170 (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group

170 (Infastructure Support) Engineer Group is an engineering command HQ of the British Army's Corps of Royal Engineers. The group is currently the highest numbered command of the British Army, although formed earlier then some of the other commands. The group was first formed as the Military Works Force, but later reformed following the 2002 field army re-organisation.

History
In 1978, following the 1975 Mason Review, the Military Works Force was formed at Chetwynd Barracks to control the Corps of Royal Engineers's works groups. The command as a result controlled the specialist engineering units and helped in commanding and providing those special services. The group was originally formed with the control of just two CREs each with three STREs, but this force was later expanded. At one time, the command controlled 530 STRE (Maintenance), but it is unknown when this STRE was formed, disbanded, and assigned to the group. The four CREs of the command included;


 * Command Headquarters, Chietwynd Barracks
 * 62 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Water utilities, water development, and well drilling]
 * 63 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Electrical power generation and distribution, originally utilities and force protection]
 * 64 Chief Engineer Command (Works) [Fuels, fuel production, and distribution]
 * 65 Chief Engineer Command (Works) (V) [Civilian infrastructure, railway and ports infrastructure lines of communications]

In 2003, the 2003 Delivering Security in a Changing World reforms were announced, which dramatically reformed the British Army as a whole, but more importantly the way the army was structured. By 2005, engineer groups were regulated and renamed, one the changes being the MWF's renaming as 170 (Infrastructure Support) Engineer Group and placed under the 8th Force Engineer Brigade. In addition to the changed of the group, the CRE units were re-titled as Works Groups.

Notes and References
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