Reactivate Pioneers as Reservists ...

With UK Defence under pressure to deliver greater capability with even more limited resources, there is a continued need to look at the the capability blend of regular and reserve forces in order to meet operational requirements. This has grown even more acute because of the further reduction of headcount and no decline in (if not an increase in) operational demand. I also believe that because the Armed Forces as a whole always get the job done, no matter how stripped of resources they are - this only feeds the willingness to cut more capacity. We have seen this continue together with the ongoing amalgamation of units and trades, the disbanding of units and the retirement of some trades altogether. This will not be sustainable unless resource flexibility in terms of capability and capacity can be achieved, and this is where the Reserve Forces (with the right investment and support) is going to need to be that force multiplier.

I would therefore like to propose the reinstatement of pioneers as a reservist only element, available as a multi-skilled workforce that can be used to help provide greater operational flexibility across a wide variety of tasks.

Pioneers have been part of armies for centuries. The British Army's pioneers eventually evolved into the Royal Pioneer Corps (RPC) and the corps was later amalgamated into the Royal Logistic Corps (RLC) in 1993 with other logistic support corps. The pioneer remained a specialist trade in the RLC until 2014, when the last pioneer unit was officially disbanded in order to meet ongoing defence cuts.

However, pioneers always have been (and remain) an ideal logistic and operational support asset. They could be found providing stores handling and distribution support to supply operations, helping build accommodation and other infrastructure projects alongside engineers, providing force protection and security resources to headquarter formations, as well as more specialist tasks such as mortuary services (still continued as an RLC reservist capability), nuclear weapon security and contract labour management on operations. They were truly versatile soldiers willing and able to turn their hand to a multitude of tasks.

The Pioneer Reserve:

The opportunity therefore exists to use the pioneer reservist as a flexible operational support generalist, providing multi skilled and versatile soldiers to meet a variety of tasks in the world of modern defence. Not only does the pioneer reservist role provide opportunities for a variety of tasks and multi-skilling as both a development and retention tool, but the role also allows the Army to leverage specialist skills and capabilities that soldiers may have in civilian life (such as specialist trades, contract management, construction and other relevant logistics skills). Here are some potential examples:

• Support to Civilian Authorities - whether providing flood damage support by helping build defences, erecting evacuation centres, supporting the emergency services or even providing relief and support personnel for inoculation centres if there is another pandemic, pioneers can turn their hand to any such task and be on hand to do so as a flexible and deployable resource.
• Humanitarian Support - pioneers can use their skills to help handle and distribute supplies, rebuild and repair vital infrastructure, erect accommodation, provide security services, as well as manage local contracted labour - all vital to any humanitarian operation. Many civilians have the relevant or other specialist skills and these could be used to great effect in a reservist capacity to support operational needs as they evolve.
• Labour and Logistic Support - due to the versatile and generalist nature of the pioneers, they could be used to help free more specialist military resources so that those specialists can focus on core work, whilst pioneers could provide the labour, logistics handling and construction support where required to ensure specialist capability could be focused where it is truly needed. Once again this provides a multi-skilled and flexible force multiplier to military operations.
• Force Protection and Armed Security - in order to free up other military resources, pioneers could be used for security duties at various strategic locations, establishments and bases (as they were during Op Banner and other conflicts), as well as supporting the MPGS as a reserve capacity to be called upon when and if needed.

These are just four examples where the varied capabilities of a pioneer reservist could be used. There are countless others to also be considered.

Okay but how?

The traditional infrastructure and training of pioneer units is still in recent memory. It is only a decade since the trade was retired but it could be re-instated as a Reservist only capability. Army Reserve training is now completed at Grantham where some RLC pioneers were previously based. They could even potentially be tiered for greater effect - Tier 1 = deployable globally (available to support defence operations at home and abroad) and Tier 2 = UK deployable (available to support UK operations, civilian authorities and release other regular or reservist capacity for deployment) - especially if the effects of an aging UK workforce needs to be considered.

Historically there is also precedence regarding pioneer units as small deployable forces, able to flex operational requirements. A company level formation would be still be ideal for pioneers, who could then be be deployed as augmentees (if they have specialist skills - such as contract managers), specialist teams or even in larger units, such as reinforced sections, platoons and even full companies to support operational tasks. Regional based pioneer units or formations could also be called upon by the local authorities to support flooding, strikes, or other such risks to the civilian population and UK infrastructure.

If you also want to build a sense of esprit de corps, not only re-instate the the pioneer as an RLC trade (as the crossed axes of the RPC are still part of the capbadge), but also allow pioneers to wear the khakhi beret and with a pioneer tactical flash. I am sure many would not only take pride in being part of a unique and adaptive unit that could provide valuable support to the wider Field Army and Defence community, but their multitude of skills, versatility and flexibility could be used to support both military and civilian authorities in times of need.

That is my proposal anyway ... food for thought!