Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers | |
---|---|
Founded | 1947 |
Country | Pakistan |
Branch | Pakistan Army |
Type | Combat support service |
Role | Administrative and staffing oversight of combat engineering. |
Size | 34 battalions |
HQ/Garrison | Army GHQ, Rawalpindi-46100, Punjab in Pakistan. |
Nickname(s) | ENGRS |
Motto(s) | Urdu: روحِ رواں "The Moving Spirit" [1] |
Colors identification | |
Engagements/Civil Operations | |
Website | Pakistan Army − Engineers |
Commanders | |
Engineer-in-Chief | Lt-Gen. Kashif Nazir |
Notable commanders | Lt-Gen. Aftab Ahmad Khan Lt-Gen. Bakhtiar Rana Lt-Gen. Gul Hassan Khan Lt-Gen. Zahid Ali Akbar Lt-Gen. Javed Nasir Lt-Gen. Anwar Khan |
Insignia | |
War Flag |
Administrative Corps of the Pakistan Army | ||||
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The Pakistan Army Corps of Engineers is a military administrative and the engineering staff branch of the Pakistan Army. [2] The Corps of Engineers is generally associated with the civil engineering works, dams, canals, and flood protection, it performs and leads variety of public works in the country as part of its nation-building mission. [2]
The Corps of Engineer is commanded by the Engineer-in-Chief who acts as an army's chief topographer, and advises the Army GHQ on matters of civil engineering and construction. [3] As of 2023, the current Engineer-in-Chief is Lt-Gen. Kashif Nazir.
The engineering arm of the Pakistan Army was commissioned as an administrative branch when it was partitioned from the former British Indian Army's Royal Indian Engineers in 1947. [4] The Bengal and Bombay engineer group laid the foundation of establishing the engineering arm of the Pakistan Army. [5]
From 1947 till 1956, the engineering arm was known as "Royal Pakistan Engineers" since it was under the royal patronage, with many British officers serving in the engineering arm.: 58–59 [6] [7]
In 1956, Royal Pakistan Engineers changed its designation to the Corps of Engineers. [8] From 1947–69, the Corps of Engineers were an instrument for Pakistan Army to engage in building massive infrastructure, dams, canals, roads, and variety of other important public works projects as part of its nation-building mission. [9] The education and training for the personnel to be commissioned in the corps of engineer is provided at the Military College of Engineering (MCE).: 55 [10]
The Corps of Engineers is commanded by the Engineer-in-Chief (E-in-C), usually at active-duty three-star rank, Lieutenant-General, who serves as the chief topographer and principle engineer in advising the Army GHQ and the Government of Pakistan on important matters on civil engineering, construction, surveys, and topography.: 2–6 [11] : 395 [12]
The Corps of Engineers has been commissioned by the Government of Pakistan to undertake massive civil engineering projects by designing and building the Karakoram Highway which, in 1960s in Pakistan, was the largest public works initiative in the country that connected the China and Pakistan across the Himalayas mountain range, through the Khunjerab Pass, at an altitude of 4,693 m or 15,397 ft as confirmed by both SRTM and multiple GPS readings. [13] [14] During the Kashmir earthquake in 2005, the Corps initiated the massive and one of the largest rehabilitation and reconstruction operations in Corps history, rebuilding and redesigning the entire cities of Gilgit and Muzaffarabad as well as Azad Kashmir. Its speedy rehabilitation operation was completed in record time and the entire city was rebuilt in 2008. As more recently, the Corps undertook the intensive rehabilitation and reconstruction operations in deluge in southern parts as well as recent earthquake in Western parts.
Since its inception, the Corps has built extensive military and civilian infrastructure of Pakistan Armed Forces as well as Pakistan Government, ranging from building bridges, dams, military regional headquarters and civil corporate architectural buildings. [2] The Corps mission has been extended with time passes, and is renowned to have designed, construct, and built the GHQ, ammunition plants, regional army headquarters, as well as supporting the nuclear weapons program related national defense's weapons laboratories and its related test sites. [2] [15]
The Pakistan Armed Forces are the military forces of Pakistan. It is the world's sixth-largest military measured by active military personnel and consist of three formally uniformed services—the Army, Navy, and the Air Force, which are backed by several paramilitary forces such as the National Guard and the Civil Armed Forces. A critical component to the armed forces' structure is the Strategic Plans Division Force, which is responsible for the maintenance and safeguarding of Pakistan's tactical and strategic nuclear weapons stockpile and assets. The President of Pakistan is the Commander-in-Chief of the Pakistan Armed Forces and the chain of command is organized under the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Committee (JCSC) alongside the respective Chiefs of staffs of the Army, Navy, and Air Force. All branches are systemically coordinated during joint operations and missions under the Joint Staff Headquarters (JSHQ).
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