23 Parachute Engineer Regiment

Last updated
23 Parachute Engineer Regiment
Active1948 - Present
CountryFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
BranchFlag of the British Army.svg  British Army
Role Combat engineering
Size4 squadrons
621 personnel [1]
Part of 16 Air Assault Brigade
Garrison/HQRock Barracks/Woodbridge Airfield, Woodbridge, Suffolk [2]
Engagements Iraq War
War in Afghanistan
Commanders
Current
commander
Lt Col Jack Crossley [3]
9 Sqn Support Troop and 23 PER on exercise in 2020 23 Para Engineer Regiment train alongside RAF Benson Personnel MOD 45166881.jpg
9 Sqn Support Troop and 23 PER on exercise in 2020

23 Parachute Engineer Regiment is a Royal Engineers regiment in the British Army that was formed in 2003. It provides engineer support to 16 Air Assault Brigade in both the parachute and Air assault role. The regiment is currently based at Rock Barracks in Suffolk and consists of three regular squadrons and one Army Reserve squadron. As part of 16 Air Assault Brigade it can be called upon to deploy on operations across the globe at extremely short notice.

Contents

History

23 Engineer Regiment can trace its roots to the founding of the airborne forces of the Parachute Regiment and other related during the Second World War. In July 1948, 23rd Field Engineer Regiment was formed in Iserlohn from the former 2nd Division Divisional Engineer regiment. In December 1948, the regiment moved to Halen and two years later moved to Dortmund. In September 1957, 2 Field Squadron was allocated to 6th Infantry Brigade and 5 Field Squadron to the 5th Infantry Brigade. In May 1958, the regiment was split and its headquarters became the new "Headquarters Royal Engineers, 2nd Division". [ citation needed ]

Eleven years later in April 1969, it was re-organised into the new 23 Engineer Regiment at Osnabruck. The regiment served as infantry in Northern Ireland from March - July 1972. In September 1976 the 2nd Division was re-organized as an armoured formation, and the regiment was broken up for the second time. In January 1983, at Osnabruck the regiment reformed and later took part in the trial of Close Support Troops. In 1991 the regiment, participated in the Gulf War supporting 4th Armoured Brigade. 39 Field Squadron provided Close Support Troops for each of the Brigade's 3 Battlegroups, whilst 73 Field Squadron acted as General Support to the Brigade. The regiment was later disbanded in 1993 as a result of the Options for Change. [4]

In 2001, 23 Engineer Regiment was tasked to provide engineer support to the newly formed 16 Air Assault Brigade. The regiment was deployed for Operation Herrick and in September 2009 on their return from Afghanistan the regiment was granted the Freedom of the town of Woodbridge. [5] [6] In 2015, the "Parachute" title was officially added to the name, although the unit had already been supporting 16 Air Assault Brigade since its re-establishment, and a new flag was presented to the regiment to mark the occasion. [7] [8]

Organization

Commanding Officers

Commanding Officers of the Regiment have included:

Related Research Articles

This is the Operation Telic order of battle, which lists the British forces that took part in Operation Telic, including

<span class="mw-page-title-main">1st Commonwealth Division</span> Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War

The 1st Commonwealth Division was the military unit that commanded Commonwealth land forces in the Korean War. The division was a part of the multinational British Commonwealth Forces Korea, with infantry units of the British Army, Canadian Army and Australian Army forming the bulk of the division. Additionally, the New Zealand Army supplied artillery contingents and an Indian medical unit was also attached. As with the "Korean Augmentation To the United States Army" (KATUSA) programme, numerous South Korean troops were seconded to the Commonwealth division to make up numbers under a scheme known as "KATCOM".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">VII Corps (United States)</span> Military unit

The VII Army Corps of the United States Army was one of the two principal corps of the United States Army Europe during the Cold War. Activated in 1918 for World War I, it was reactivated for World War II and again during the Cold War. During both World War II and the Cold War it was subordinate to the Seventh Army, or USAREUR and was headquartered at Kelley Barracks in Stuttgart, West Germany, from 1951 until it was redeployed to the US after significant success in the Gulf War in 1991, then inactivated in 1992.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Royal Corps of Signals</span> Communications arm of the British Army

The Royal Corps of Signals is one of the combat support arms of the British Army. Signals units are among the first into action, providing the battlefield communications and information systems essential to all operations. Royal Signals units provide the full telecommunications infrastructure for the Army wherever they operate in the world. The Corps has its own engineers, logistics experts and systems operators to run radio and area networks in the field. It is responsible for installing, maintaining and operating all types of telecommunications equipment and information systems, providing command support to commanders and their headquarters, and conducting electronic warfare against enemy communications.

This is a list of British ground forces in the Falklands War. For a list of ground forces from Argentina, see Argentine ground forces in the Falklands War

<span class="mw-page-title-main">79th Armoured Division (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 79th Armoured Division was a specialist armoured division of the British Army created during the Second World War. The division was created as part of the preparations for the Normandy invasion on 6 June 1944, D-Day.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team</span> Active British Army formation

16 Air Assault Brigade Combat Team, known simply as 16 Air Assault Brigade from 1999 – 2021, is a formation of the British Army predominantly based in Colchester, Essex. It makes up the Air Assault Task Force, a battlegroup held at high readiness, and is the only brigade in the British Army focused on operating via parachute, helicopter and air-landing.

