The Student Room Group

Do the royal engineers get any action

Im going to do engineering at University but I'm seriously thinking about joing the armed forces. Ive done a lot of work with the Royal Marines but I wanted to use my engineering education so I was thinking the Royal Engineers and maybe try and get my green lid by doing the commando course. But as much as I like engineering I really want to see some action. Do the engineers get any action or do they stay and the back and build the bases and bridge etc? This may be a really naive comment but I haven't really looked into it yet.
chadd_mclege
Do the engineers get any action or do they stay and the back and build the bases and bridge etc?


If you are in a hostile territory and was building a bridge, do you think you would likely to get some action or not? :rolleyes:
Reply 2
Yeah but ususally when you build a bridge the area has to be cleared of hostiles before you go in to start construction. They will normally send in a regualr regiment to secure it first, not the engineers. I mean, do they go out on patrols like normal regiments or do they just sit behind the lines?
Suggest you look at the Army website and specifically the RE sections. It would be your best place to start.
Reply 4
Yeah I have but they don't give proper detail about what happens on tour only all the propoganda stuff you see on tv.
OK - yes - they get right up there and in the thick of it. You need to understand the role of the engineer in the Army - including the units they support. Do some more reading and it will help you form your questions into something more specific that can be answered better here.
...you mean with women?
Must....resist.... temptation....

OP, go to your local Careers Office and ask about a 'look at life' with the RE.

(For those more in the know than I, they do these for Corps, right?)
Reply 8
chadd_mclege
Im going to do engineering at University but I'm seriously thinking about joing the armed forces. Ive done a lot of work with the Royal Marines but I wanted to use my engineering education so I was thinking the Royal Engineers and maybe try and get my green lid by doing the commando course. But as much as I like engineering I really want to see some action. Do the engineers get any action or do they stay and the back and build the bases and bridge etc? This may be a really naive comment but I haven't really looked into it yet.



The REs were the first troops over the border in Gulf 1 & 2 bridging the Berms clearing the minefields recovering tanks from the Froward edge of the battle space. Bridging units historically took some of the worst casualties during combat, The chances of getting right in the thick of it can be high. However, you may end up doing a works job looking after the bogs at a forward operating base :smile:. My best friend is a RE do not ever confuse them with the REME as they get really upset both ways,

Did you know that the RAF was practicaly formed from the REs and they will go on and on and on about Rourke's Drift.
hootandroar
The REs were the first troops over the border in Gulf 1 & 2 bridging the Berms clearing the minefields recovering tanks from the Froward edge of the battle space. Bridging units historically took some of the worst casualties during combat, The chances of getting right in the thick of it can be high. However, you may end up doing a works job looking after the bogs at a forward operating base :smile:. My best friend is a RE do not ever confuse them with the REME as they get really upset both ways,

Did you know that the RAF was practicaly formed from the REs and they will go on and on and on about Rourke's Drift.


Hahah, yeah... Mind you, if you mistook a bloke from the REME for an Engineer, he'd probably be made up!

Also, no practically about it - A branch of the RE formed the RFC, which then amalgamated with the RNAS in 1918 to form the RAF. See, I knew a childhood spent reading Biggles wouldn't be wasted!

(as an aside, 1918... My mob formed in 1572... SPROGS!)
Reply 10
Cheers guys1
FiveFiveSix

(as an aside, 1918... My mob formed in 1572... SPROGS!)


hang on...

I thought that the TA had their 100th anniversary last year? That means that your 'mob' had nothing to do for 436 years!:p:

Anyway, the Air force would have been formed before 1918 if Orville and Wilber had got off their @rses and invented the aeroplane earlier!
Reply 12
"The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Regiments of the Company have fought with distinction in both World Wars and its current Regiment, which forms part of the Territorial Army, has a demanding and exciting role." www.hac.org.uk
Hannibal Smith
hang on...

I thought that the TA had their 100th anniversary last year? That means that your 'mob' had nothing to do for 436 years!:p:

Anyway, the Air force would have been formed before 1918 if Orville and Wilber had got off their @rses and invented the aeroplane earlier!


The TA did, but my regiment has been around a wee bit longer than that! We don't tend to look at it so much as being TA, more being the reserve battalion, especially since as one of the brass said a while back, we're practically a regular training depot at the moment!

Ah, excuses excuses. What about the Women's Royal Auxillary Balloon Corps? You can hardly blame the Montgolfier brothers for that one! :biggrin:
chadd_mclege
"The Honourable Artillery Company was incorporated by Royal Charter in 1537 by King Henry VIII. Regiments of the Company have fought with distinction in both World Wars and its current Regiment, which forms part of the Territorial Army, has a demanding and exciting role." www.hac.org.uk


You want to watch out for those boys. They're practically special forces :woo:



:biggrin: