The 68th has had an interesting journey as part of the Belgian armed forces. Originally raised as a Heavy Combat Engineering unit, they found themselves surplus to requirement at the end of the Cold War. This prompted their redesignation into the 68th Light Paracommando Engineering unit in 2003 to fulfil the engineering demands of the Global War on Terror. However, in 2021, the unit was disbanded.
Taking the lessons from Ukraine in mind, the need once again arose for the formation of a second Combat Engineering Company to fill critical capability holes left by the 3 decades of underfunding caused by the peace difvident at the end of the Cold War.
The reactivated company itself consists of 90 enlisted and 30 non-commissioned officers manning 3 platoons, which will eventually be equipped with material procured under the CaMo partnership with France. The primary tasks of this unit consist of mine laying and clearing, obstacle clearing, the construction and demolition of bridges, searching for hidden weapons caches, documents, and people, and assisting in amphibious operations.
The company will operate as part of the 11th Engineering battalion stationed in Leopoldsburg, with its first deployment already having been planned for 2025 as its 1st platoon, who started their training back on July 4th, 2024, will participate in Belgium’s contribution to NATO’s Enhanced Forward Presence in Romania as part of a detachment formed on the basis of the Carabiniers Prins Boudewijn-Grenadiers Motorised Infantry Battalion.