, England. The town sits on the banks of the River Mersey and was Historic counties of England, historically part of Lancashire. It is east o ...

— paired with 36 Engineer Regiment ** 43 Headquarters and Support Squadron, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell (moving to Beacon Barracks, Stafford) ** 20th Works Group (Air Support), Royal Engineers, at

(Hybrid) *** 510 Specialist Team (Airfields), Royal Engineers (V)Watson & Rinaldi, pp. 335–338. (RE Order of Battle Army 2020) ** 62nd Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell (moving to Beacon Barracks, Stafford) ** 63rd Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell (moving to Beacon Barracks, Stafford) ** 65th Works Group, Royal Engineers (V), at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell (moving to Beacon Barracks, Stafford) ** 66th Works Group, Royal Engineers, at Chetwynd Barracks, Chilwell (moving to Beacon Barracks, Stafford)

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