WINTER1980 -81
 

, , I I
 
UNITED STATES ARMY 

ENGINEER-CENTER 

AND FORT BELVOIR, VA 

COMMANDER/COMMANDANT 

MG Max W.Noah 

DEPUTY COM MANDANT 

COL Robert M. Burike.r 

CHIEF OF .STAFF/D.EPUTY 

INSTALLATlON COMMAN DER 

COL DavldO. Cooksey 

COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR 

CSM Frederick J. Eisenbart 

DIRECTORAres 

DIRECTORATE OF TRAININ G 

COL Stanley R. Johnson 

DIREcToRATE OF TRAINING 

DEVELOPMENTS ... 

COL John W. Devens 

DIRECTORATE OF COMBAT DEVELOPMENTS 

COL Philip R. Hoge . 

DIRECTORATE OF EVALUATION 

MAJ(P) Terrance C. Ryan 

UNITS 

ENGINEER TRAINING BRIGADE 

COL James H. King, Jr. 

ENGINEER CENTER 8RIGADE 

COL Rpbert A. Dey 

EDITOR 

Jerome J. Hill 

ILLUSTRATOR 

Ron Perkins 

PUBLIC AFFAIRS OFFIC ER 

MAJ James E. Kiley 

THE COVER 

Combined arms team members 

must work closely with and use 

engineers to enhance their own 

battlefield mobility, deny enemy 

mobility, and reinforce their survivabili ty. Major General David E. 

Grange, Jr., examines the Importance of teamwork between infantry and engineers in battle 

beginning on page 10. Cover art 

by Ron Perkins. 

nglneer 
E - PD1 nglneer
 

THE MAGAZINE FOR ARMY ENGINEERS 

\lOLUME: 10 WINTER 1980-81 NUMO€R4 

FEATURES 

10 ENGINEERS AND INFANTRY IN BATILE 

by Major General David E. Grange, Jr. 

13 MOLDING AN EFFECTIVE TACTICAL OPERATIONS CENTER 

by Major John W. Braden, Jr. 

18 SOMETHING NEW IN BRIDGING 

by First Lieutenant Dennis E. Linn 

20 THE ENGINEER MUSEUM: ARMY ENGINEERING IN RETROSPECT 

by Mary Vitek 

22 COMBAT ENGINEERS UP FRONT 

by Lieutenant Colonel Gerald C. Brown 

27 ENGINEER PREPARATION OF A POSITION 

by Colonel F. Palaguta 

31 INTEROPERABILITY IS MORE THAN JUST A WORD 

by Major Laurence R. Sadoff 

page 20 

DEPARTMENTS 

2 NEWS & NOTES 35 RESERVE COMPONENTS
 

7 LEITERS 36 OFFICER CAREER TWO
 

8 FORUM 38 ENLISTED CAREER INFO
 

26 ENGINEER PROBLEM 40 THE SCHOOL SOLUTION 

page 13 

page 32 

ENGINEER is an autnortzeo publication of the US Army Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir, VA. Unless specifically staled, material appearing 

herein does not necessarily reflect official policy, thinking, or endorsement by any agency of the US Army. All photographs contained herein are 

official US Army photographs unless otherwise credited. Use of funds for printing this publication was approved by Headquarters, Department of 

the Army, on February 23,1979. Material herein may be reprinted if credit is given to ENGIN EER and the author. • ENGINEER OBJECTIVES are 

to provide a forum lor the exchange of Ideas, to inlorm and motivate. and to promote the professional development of all members of the Army 

engineer fam ily .• DIRECT CORRESPONDENCE with ENGINEER is authorized and encouraged. Inquiries, letters to the editor, manuscripts, 

photographS, and general correspondence should be sent to: Editor, ENGINEER Magazine, US Army Engineer Center, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060, 

Telephone AUTOVON 354·5001 or Commercial 703-664·308215001. If a return of manuscripts or material is desired, a self-addressed stamped 

envelope is required. • SUBSCRIPTIONS to ENGINEER are available through the Superintendent of Documents, US Government Printing Office, 

WaShington , D.C. 20402. A check or money order, payable to Superintendenl of Documents, must accompany all subscription requests. 

Subscription rates are $5.50 lor domestic (including APO and FPO) addresses, and $6.90 for foreign addresses . IndiVidual copies are available at 

$3.25 per copy for domestic addresses and $4.10 for foreign addresses . • CONTROLLED CIRCULATION postage paid at Merrifield, VA. 
__M NEVVS & NarES
 

US BUYS UK BRIDGE ERECTION BOATS 

The United Kingdom Combat Support Boat (UKCSB) current US standard 27-foot bridge erection boat it will 

has been adopted by the US Army for bridge erection eventually replace. It is also 27 feet long, has a top 

operations following 10 months of testing and evalua­ speed of 2S mph, and is unsinkable. Like the US 

tion . Selected on the basis of its compatibility with the model, it can be carried and launched by the ribbon 

US ribbon bridge, the diesel-powered, aluminum craft bridge transporter fitted with a cradle. The UK boat 

is shown here pushing an int erior bay of the ribbon will be delivered to US Army units beginning in 

bridge into position , The UKCSB features a shallow November 1981. 

draft, only 22 inches compared to 41 inches for the 

AWARD AUTHORITY
 

DELEGATED
 

The Department of the Army has 

approved a change concerning the 

award authority for the Good Conduct Medal. Company, battery, and 

troop commanders are now authorized to award the medal to deserving 

soldiers. Formerly, award authority 

was reserved for general officers and 

field grade officers. The recent decision to further delegate award 

authority of the Good Conduct 

Medal places authority at the proper 

level to promptly recognize soldiers 

while maintaining the integrity of 

the award. 

WARRANT OFFICER TERRAIN ANALYSIS COURSE 

A new Warrant Officer Terrain Analysis Course, conducted by the 

Defense Mapping School at Fort Belvoir, VA, will provide the Army with 

its first Terrain Analysis Technicians (841A). WOTAC graduates will 

serve as leaders of newly formed Division Terrain Teams, occupy positions on Corps and Theater Army Terrain teams; and serve in operations 

sections of Topographic Battalions. The IS-week course includes nine 

weeks of terrain analysis instruction, one week of instruction on the 

Analytical Photogrammetric Positioning System (APPS), three weeks of 

weather analysis, and two weeks of cartographic/graphic arts instruction. 

After graduation from WOTAC. new Terrain Analysis Technicians will be 

required to attend a two-week Warrant Officer Orientation Course at 

Fort Rucker, AL. Course prerequisites include the requirement that 

selected NCOs possess one of four MOS: Cartographer (81C), Surveyor 

(820), Meteorologist (93£), or Image Interpreter (960). (WOTAC 1-80 

began on 27 August and concludes 18 Decernber.) 

2 WINTER 1980·81 
continued 

BAGGAGE RATE CHANGES 

The Milit ary Airlift Command (MAC) began last Oc­ passenger fare , Thos e who are authorized excess bagtober to base baggage allowan ces on the number of gage will also pay the I8 -percent rate if the y exceed 

pieces shipped rather th an the weight. Passengers fly­ their limit. The flat rate will be assessed if a bag exing on militar y and MAC contra ct ch ar ter flights can ceed s size or weight limits . Duffl e bags will be accepted 

check two pieces of baggage free. Ea ch piece may not as an aut hori zed single piece regardless of weight or 

exceed 62 linear inch es (Length plu s width plus height) size. Passengers flying on a spa ce-available basis will be 

nor 70 pounds. One piece, not to exceed 4S linear in­ allowed two pieces of checked luggage not to exceed a 

che s, may be hand carried onboa rd . Before, a combined weight of 66 pounds. When pet shipment is 

passen ger was limited to 66 pounds of baggage. auth orized, th e pet is considered excess in all cas es, 

Pa ssengers exceeding the free ba ggage allowance will and a tlat rate will be assessed for each increm ent of 

be cha rged a flat rate of 18 percent of the MAC 70 pounds, regardless of the dimensions, 

ENGINEERS PULL TOGETHER 

Engineer soldiers of 0 Company, 249th Engineer Com ­ 25th Data Processing Unit in Schwetzingen , Germ any . 

bat Battalion (He avy), pull together when th ey're given D Comp an y engineers ar e shown here preparing the 

a construction assignment. One of their most recent concrete foundation for the building. The 249th is 

construction projects was a SSOO-squ are-feet controlled headquartered at Gerszewski Barrack s in Karlsruhe. 

environment steel and mas onr y building to house the (US Army photo by SP4 Frank Lyles) 

ENGINEER 3 
_Fl NEWS & NOI'ES
 

NEW PT PROGRAM 

Army Chief of Staff General E.C. 

Meyer has approved a new PT Program for personnel over 40 years of 

age. It includes an emphasis on cardiorespiratory fitn ess and body composition (reduction of fat); a sixmonth get-in-shape period aft er 

medical clearance; and a diagnostic 

of current fitness levels with 

prescribed intensities for appropriate 

workouts. The new PT test for 

over-40 personnel is "Go/No-Go" 

and presently consists of a two-mile 

run. Substitute tests for those whose 

medical profiles restrict running include swimming, cycling and walking. A by-product of the program 

will be the implementation of new 

procedures in the biennial physical 

examination for those over 40. The 

procedures will include a cornprehensive heart attack risk analysis 

to assist doctors in providing sound 

medi cal advice to individuals and 

commanders. 

RETmEMENT APPLICATION 

RULES CHANGE 

Officers and enlisted soldiers may 

now apply for retirement up to 13 

months before their retirement date. 

Changes to AR 635-100 and AR 

635-200 permit soldiers to apply for 

normal voluntary retirement and 

retirement in lieu of PCS once they 

have completed 18 years and 11 

months of active federal service. 

Those who apply more than six 

months early must request a retirement date no later than the end of 

the month during which they attain 

20 years of service. 

Soldiers requ esting retirement to 

avoid a PCS have 30 days from the 

time the y are notified to apply for 

retirement. Enlisted soldiers are 

notitied in writing . Officers may 

receive written or oral notification. 

4
 

SECURITY FENCE GOES UP 

Three line companies and a headquarters contingent of the 299th 

Engin eer Combat Battalion (Corps), stationed at Fort Sill, OK. provided 

the expertise and muscle to construct more than four miles of security 

fence at Fort Chaffee, AR, during late August and early Sept ember. A 

total of 185 soldiers worked in two 12-hour shifts around the clock for 22 

days to complete the project in 30 percent less time than officially allotted 

for such projects. Fort Chaffee is now the primary relocation center for 

Cuban refugees in the US. 

WINTER 1980·81
 
continued 

BRANCH TRAINING TEAMS 

Branch Training Teams (BTT ) have been activated by needs of the unit. A test of the program ending last 

TRADOC to work as the primary interface between summer had IS service schools, in cooperation with 

un its and Branch Schools. As part of the BTT pro­ HQ FORSOM, visit mor e than 170 units. The feedgram , each school will visit representative proponent back rep orts were unarninous in their assessment that 

units to: inform the unit of current Branch School pro­ the program helped the tr aining environment within 

ducts, processes, and concepts; assist the unit in apply­ the unit , as well as focusing attention on school proing school products toward their training program, in ducts and processes that may need changing . Schools 

conju notion with the Battalion Training Man agement will be conducting an exp anded program during FY 81 

System; and collect training and combat development with visits scheduled for Eighth Army, USAREUR, 

data that will enable the schools to better serve the Reserve Component units and FORSCOM. 

