Captain Jay Donohue REME receiving his Award from HRH The Princess Royal, with Master Engineer Andrew McNaughton, at the Engineers Trust Awards Dinner on 9 June 2026

Captain Jay Donohue REME

In his first commissioned assignment, Captain Donohue has demonstrated exceptional leadership and engineering excellence during an unprecedented period of high readiness in support of NATO commitments. Employed as the Battalion Technical Officer (BTO), he has also been asked to step up to be the Brigade Electrical Mechanical Engineer (BEME). Captain Donohue has been a shining light in the evolution of the delivery of Equipment Support (ES) in the 1st (United Kingdom) Division. As the BTO during the re-subordination of the REME battalions to the Operational Sustainment Brigade (OSB), he led a team that designed and implemented a new digital tasking mechanism, now adopted across the ES community, streamlining ES processes and providing greater visibility and flexibility to all ES commanders. The need was pressing, with ES structural deficiencies across the Division and various high-profile NATO commitments across Europe looming. The fact that >90% availability of the deployed fleet in Greece and Romania during Exercise Steadfast Dart was maintained while the equipment was held at Very High Readiness for the Allied Reaction Force is testament to his technical leadership.

On assuming the role of BEME in 102 OSB, he was immediately thrown in at the deep-end and tasked to deliver an ES surge across 7 ‘the Desert Rats’ Brigade to increase their readiness. As ever, Donohue grasped the nettle, and planned and executed Exercise Totalise with aplomb, raising readiness with more than 6000 hours of REME trade support, including the integration of the REME Reserve. This directly contributed to a significant increase in readiness (11% uplift across 2588 platforms) over a four-week sprint.

As the lead for the development of the ‘REME of the North’ Centre of Excellence for Vehicle Inspectors, which has subsequently been identified as best practice on the Land Engineering Assurance, he has driven continual improvement and built a fearsome reputation across the region. Furthermore, his commitment to subordinate development has incorporated the preparation of all young officers in 1 Close Support Battalion REME for their Engineering Officer viva, resulting in a 100% pass rate at first attempts, while his detachment to 102 OSB has demonstrated clear commitment to improving engineering standards.

An Incorporated Engineer with the Institute of Mechanical Engineers with an ardent passion for technical projects, Donohue is devoted to advocating STEM subjects to the next generation. This included the running of, in conjunction with the Rotary Club, an engineering competition for A-Level students from local schools. The enthusiasm he imparted directly resulted in various expressions of interest to join the Forces, subsequently resulting in a special award from the Rotary Club to the Battalion. At the forefront of the Battalion’s modernisation agenda, Donohue has orchestrated the approach to drones, led the Brigade’s Health & Usage Monitoring programme and integrated new equipment trials resulting in the Battalion being awarded the Divisional Innovation Award and a Gold Continual Improvement Award from Army Headquarters. His commitment to continuing professional development and endeavours to progress the engineering contribution to warfighting has been second to none.

The Worshipful Company of Engineers, through its charitable arm the Engineers Trust, is honoured to recognise outstanding performance and leadership across all branches of the Armed Forces and their civilian engineering support teams. Awards were presented by HRH The Princess Royal at the Company’s Awards Dinner on 9th June 2026.

The Worshipful Company of Engineers Charitable Trust (the Engineers Trust) promotes the contributions of engineers to benefit society, education and research, and the relief of hardship and poverty.

Award photo courtesy of Mark Witter Photography