The Engineer Troops of the Russian Federation (Russian: Инженерные войска Российской Федерации) are a Combat Arm and military administrative corps of the Russian Ground Forces of the Russian Federation designed to perform military engineering operations (combat actions), requiring special training of personnel and use of means of engineer equipment, as well as for damaging the enemy through application of engineer ammunition.
History
Imperial era One of the first engineering units founded in the Russian Empire was the Pososhniye lyudi, a collective name for conscripts in the Imperial Russian Army called up for military service from each sokha unit. In the late 17th century, the first engineering training maneuvers were carried out under the patronage of Peter I. The day of the Engineering Forces is recognized as 21 January 1701, with on the opening of the School of the Pushkar Order. The first engineering schools were created in 1708 in Moscow and then in March 1719 in St. Petersburg. The terms of study at these schools ranged from 5 to 12 years. The Imperial Engineering Troops first took part in the Battle of Poltava, the Patriotic War of 1812, Crimean War from 1853 to 1856, and the First World War.
Soviet Engineer Troops
After the February Revolution and the Great October Socialist Revolution of 1917 the newly formed Red Army and Soviet Navy incorporated the sapper units of the former Imperial Russian Army and Navy in their structure. By 1919, pontoon and electrical battalions and a mine-blasting brigade were raised in time for the Civil War. 10 years later, the Engineering Troops of the USSR (Russian: Инженерные войска СССР) were in much better shape and had a much better organization. During the Second World War, ten sapper armies operated, later reorganized into brigades. From the mid-1940s to the 1970s, Engineer-Sapper Companies (ISR) were located in Soviet Army regiments, divisions, and combined-arms armies. Due to miscalculations in planning by the Ministry of Defense of the Soviet Union, there was a shortage of engineering units serving in Afghanistan during the Soviet–Afghan War. In 1986, the Engineering Troops took part in the military response to the biological effects of the Chernobyl accident. After the collapse of the USSR in late 1991, the engineering troops were dissolved and its component units were absorbed by Russia and the newly formed armed forces of nations such as Ukraine, Belarus, Kazakhstan, and Armenia.
Russian Federation
The official holiday of the Engineering Troops was established by decree of President Boris Yeltsin on 18 September 1996. By order of the Minister of Defense on 23 September 1996, it was prescribed to celebrate the Day of Engineering Troops on January 21 annually.
Mission
In preparation and conduct of combined-arms operations (combat actions) the Engineer Troops perform, among others, the following tasks:
engineer reconnaissance of the enemy, terrain and objects; construction (arrangement) of fortifications (trenches, ditches and communication trenches, shelters, bunkers, dugouts, tunnels, roadblocks, wire obstacles, defensive fighting positions etc.) and organization of field deployment of troops (residential, logistical, medical); organisation of engineering obstacles to troop movement, including installation of mine fields, production of blasting, organisation of non-explosive anti-tank obstacles (anti-tank ditches, scarps/counterscarps, stakes, abatis etc.); clearance of areas and facilities; preparation and maintenance of traffic routes of troops; creation and maintenance of ferries across water barriers, including construction of bridges; extraction and purification of water in the battlefield In addition, they are involved in countering the intelligence systems and homing of the enemy's weapons (camouflage), simulation of troops and facilities, providing misinformation and demonstrative actions to deceive the enemy as well as to eliminate or reduce the effects of enemy weapons of mass destruction. In peacetime, the Engineer Troops have a number of important and socially significant tasks: they clean areas of explosive hazards, are involved in the response and liquidation of aftermath of man-made accidents and catastrophes, natural disasters, prevent destruction of bridges and waterworks during floating of ice, etc. Further development of the Engineer Troops is carried out through equipping them with qualitatively new, highly effective, versatile means of engineer equipment, built on the basis of standardised elements, blocks and modules, with a simultaneous decrease of the nomenclature samples of the same type for the intended purpose.
Structure The Engineer Troops are composed of formations, units and subdivisions for various purposes: engineering-reconnaissance, field engineering, fencing, obstacle clearing, assault-and-traffic engineering, pontoon bridge (pontoon), assault-crossing, camouflage-engineering, technology-engineering, field water supplying ones and so on.
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