NEW STORAGE FOR POMCUS 

Soldiers assigned to the 249th Engineer Combat Bat ­ Army Troop Support and Aviation Material-Readiness 

talion (Heavy), 18th Engineer Brigade , Karlsruhe, Ger­ Command, ar e among the largest prefabricated strucmany, prep are to work on the interior of a new storage tures ever erected by a tr oop unit. Each of the huge 

structure. Last Mar ch , these soldiers began the mission buildings is comprised of more than 22 tons of steel 

of constructing 26 Stress Tension Structures to provide and 30,000 square feet of nylon fabric covering and is 

storage sp ace for POMCUS (Propositioned Materiel capable of providing more than 20,000 square feet of 

Configured to Un it Sets) military equipment in storage space. (Photo by PFC Carl H. Foschi) 

Northern Germany. The buildings, procured by the US 

ENGINEER 5 
M NEWS &: NOI'ES
 

SQUAD ASSAULT COURSE 

Soldiers of the 17th Engineer Batta lion, 2n d Armored Division, cross 

Fort Hood's Cowhouse Creek in rafts 

on the first leg of the batt alion's new 

combat enginee r assa ult course . 

Designed to provide realistic training 

in offensive tactics, the cours e requires ma ny of th e same tasks that 

engineers are req uire d to perfo rm in 

a combat environment. Along the 

way, they must fire th eir individual 

and crew-served weap ons, fire 

ba nga lore torp edoes, use smoke for 

concea lment, an d demolish a bu nk er 

with explosives. (US Arm y ph oto by 

Jack Rau dy) 

NEW WATER DISTRIBUTOR 

Comb at heav y battali ons and construction support system will be used to supply wate r for soil compaction 

equipment companies will soon receive the 6000 ga llon and du st control, and to provide a limited ti re-figh ting 

semitrail er moun ted water distributor system recently capability. A liqu id-cooled Perk ins diesel engi ne 

type classified as a st anda rd item of Army equipment. mounted at th e rear of the distri butor directly drives its 

Th e semitrailer mounted system will replace the tru ck­ 600 ga llon-per-mi nute cent rifugal pump. The spray 

moun ted water distributor system pre sentl y in th e system is mad e up of two nozzles that can pr odu ce a 

Army inven tory and provides a six-fold increase in fan type spray patt ern covering a swath up to 70 feet 

water capacity. Thi s increased water capacity will pro­ wide . The semitrailer mounted distr ibu tor is towed by 

vide the Army with a maximum compaction capability. a standard milit ary truck tractor. A remote cont rol 

The distributor will be empl oyed worldwide with th e in­ pa nel is used to opera te the system from th e tractor's 

itial fielding du e to be compl eted by April 1981. The cab . 

6 WINTER 1980-81 
MLETTERS
 

Dear Sir: 

I am disappointed that "Tactically 

Qualified , Technically Proficient" was 

published in the Spring 1980 issue 

witho ut editorial comment. 

Th e first pa rt of the article is basically a summary of current engineer ta ctical doctrine. Although nothing new is 

pre sent ed , at least the sum mary is accura te . However, it is when the aut hor 

sta rts disc ussi ng command an d support 

relationship s that I believe he fails to 

keep readin g the very sam e manu als he 

was so ap tly summarizing . 

I qu est ion his sweeping conclusion 

that more efficient and ti mely engineer 

support ca n be provided maneuver 

comma nde rs via a comm and relationship of attachment. In add ition, his 

figur e illustratin g the length y tas king 

cha nnels for a corps engineer battalion 

DS to a division is wrong. In developing 

his ar gument , CPT Robe rtson forgets 

both the role of the division engineer as 

well as th e definition of direct support. 

To allow us all to have the same 

fram e of reference, I would like to use 

a few extracts fro m FM 5-100, 30 

Mar ch 1979. 

a. p 2-9: " Whatever comman d relation ship may be established between 

corps engineers and the division , three 

cardinal principles apply for engineers 

operating within the division area of 

operations: 

(I) Th e thrust of engineer effort is 

forward , with the corps engineer 

elemen ts habitually workin g as far forward as the brigade are as. 

(2) The concept of nor mal association is followed in that the same 

engineer units, as a matt er of normal 

procedure, oper ate with the same 

ma neu ver element. 

(3) All engineers operat ing within 

the division area of oper ation s are coordin ated or directed by the division 

eng ineer as the single engineer point of 

contact for th e division comma nder. 

Within the brig ad e areas, the norm ally 

associated divisional enginee r compa ny 

commanders (brigade engineers) normall y perform this coordinating or 

dire cting function for the division 

engin eer and act as the single point of 

contac t for b rigade commanders.. .. " 

b. Likewise, under the Command 

and Cont rol section, p 4-28: "T he division eng ineer: 

ENGINEER 

(I) Commands the division 

engineer battalion. 

(2) Coordinates or directs the tot al 

engineer effort in the division area includ ing th e effort of engineers from 

corps." 

c.	 p N-3: Direct Sup port. 

" Direct support is defined in JCS 

Pub 1 as follows: 

A mission requiring a force to 

support an oth er specific force 

and authorizi ng it to answer 

directly the supporte d force's request for assistance . 

