SMi’s Military Engineering: Combat Sustainment and Reconstruction conference will examine the changing role of the military engineer and discuss the extent to which the private sector has a role in sustainment and reconstruction. The ongoing nature of operations among ISAF nations in Afghanistan shows that close combat and sustainment necessarily remain at the heart of NATO armed forces’ engineering corps. Nonetheless, recent natural disasters have highlighted the need for a broader range of engineering skills and emphasised the importance of an effective humanitarian engineering response. As such, the conference will explore the recent engineering operations in Haiti with case studies and on the ground perspectives from those engaged in the initial response and the subsequent reconstruction effort.