The Household Cavalry Regiment (HCR) is an Armoured Cavalry regiment of the British Army based in Bulford Camp in Wiltshire. It is the brother regiment of the Household Cavalry Mounted Regiment (HCMR) based at Hyde Park Barracks in London - both regiments together form the Household Cavalry (HCav). The Household Cavalry Regiment was formed in 1992, under the Options for Change reforms, by the union of The Life Guards and The Blues and Royals in order to preserve the distinct identities of the regiments. A precedent for the Household Cavalry Regiment has previously been set by the Household Cavalry Composite Regiment - active during the Anglo-Egyptian War, the Second Boer War and latterly during both the First and Second World Wars.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">5th Infantry Brigade (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 5th Infantry Brigade was a regular infantry brigade of the British Army that was in existence since before the First World War, except for a short break in the late 1970s. It was an Airborne Brigade from the early 1980s until amalgamating with 24th Airmobile Brigade, in 1999, to form 16 Air Assault Brigade.

The Malaya Command was a formation of the British Army formed in the 1920s for the coordination of the defences of British Malaya, which comprised the Straits Settlements, the Federated Malay States and the Unfederated Malay States. It consisted mainly of small garrison forces in Kuala Lumpur, Penang, Taiping, Seremban and Singapore.

This is the Operation Herrick ground order of battle, which lists any British ground forces that have taken part in the duration of Operation Herrick between 2002 and 2014.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">9 Parachute Squadron RE</span> Airborne unit of the British army

9 Parachute Squadron RE is an airborne detachment of the Royal Engineers, part of the British Army. Like other units consisting of Royal Engineers, soldiers in the squadron are called sappers. It is part of 23 Parachute Engineer Regiment based at Rock Barracks in Woodbridge, Suffolk.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2003 invasion of Iraq order of battle</span> Order of battle

This is the order of battle for the invasion of Iraq during the Iraq War between coalition forces and the Iraqi Armed Forces; Fedayeen Saddam irregulars; and others between March 19 and May 1, 2003.

Army 2020 was the name given to 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 were completed by the middle of the decade. It was succeeded by Army 2020 Refine, a series of new changes and refinements of Army 2020's restructuring, conducted in light of the Strategic Defence and Security Review 2015.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">36 Engineer Regiment (United Kingdom)</span> Military unit

The 36 Engineer Regiment is a regiment of the Corps of Royal Engineers within the British Army. The regiment trace their history back to before World War II as 36 Army Engineer Regiment. The regiment today is a general support engineer regiment provided force support within 12 Engineer Group.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Structure of the British Army</span> Organisation of the British Army

The page contains the current structure of the British Army. The British Army is currently being reorganised to the Future Soldier structure.

This is a list of units of the British Army's Royal Engineers.

The following is a hierarchical outline for the structure of the British Army in 1989. The most authoritative source for this type of information available is Ministry of Defence, Master Order of Battle, and United Kingdom Land Forces, HQ UKLF, UKLF ORBAT Review Action Plan, HQ UKLF, 1990.

Future Soldier is a reform of the British Army resulting from the Integrated Review of Security, Defence, Development and Foreign Policy published in March 2021. The aim of the reform is to create a more lethal, agile and expeditionary force, able to fight and win wars and to operate in the grey-zone between peace and war. Future Soldier was published on 25 November 2021 and deals with the organizational changes of the British Army, with changes to personnel and equipment were set out in the Defence in a Competitive Age paper published on 22 March 2021.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">299 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers</span> Specialist reserve engineer unit of the British Army

299 Parachute Squadron, Royal Engineers is a specialist field engineer squadron of the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers and the only reserve parachute unit of the corps. Formed in 1947 as an airborne field squadron, 299 Para Sqn would see many reorganisations and new roles, until 2006 when it took on the parachute role it maintains today. As of 2021, it is the only reserve parachute-trained squadron of the Royal Engineers.

References

  1. "Army – Question for Ministry of Defence". p. 1. Retrieved 14 December 2020.
  2. "Royal Engineers commander working in Helmand praises unit's hometown for support". Ministry of Defence. 28 January 2011.
  3. "Sutton Heath: Soldier, 20, died in non-operational incident says MOD". BBC News. 26 September 2022. Retrieved 26 September 2022.
  4. The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889—2018. pp. 222–223.
  5. "Freedom of the Town of Woodbridge to the 23 Engineer Regiment (Air Assault)". One Suffolk. Retrieved 9 April 2010.[ permanent dead link ]
  6. "23 Engineer Regiment exercises freedom of Woodbridge". BBC. 8 June 2013.
  7. "23 Parachute Engineer Regiment Celebrate New Name". Forces TV. 16 June 2015. Archived from the original on 16 February 2016. Retrieved 9 February 2016.
  8. The Corps of Royal Engineers: Organization and Units 1889—2018. p. 269.
  9. "Royal Engineers Units". British Army. Retrieved 15 August 2019.
  10. "Specialist Army Engineer Squadron Restored". Forces Network. 17 July 2018. Retrieved 2021-08-31.
  11. "299 Parachute Squadron Royal Engineers". British Army. Archived from the original on 28 December 2017.