An engin eer unit placed in 

direct support provides liaison 

with the support ed unit commander on eng ineer matters, an d 

ta kes support requ ests dire ctly 

from the supporte d unit. In case 

of engineers operating in a division are a , the division engineer 

and the brigade engineer are th e 

single engineer points of contact 

for th e supported ma neuver commander. 

Corps engineer units operating 

in a direct support role in a division a rea estab lish liaison with, 

advise, and take supp ort requests 

dir ectly from the engineer single 

point of contact in whose a rea 

th ey are operating. Command 

responsibility is ret ained with the 

pa rent engineer unit unless th e 

direct support engineer unit has 

been attached to the supported 

un it for certain logistic functi ons, 

e.g. , rations and POL." 

Op erating within the fra mework, 

corps engineers comin g to the division 

with a comma nd relationsh ip of DS, 

OPCON, or att achm ent can have their 

assets shifted by the division engine er. 

Only requests for additiona l personnel 

or equipment not origin ally support ing 

the division must be relayed to the 

pa ren t engineer headquarters (grou p or 

brigade) . Reallocation , rea djustment, 

and reinforcement of engineer effort is 

best requested through engineer channels for speed as well as qu antification 

of the need. If the brigade engineer 

cannot satisfy the request with his 

assets (divisional as well as nond ivisional) he forwards the request for the 

division engin eer. Comman d channels 

requ ests are not required by doctrine, 

nor are they norm ally used in the real 

world . If requ ests do come th rough 

command channels, from a maneuver 

unit with a DS engineer, this is an indicator that some supporting engineer 

hasn't been doing his job! 

Let's not forget tha t when engineers 

ar e att ached to a man euver force, th e 

ability of the engineer one level h igher 

to reallocate assets is severely restricted. 

Now requ ests must, in fact , go through 

command cha nnels. For example, if all 

engineers supporting three committed 

brigades were attached, a simple actio n 

such as moving a dozer from th e 2nd to 

th e 1st Brigade would have to be accomplished via a G3 tasking. Th is lack 

of flexibility is exactly what the current 

engineer system is designed to avoid . 

Logistical support for widely dispe rsed DS engineer unit s is a problem ; 

however, attachment is not a cure-all. 

Tank and infan try un its cannot completely support our equipment. Some 

parent unit support always has to be 

pr ovided. However, we need not 

despair, as most unit s face d with this 

support problem have been able to 

develop workable solutions. As an example, the 1st Armored Division FSOP 

specifies that DS engineers receive Class 

I, Class III, common parts of Class IX, 

and maintenance and recovery support 

from the support ed man euver unit. Unfortuna tely, peacetim e logistics restri ctions prevent this sup port from being as 

complete to corps engineers as it is to 

the divisional battalion , but progress is 

being made in this direction. This is the 

way we train, and th is is the way we 

plan to fight. 

In summary, FM 5-100 gives combat 

engineers and maneuver commanders a 

tested , workabl e method of utilizing 

engineer support in order to effectively 

multiply combat power. Some situations 

dictate that engin eers should be attached to maneuver un its. However, DS is 

norm ally pre ferr ed since readjustm ent 

of engineer effort is qui cker and 

simpler. Logistics probl ems inherent in 

DS can be and are being overcome in 

the field. Th e publication of FM S-100 

has been long overd ue, However now 

that it is in prin t, we should all read 

and understand it before proposing 

changes. 

Joseph P. Kish 

LTC , CE 

16th Engineer Batt alion 

7 
FORUM
 

Compulators
 

An argument for the acceptance and use of calculators 

by Army engineers 

by Captain Trent Keeble 

The time is near for the merging of two 

different technological fields-computers 

and calculators. We think of calculators as very 

portable, and sometimes very versatile adding 

machines, but not much more. We perceive computers, on the other hand, as a massive array of 

wires and diodes that solve some of the world's 

most difficult and complicated problems . We 

have kept the two separate in our minds primarily because of the vast differ ences in capabilities. 

Slowly but surely the technology to mature a 

calculator into a computer is evolving and the 

differences wane . What will happen when we 

finally have a calculator that is as versatile as a 

computer was just a few years ago? 

When calculators first appeared on the open 

market they were very simple and expensive. But 

gone are the days when a simple four-function 

calculator sold for S135. Today, the same 

capabilities are packaged in a calculator that is 

credit card thin and retails for under $30. Such 

prices have allowed calculators to become a common household or school item . 

Everyone is affected by them to some degree, 

good or bad. They are quick and reasonably 

reliable. They also lessen the element of human 

error. Such reliability and accuracy, however, 

lulls us to the point of forgetting principles 

underlying basic mathematics (and even higher 

levels with some of tcday's advanced scientific or 

business calculators). 

We can either view calculators as a tool or as a 

crutch. As a tool it has a valuable place in the 

scientific and business communities. It can be used to manipulate data and/or variables to arrive 

at different solutions. This ability provides a 

basis upon which to make decisions. The more 

reliable the data , the more confidence in making 

a decision. Calculators can provide the confidence . 

But what of computers? When computers 

began to find their way into the everyday 

8 WINTER 1980·81 
business and scientific worlds, people were awed 

by their power. Some people misconstrued them 

to be the answer to too many of the world's problems. But the passage of time has radically 

changed this viewpoint . We now consider computers as a necessity. Our original fears of the 

computer contrast sharply with our present ideas 

of calculators. We sell short the calculator and 

its future. We thought too much of computers 

then. and think too little of calculators now. We 

should have learned from the computer experience to respect calculators as tools (and 

limited ones at that) with practical uses now and 

a great potential for the future. We should not 

overreact. 

