Engineer Troops Day in Armenia Date in the current year: September 7, 2024

Military engineers are the key in all armed forces of the world, since they are responsible for shaping the physical operation environment, which includes designing and building military works, maintaining transport and communications lines, engineer intelligence, environmental protection, and more.

The first civilization to have a dedicated force of military engineers were the Romans. Back then, the main tasks of military engineers included the construction of fortifications, bridge building, road making, the designing of siege machines, and mining operations. Much of Roman military engineering practices and techniques were lost after the fall of the Roman Empire, and the revival of military engineering didn’t begin until the High Middle Ages.

By the 18th century, infantry regiments in many European armies included pioneer detachments responsible for performing engineering and construction tasks, but military engineering really began to take its modern shape in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, due to the invention of the internal combustion engine, heavier-than-air vehicles, and dynamite.

Modern military engineering is generally subdivided into three main sub-disciplines: combat engineering (engineering on the battlefield), strategic support (providing service in communication zones), and ancillary support (disposal of unexploded warheads and provision and distribution of maps).

In some countries, military engineers serve in various units of the armed forces, but there are countries that have distinct engineering units. Armenia belongs to the latter category. The Armed Forces of Armenia in their current form were de jure founded on January 28, 1992, following the dissolution of the Soviet Union and the independence of Armenia. The Department of the Engineer Troops was officially created on September 7, 1992. Most of the staff officers in the department were members of the former Soviet military.

Almost immediately after gaining independence, Armenia entered the Nagorno-Karabakh War with Azerbaijan, and the newly formed Engineer Troops made a great contribution to the eventual Armenian victory. For example, the well-orchestrated efforts of Armenian combat engineers in September 1993 forced the Azerbaijanis to abandon more than 14 units of military equipment (tanks, infantry combat vehicles, armored personnel carriers) in the battlefield.

Since the end of the war, one of the primary tasks of the Engineer Troops has been the demining of the areas where the Nagorno-Karabakh Was was fought. In 60 border communities of Armenia, more than a hundred areas are recognized as life-threatening because of mines; their total area is about 322 square kilometers, which is more than one percent of the country’s total area.

To highlight the important role of the Engineer Troops and honor their personnel, the Minister of Defense of Armenia established Engineer Troops Day in 2000.