Royal Army Service Corps The Royal Army Service Corps ( RASC ) was a corps of the British Army . It was responsible for land , coastal and lake transport ; air despatch ; supply of food , water , fuel , and general domestic stores such as clothing , furniture and stationery ( but not ammunition and military and technical equipment , which were the responsibility of the Royal Army Ordnance Corps ) ; administration of barracks ; the Army Fire Service ; and provision of staff clerk s to headquarters units . History . For centuries army transport was operated by contracted civilians . The first uniformed transport corps in the British Army was the Royal Waggoners , formed in 1794 . It was not a success and was disbanded the following year . In 1799 , the Royal Waggon Corps was formed ; by August 1802 , it had been renamed the Royal Waggon Train . This was reduced to only two troops in 1818 and finally disbanded in 1833 . A transport corps was not formed again until the Crimean War . In 1855 , the Land Transport Corps was formed . This was renamed the Military Train the following year . In 1869 there was a major reorganisation of army supply and transport capabilities . Before 1869 , supply duties had been the responsibility of the Commissariat , a uniformed civilian body . In 1869 the commissaries of the Commissariat and the officers of the Military Train amalgamated into the Control Department . The following year the other ranks of the Military Train were redesignated the Army Service Corps ( ASC ) , officered by the Control Department . In November 1875 , the Control Department was divided into the Commissariat and Transport Department and the Ordnance Store Department ( which developed into the Royal Army Ordnance Corps ) . In January 1880 , the Commissariat and Transport Department was renamed the Commissariat and Transport Staff and the Army Service Corps was renamed the Commissariat and Transport Corps . Finally , in December 1888 , these two bodies amalgamated with the War Department Fleet to form a new Army Service Corps , and for the first time officers and other ranks served in a single unified organisation . The ASC subsequently absorbed some transport elements of the Royal Engineers . In 1918 , the corps received the " Royal " prefix for its service in the First World War and became the Royal Army Service Corps . It was divided into Transport and Supply Branches . Before the Second World War , RASC recruits were required to be at least 5 feet 2 inches tall and could enlist up to 30 years of age ( or 35 for tradesmen in the Transport Branch ) . They initially enlisted for six years with the colours and a further six years with the reserve ( seven years and five years for tradesmen and clerks , three years and nine years for butchers , bakers and supply issuers ) . They trained at Aldershot . Alone among the " Services " ( i . e . rear echelon support corps ) , RASC personnel were considered to be combatant personnel . In 1965 , the RASC was merged with the Transportation and Movement Control Service of the Royal Engineers ( which was responsible for railway transport , inland water transport , port operations , and movements ) to form the Royal Corps of Transport . All its supply functions , along with the staff clerks , were transferred to the Royal Army Ordnance Corps , leaving the new RCT solely responsible for transport and movements . In 1993 , the RCT and RAOC were merged to form the Royal Logistic Corps , the modern descendant of the ASC . Ranks . Officers of the Control Department , Commissariat and Transport Department and Commissariat and Transport Staff held different ranks from the rest of the Army . From February 1885 they were given honorary military ranks , which they held in conjunction with their commissary ranks . Officers of the ASC and RASC held full military rank .