Eventually, the calculator will be able to perform many complex and difficult mathematic 

manipulations (something similar to a minicomputer). Then we will be faced with an even 

greater challenge. We must become even more 

receptive to the use of computers. We nave 

already felt the immense impact of computers in 

our society-bank statements, bills , moon landings, magazine subscriptions, check-out systems 

in stores, television, and telephone systems. The 

impact will be even greater when calculators with 

comparable abilities to computers are developed 

and marketed to the public. 

We will be forced to change our views of 

calculators. They will not fit our current concept 

of calculators. They will be computers that fit into the palm of one's hands. We must be willing 

to grow with the changes and mold those changes 

to our benefit. 

With all this in mind. how should we view 

calculators in today's Army, and specifically in 

the engineering fields? We can view them as fancy adding machines. However, I would prefer to 

see calculators designed to ease management, 

designing, and administrative burdens. I foresee 

calculators being readily adapted to: calculating 

logistical requirements; classifying roads and 

bridges; designing roads and airfields; CPM; 

pipeline design ; bridge design; ADM; NBC; 2715 

and 2406 reports, just to name a few adaptations. 

What prevents the use of calculators by today's 

Army engineers? A lack of interest, funds, fear, 

or is it a lack of foresight? 

At present, the Field Artillery has incorporated 

programmable calculators into the FADAC, but 

calculators do not and cannot replace the 

FADAC. Rather, they support its mission by 

solving gunnery problems and providing backup. 

West Point is seriously looking into the possibility 

of issuing programmable calculators to cadets. 

Army engineers, on the other hand, use programmable calculators in only a few areas. 

Topographic units and surveying teams use them. 

Some programs arc developed for ADM, but not 

enough. The Construction Engineering Research 

Laboratory is now conducting research concerning areas of application. But even after applicable areas are identified, how are calculators 

going to be introduced into the field and who 

should use them? The US Army Engineer School 

has not taken steps to include calculators into the 

Officer Basic or Advanced Courses. So how will a 

knowledge transfer occur? 

Calculators possess a great potential for current application and an even greater potential for 

the future. With the advent of "bubble chip" 

technology and other breakthroughs, calculators 

will certainly evolve into small computers. These 

new calculators will most likely have many 

peripherals as options similar to the options on a 

car. Just like computers, calculators will be able 

to interface across telephone lines, use cathoderay tube displays, have X-Y plotters, be capable 

of expendable memory, and become a portable 

timeshare terminal. That is a phenomenal 

amount of power. It is a power that we can use 

to our benefit, not detriment. Engineers on the 

battlefield will be able to derive quicker, more 

accurate estimates upon which to base decisions. 

There is little doubt that time will be at a 

premium during the next major battle. 

So what should we do about it? We should be 

willing to change our concept of calculators as 

technology continues to progress. We should 

search for realistic engineer areas of application 

and use the calculator to our benefit. Now! This 

resource is barely tapped in the military engineering field, yet deserves serious consideration by 

anyone heading toward a battlefield. The use of 

calculators on the battlefield is something we 

must support as a collective whole. The potential 

of calculators lies in mass usage, not in selective 

usage. In order to win the next battle we need all 

the weapons available to us, and one of those 

weapons is knowledge. Calculators can add to 

our knowledge. 

III 

Captain Trent Keeble is currently assigned as an ADPS 

and CPM instructor with the Engineer Management 

Branch, Department of Military Engineering. US Army 

Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, VA. 

ENGINEER 9 
~rmWt1lli~~1f~
 

@1lliQ} 

n1lli~@1lli1c1fW
 

ll1lli IP1@1c1cll~
 b y M ajor General David E. Grange, Jr. 

EDITOR'S NOTE: Th e following 

article was published initially under 

the h eading , " Com m an d an t's 

Notes, " in the September-Octob er 

I980 issue of INFANTRY magazine . 

It represents a k een awareness of 

engineer cap ability on the battlefield 

by oth er members of the com bined 

arms team. 

10
 

T he 1973 Arab-Israeli War 

emphasized the importan ce of 

combined a rms operatio ns and force 

mobility in mod ern warfare. This article is designed to focus on two 

cleme nts of the combined arms 

teams that are critical to operations 

and force mob ility-the infantry and 

the engineers. Infan try contribu tions 

as part of the combined arms teams 

during the 1973 War were magnified 

by the efforts of the engineers who 

constru cted art ificial hills , assault 

bridging platforms, ant ita nk ditches , min efields, and combat fortifi cations, and thos e who also did 

occasional duty as infantrymen when 

they were needed "up front" with the 

assault forces. 

In the event of war in Europe , 

United Stat es forces will most likely 

be in a defensive posture during th e 

init ial outbreak of hostilities. Earl y 

warning, time, and enemy tactics 

will determine whether th ey figh t 

from hasty or prepared positions; it 

will probably be from both . Our 

commanders mu st org anize th eir 

reso ur ces an d take the fullest advantage of the key terrain in their areas. 

Th ey must car eful1y employ their 

weapons and man euver their forces 

to bring th e full effectiveness of their 

weapons to bear on the enemy. They 

must also see to it that their un its do 

everything possible to survive th e effects of the enemy's weap ons. 

Covering forces have two missions: 

to destroy th e enemy while caus ing 

him to deploy early and exp end his 

breaching and bridging cap ability, 

and to gain time for defensive 

preparat ions in the main battle area . 

ln th e main battle area the enemy 

mu st be canalized and held in the 

firing corridors an d kill zones of our 

weapon systems. Both the covering 

an d MBA forces need to disru pt and 

slow enemy formations, separating 

the enemy infantry from their tan ks 

and destroying th eir a r mo re d 

vehicles, 

To accomplish this task, combined arms team members must work 

closely with and lise the engineers to 

enha nce their battlefield mobility, 

deny the ene my mobil ity and, 

throughout the ba ttle, rein for ce their 

survivability th rough a combinati on 

of terrain , weap ons , and obsta cles. 

