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Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps

The Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps (RAAOC) is the Corps within the Australian Army concerned with supply and administration, as well as the demolition and disposal of explosives and salvage of battle-damaged equipment. The Corps contains clerks, operator supplies (including q-store staff, warehouse staff and food technicians), petroleum operators, parachute riggers and ammunition technicians. Members of the Corps are nicknamed Roaches.

Unlike other Corps within the Australian Army, there are no longer any RAAOC specific units, instead RAAOC sub-units sit within mixed units such as Combat Service Support Battalions (CSSBs) or Force Support Battalions (FSBs). RAAOC is also responsible for clerks and quartermaster store staff in all Australian Army Units. The motto of the Royal Australian Army Ordnance Corps is 'sua tela tonanti' (commonly translated to 'to the warrior his arms'), taken from the mother corps, RAOC.

The Corps traces its history back to federation where General Edward Hutton started the Australian Army Ordnance Corps. The Corps gained its Royal prefix for its work during the Second World War.

The RAAOC motto translates from Latin to 'To the warrior his arms, to the thunderer his thunder bolts'. The RAAOC badge is copied from the Board of Ordnance in the United Kingdom.

Members of the ordnance corps will be found serving in most Army units and headquarters. The primary Regular Army units manned by RAAOC soldiers are:

However, many Regular Army RAAOC trades are posted to units of all Regular and Reserve units throughout the Australian Defence Force as clerks, storemen(-persons) and other administrative and support roles.

The Army Reserve element of the Corps used to also consist primarily of Supply Companies, with 4, 5, 8, 11, 13 Supply Company of each Combat Service Support Battalion (CSSB) of the respective numbered brigades in each state. As part of Project FOCUS (Project Director Colonel Allan A Murray), these supply companies have been replaced by Brigade Operations Support Companies (BOSCs) in each Reserve brigade. This implementation has centralised supply support to Army Reserve units, and as such, has been witness to a change of trade for Army Reserve members from warehousing (as in the old reserve Supply Companies) to Q-store streams.

CSSB still exist in the Reserve brigades, the BOSC replaces Admin Company, Supply Company and Catering Company. The BOSC is Controlled by the CO of the CSSB of that brigade. Some positions will be replaced by APS, and other positions will not be replaced once ARA staff are posted out in the future. The old Supply Companies will make a limited return, but the APS civilians will run them as Brigade Operational Support Companies (BOSC). The CSSB will have their own Q store manned by ARes members.

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