Wiktionary
n. 1 (context military English) That part of an army that is not needed to combat the enemy 2 (context military by extension English) The administrative and supply departments of an army
Usage examples of "rear echelon".
Apparently while his conscious mind was telling him how lucky he was to be alive and still a member of the Regiment, his guts were worried about handling a rear echelon job in which his only background was a three-month rotation in the Academy four years earlier.
It was easy to forget just how nervous rear echelon types got about their health and safety.
He wore a dove-gray rear echelon fatigue uniform that was so clean he must have changed into it after he entered the club.
Of course the general looked great talking to a battlehardened soldier just off the front lines rather than a bunch of rear echelon parade-ground troopers.
Things are still real quiet here, and my outfit is real rear echelon, so we're far away from the fighting, so I wish you two would stop worrying.
Not only did the entire fan nacelles have to be replaced nowa rear echelon job by anybodys standardsbut three of the cursed things had managed to weld their upper brackets to the hull, so the brackets had to be replaced also.
Not only did the entire fan nacelles have to be replaced now-a rear echelon job by anybody's standards-but three of the cursed things had managed to weld their upper brackets to the hull, so the brackets had to be replaced also.
But this being what we called a remf (rear echelon motherfucker) establishment and early in the morning, there was also a strong smell of soap, shaving foam, toothpaste, and aftershave.