WINTER 1980·81 
We should use natural obstacles, 

reinforced with mines and manmade 

obstacles, to deny the enemy cover 

and concealment by canalizing him 

into selected areas where we can best 

use our weapons to destroy him or to 

force him to abandon his offensive. 

Whenever possible, positions must 

be established for our antitank 

systems to take advantage of their 

full range potential and to provide 

opportunities for flanking fire. The 

engineers can help immeasurably in 

these tasks. 

But, to fully use our limited 

engineer resources (there will never 

be enough) , commanders must 

establish a priority of work that is 

derived from th eir perception of how 

the battle is to be fought. On the 

basis of the commander's visualization of the battlefield, the engineers 

can prepare obstacles to support 

weapon systems and killing zones in 

the order in which they will be required to increase the lethality of our 

weapons. 

To establish a priority of tasks 

for engineer support, a commander starts with the antitank 

weapons, which are the initial 

building blocks for the defense , and 

then determines the positions for 

other crew-served weapons. tanks, 

armored personnel carriers, command posts, individual fighting positions, and communications trenches, 

The best way to dig in vehicles and 

weapons is to use engineer 

bulldozers, combat engineer 

vehicles, and front loaders. Engineer 

backhoes are also useful in preparing crew-served weapon positions, 

individual fighting positions, and 

communications trenches. Engineer 

chain saws ar e useful to cut log 

beams for overhead cover, to create 

small obstacles, and to clear fields of 

tire. Camouflage nets, enhanced by 

natural foliage, when combined with 

good light and noise discipline , will 

improve the security and effectiveness of battle positions. 

Engineer efforts before a defensive 

battle are usually divided between 

battle position development and the 

emplacement of obstacles. During 

the battle, engineers will be tasked to 

ENGINEER 

command-detonate mines, to close 

lanes in obstacles, and, if need be , to 

reinforce the defense by becoming 

infantrymen. 

During a movement to contact, 

the engineers must be up front with 

the infantry and armor, clearing the 

way by removing roadblocks, downed trees, and rubble, breaching 

minefields, making quick bypasses 

around obstacles, and crossing ditches with assault bridging. Frequently, combat engineers will accompany infantry patrols to determine the location and dimensions of 

threat obstacles. 

Since a modern army requires a 

constant resupply of items to maintain the momentum of an attack, 

engineers will also be tasked to 

create or repair the supply routes for 

reinforcements, supplies , and 

vehicles within the battle area. 

Combat in cities demands an even 

closer relationship between the infantry and the combat engineers. 

During military operations in urban 

terrain, engineers with infantry support will remove bothersome 

obstacles along the route to the builtup area. Within the built-up area, 

engineers will be tasked to breach 

walls, remove boobytraps and antipersonnel mines, mark gaps and 

routes, clear rubble, and maintain 

passages for combat vehicles. The 

demolition gun on the combat 

engineer vehicle (CEV) is excellent 

for many of these tasks. 

Defense in a built-up area 

presents a new set of chores for combined arms teams. Obstacles must 

be planned in depth and must include rubble, minefields, and 

roadblocks. Cratering for 

roadblocks can be accomplished by 

filling existing sewer lines with explosives to form hasty craters. The 

CEV demolition gun can create rubble from buildings to impede enemy 

ground and mounted attacks. Infantrymen and engineers can work 

together to construct battle positions 

at key points such as corner 

buildings or to dig communication 

trenches between critical battle positions. 

When augmented with additional 

equipment from their battalion , 

combat engineers can construct fortifications and emplacements for the 

defense. A combat engineer battalion can also provide an armored 

vehicle launched bridge (A VLB) or 

improve emplaced bridges in support of combined arms operations. 

Engineer bridge support provides 

the extra combat mobility for 

counterattacking forces to position 

themselves at the right places to 

destroy the enemy. 

When performing assaults on 

enemy positions, engineers 

are located with the lead elements of 

the attacking platoons. Infantrymen 

and engineers, using natural cover 

and concealment aided by smoke 

and indirect fire, work together to 

breach obstacles by clearing antipersonnel mine s and barbed wire entanglements, marking lanes, providing local security, and neutralizing enemy weapon emplacements, 

bunkers and pillboxes. To complete 

the breach, engineers follow up with 

minefield dearing devices or combat 

engineer vehicles (CEV) and 

bulldozers to complete the penetration and destruction of fortifications 

and to help combat vehicles get 

through the defensive belts. To overwatch the assaulting and breaching 

forces, a support force is normally 

established consisting of tanks, 

continued 

11 
IFVs, TOWs, and , of course, Indirect fire weapons. 

Working with engineers, individual infantrymen can assist in 

breaching rninefields to provide additional Ianes for follow-on forces. If 

mine detectors and other mechanical 

means of neutralizing mineftelds are 

not available, the men can breach 

them by probing an area for a footpath and marking mines. The marked mines are then destroyed in place 

and cleared lanes are marked to provide safe corridors. 

