The Staff Corps: a civilian resource for the military

The Engineer and Logistic Staff Corps of the Royal Engineers (Volunteers) is a ‘think tank’ of around 60 senior civilian engineers and logisticians that provides a wide variety of specialist advice and skills to the British armed forces. It was the brainchild of the secretary of the ICE back in 1865 and, though still little known, it has recently provided support to operations and reconstruction of utilities in the Balkans, Afghanistan and Iraq.This paper explains how the unit operates and the tremendous value it has provided to mission planning and post-conflict reconstruction over the campaigns of the past two decades.