The Danish Engineer Regiment and Joint Engineer and CBRN Centre

The Danish Engineer Regiment can trace its origins back to the 6^th of November 1684. Although military engineering in Denmark predates that specific point in time, it was when King Christian the 5^thformed Denmark's first engineer corps. After several mergers and relocation the Engineer Regiment and the Joint Engineer and CBRN Centre is currently garrisoned in the town of Skive in Jutland.

The Regiment's history (which is on display at the garrison's museum) records how engineers in the 16^th century laid the foundations for the Danish road network and two centuries later constructed the first railway in Denmark. The Regiment earned battle honours during the First and Second Schleswig War in the 19^th century. In more recent years Danish engineers have provided modern military engineering capabilities during allied operations in the Balkans, Iraq and Afghanistan.

The Regiment is the sole provider of military engineering in the Danish Armed Forces and therefore operates at joint level. The Regiment has units that specialise in; combat engineering, EOD and search, infrastructure support, CBRN and geospatial support. The Regiment is currently comprised of three battalions that support battlegroup and brigade formations. The colocated Joint Engineer and CRBN Centre provides study and development in all the afformentioned fields of military engineering, CBRN and geospatial support.

The 1 Armoured Engineer Battalion's main function is to provide close support to army units with breaching and clearing of obstacles, military bridging, demolitions, countermobility, engineer reconnaissance and intermediate search. The Battalion has three subunits with one dedicated to providing support with bridging and plant equipment, armoured engineer vehicles and trackway. The remaining subunits are deployed in tracked and wheeled APCs in order to ensure high mobility during operations. The Battalion also handles basic training in military engineering. This is completed by all enlisted engineers before being designated to their respective battalions where they conclude their specialised training.

The 2 EOD Battalion has two main functions. One is to provide national and international ammunition disposal and search capabilities and the other is to conduct army basic training for the Regiment's biannual conscript intake. The EOD company conducts ammunition disposal and search training in order to create proficient teams that can support police and provide national exsplosive ordenance disposal. The EOD company also deploys advance search and IED teams and is able to locate and despose of IEDs and conventional munitions in international operations. The two remaining subunits train conscripts during their four months of national service. Training conscripts within the engineer garrison gives a comprehensive approach to the armed forces training structure and a unique opportunity to be able to recruit those who wish to pursue a career in military engineering.

The 3 CBRN and Construction Battalion is adept in three main areas. The Battalion has an infrastructure support squadron, which specialises in design, planning, construction, maintenance and decommissioning of theatre infrastructure. It has had numerous deployments in places as varied as Greenland and Afghanistan. The Battalion's CBRN units specialise in detection, protection and decontamination against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear hazards. The garrison is host to an annual NATO exercise in CBRN where units train warning and reporting. Danish CBRN units have been deployed in Syria and recently returned from Libya where they were tasked alongside the Danish Navy with transport of seized chemical agents. 3 Battalion also has units that are proficient in geospatial support. It is capable of supporting all military branches with specialised maps and able to create expert visualisation, simulation and analysis of terrain in order to support threat evaluation and operational planning.

The Joint Engineer and CRBN Centre is dedicated to studies and development in all aspects of military engineering, CBRN and geosoatial support. The Centre has many functions such as; implementing new vehicles and equipment, operationalising new tactical training procedures and also facilitating coursework. The Centre conducts various courses including; explosive ordnance disposal, enginnering tactics at section, troop, subunit and junior staff officer level, CBRN defence, tactical demolitions and use of geospatial software. The Centre operates in order for the Danish Armed Forces to stay at the forefront of organisational, technological and doctrinal deveploment with regards to military engineering. Due to predominently being deployed in stabilisation and support operations over the past two decades, the Engineer Regiment aims to focus on development of military engineering in combat operations. This includes advancing in areas such as; improved MLC of AVLBs, studying the future of mine warfare and potential capabilities of AEVs. The ambition is also to maintain a high standard of interoperability within own formations and cooperation with allied engineer units.