Maneuver units should take as 

much interest in training with 

engineer support units as they do 

with the other members of the combined arms team. Carefully planned 

and realistically executed combat 

tasks such as breaching and constructing obstacles and conducting 

river crossings, should be integrated 

into ARTEPs, FTXs , and other 

training exercises . At the same time, 

engineer units would gain more 

kn owledge of infantry missions . Infantry units should also be capable 

of employing expedient obstacles 

when engineer support is not readily 

available. Road craters, log hurdles, 

and log post roadblocks are typical 

anti armor obstacles and have good 

potential. The most interesting 

traimng for the infantry and the 

engineers is the small squad- or 

platoon-sized drills that bring them 

together on day or night patrols to 

locate and reduce obstacles. 

Last , but certainly not least, the 

engineers must know how to fight as 

infantrymen . Many a desperate fight 

by a U.S. task force has been won by 

the timely appearance of combat 

engin eers as a reinforcing infantry 

force. Commanders should provide 

opportunities for engineers to serve 

in infantry roles on every field exercise. It is vital that this skill be kept 

alive and well. 

The goal should be to increase 

cooperative training among all the 

combined arms team members and 

to achieve realistic training that is 

aimed at a high level of combat proficiency. It should not be just to 

maintain the capabilities of our 

respective branches. Now is the time 

to practice and sharpen the ability of 

our infantrymen to operate with the 

combat engineers on any future battlefield and win. ... 

Major General David E. Grang e. Jr., is 

th e Commandant/Commander of th e US 

Army Infantry School/Center at Fort 

Benn ing, GA . 

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The Professional Journal 

of Army Engineers 

12 WINTER 1980-81 
Molding an Effective Tactical
 

Operations Center
 

by Major John W. Braden, Jr. 

Tactical Operations Center (TOC) operations can make 

or break a battalion. Effective command and control is 

especially important for engineers, who will often operate 

throughout a division area of responsibility, attempting to 

meet requirements greatly in excess of available assets. 

continued 

ENGINEER 13 
One of the first steps in setting up an effective TOC is 

to determine who will be available to staff the operation. 

For this , reality prevails over the MTOE. Assuming 

12-hour shifts within the TOC, a typical $-2/5-3 

organization is shown in Figure 1. 

Naturally, shifts will be staggered, and a good way to 

illustrate this is by using a Duty Wheel (Figure 2). Essentially, this is a 24-hour clock which depicts duty times for 

each position. 

The S2 Recon Sergeants are not shifted. Experience 

has proved that they are best utilized on an on-call basis . 

The 52 radio and journal are maintained by one of the S2 

drivers not out on a reconnaissance mission. 

The 12-hour shifts of the 53, Assistant S3, Operations 

Sergeant, and Assistant Operations Sergeant will always 

be followed by a 6-hour tour on the road. This means 

that a key representative from the S3 shop will always be 

out to observe what is (or is not) happening. After 12 

hours in the TOC , this person should have an excellent 

appreciation of the situation and will be able to provide 

valuable insights on operations. The 6-hour road tour, 

after debriefing TOC personnel and the next road tour 

individual, is followed by a minimum of five hours rest. 

With this, operations can be sustained almost indefinitely without the "crash" that comes after about 36 hours as 

TOe personnel become uniformly exhausted. 

S3 radio operators, clerks, and drivers also have an additional duty . Two hours prior to, and two hours after, 

the ir TOC shift are dedicated to TOC guard duty. Conceivably then, these individuals have eight hours per day 

off-duty. Considering that their "free" time will be used 

TYPICAL 5·2/5·3 SHIFT PAIRINGS IN TOC 

FIRST SHIFT SECOND SHIFT 

S-3 officer Assistant S·3* 

S-2 sergeant S-2 officer 

Assistant Opns sergeant Operations sergeant 

Chemical NCO Construction NCO* " 

Draftsman." ** Construction specialist"*" 

S-3 clerk S-3 clerk 

S-3 driver S-3 driver 

NOT ON SHIFT 

Reconnaissance sergeants (3) 

S-2 drivers & clerks (3) 

" Battalion NBC officer 

** Train ed for NBC duties 

** * Serves as radio operator 

FIGURE 1 

for eating, sleeping , assisting in moving the Toe and 

other unplanned housekeeping or operational tasks, this 

is reasonable. 

The Chemical NCO and his count erpart for NBC 

duties , the Construction NCO, are on 12-hour shifts. 

During their time in th e TOC, they back up the operations personnel and perform special projects as required . 

When not on TOe duty , they have responsibility for insuring that general housekeeping and maintenance tasks 

2400 

FIGURE 2 

1800 0600 

1200 

14 WINTER 1980·81 
are performed (often by using clerks, drivers, or radio 

operators shortly before or shortly after they pull TOC 

guard). Examples include vehicle and generator 

maintenance, refueling, and improving positions and 

camouflage. 

During displacements of the TOC, the off-duty NBC 

NCO has the responsibility of supervising off-duty 52 

and 53 personnel to take down and put up the TOC and 

its ancillary equipment and material. Also, during NBC 

attacks, the off-duty NBC NCO will travel, if at all possible, to the site of the attack, or incident, and provide 

NBC defense and decontamination advice to the commander. 

In summary, there are four advantages of a Duty 

Wheel. First , it provides a formal system for insuring the 

capability for sustained operations, as opposed to a 

peaking of efficiency between six and 12 hours followed 

by steadily declining effectiveness as TOC members 

"poop out." Second, the system establishes performance 

norms for everyone. It can be seen that there is an 

equitable distribution of work and responsibility. No one 

will feel that he must "gut it out" nor will anyone "get 

over." Third, 53 personnel will be on the road 24 hours 

per day to insure that missions are being accomplished as 

visualized and to provide face-to-face contact with units 

to exchange information and report items of interest 

directly back to the TOC. And,fourth, there is a capacity to provide responsive, on-site assistance directly to 

units under NBC attack, in order to maintain or regain 

their combat effectiveness. 

Once responsibilities have been delegated, the equipment and supplies required for TOC operations must be 

identified and preloaded. Naturally, there must be a 

balance between carrying those items needed for normal 

contingencies versus overloading the TOC with nice-tohave junk which contributes little and acts like 

deadweight when it come to moving the operation . 

Figure 3 gives a "basic load" of administrative supplies and equipment. It is recommended that CTAauthorized electric typewriters be obtained for garrison 

use so that manual typewriters may be permanently 

stored in the TOC vehicle. 

Training of TOC personnel can be categorized as 

equipment training and operational training. The former 

refers to the labor required to set up, maintain, and 

break down the TOC plus the training to insure that all 

TOC personnel can operate the equipment (radios, 

CEOI , vehicles, radiacmeters, generators, Coleman 

lanterns) essential to the job . 

Operational training should begin with Command 

Post Exercises (CPX). A good battalion level CPX 

can be set up as illustrated by Figure 4. 

In this configuration, a Control is set up which plays 

both higher headquarters and other units outside the 

battalion, and also plays each of the platoons and squads 

in the battalion. The battalion XO can serve as Chief 

Controller. Other battalion officers such as the S1 and 

the Maintenance Officer, plus off-duty TOC personnel, 

can staff the Control Headquarters. 

ENGINEER 

COLEMAN LANTERN PARTS 

Spare mantels 

Spare burner and generator assemblies 

TOILET PAPER 

SPARE LIGHT BULBS 

OFFICE SUPPLIES 

Stapler with extra staples 

Carbon paper 

Manifold paper 

Paper clips, thu mb tacks, map tacks , 

Correction fluid for typing paper and for mlmeograph mats 

Typewriter ribbon and correction tape 

Grease pencils, ink pens, telt tips, pencils 

Alcohol·base (preferred) or water·base pens 

Overlay paper 

Acetate 

MAPS 

1:50,000 map boards 

1:50,000 road and bridge maps 

1:50,000 trafficabil ity maps . 

1:250,000 maps 

TRASH BAGS 

PAPER PLATES AND CUPS, PLASTIC DINNERWARE ' 

COFFEE, SUGAR, AND CREAM 

FUEL AND WATER CANS 

SPARE PRC-n, BA·30, and AM REMOTE BATTERIES 

FLASHLIGHTS 

SPARE AM AND FM MICROPHONES 

MASKING, CELLOPHANE, ENGINEER (WHITE), AND 

GENERAL PURPOSE TAPE 

ROPE AND STRING 

A TOOL SET: WRENCHES, PLIERS, SCREWDRIVERS, 

HAMMER , NAILS 

BLAN K FORMS 

DO 173 Message pads 

DA 1594 DA 2496 

DA 1355 A slice of maintenance torms 

oA 1355·1 Spot repor t forms 

Range cards 

Recon forms: DA 1248, 1249, 1250, 1251 

· WD·1 WIRE 

FIGURE 3 

Figure 4 depicts a closed system. Controllers, acting as 

higher headquarters, can call a mission into the battalion 

and expect to respond, as a platoon, to that same mission 

once it has been analyzed and assigned down from both 

battalion and company levels. A CPX set up as shown 

should be run first at a garrison local using land lines for 

communication. Subsequent exercises can be run strictly 

by radio. 

Operational training must include message handling 

techniques. An incoming message will normally be 

received by the radio operator, who will use a DD Form 

173 to record the message. Appropriate headquarters 

will be selected for action. Once the message is no longer 

required, it is returned to the operations clerk where it is 

filed, in order, in an envelope attached to the back of the 

log. There will be a strong tendency for the operators to 

pull messages out of the normal flow. While this may be 

required for certain critical traffic, this is often not the 

case . Since such practice will often result in lost paperwork, all personnel should be cautioned in this regard. 

continued 

15 
--Battalion TOC--------­

~-------CompanyCP---I 

CONTROL t----------Company Cp----1

Higher HQ 

Platoons----II---------Company CP---I 

t----------Company CP --~

----------Company CP ---I 

FIGURE 4 

The radio operator and the operations clerk will often 

have to exert a great deal of personal influence to keep 

the journal straight and messages accounted for. 

Since the mech anical effort of drafting or receiving 

and logging a message is time consuming, it would be 

wise to overprint a DD Form 173 to meet your need s. 

While on the subject of messages, it is a good idea to 

have a message book readily available to your radio 

operators and clerk s. Normally, this is a 3-ring binder 

well stocked with appropriate message forms and equally 

well tabbed. The price for not having this or a similar 

system is that incoming messages get written on scrap 

paper, C-ration boxes, the walls, or anything else handy. 

TC 101-5, Control and Coordination of Division 

Operations , states that "staff sections maint ain th e 

minimum number of information displays required to 

keep ...informed of frequently needed , essential information." At battalion level, besides a situation map maintained by the operations element and the intelligence 

overlay maintained by the 52 personnel, few other infor ­

mational displays are needed. Since the contingent of 

"operations" is small, most extraneous information such 

as mission -oriented protective posture, weather data, effective downwind message , radiation exposure summaries, personnel and equipment status, and similar information can be maintained on letter size paper in 

document protectors within a specially designated book. 

CEOI callsigns and suffixes are often placed on a chart 

to aid personnel shifting in and out of the TOe. About 

the only other informational display which is required is 

a mission chart. 

The mission chart should be an exact blowup of an 

SOP form which is the Mission Status Report. The form 

is designed to be included in th e Obstacle Annex of a 

War Plan, though th e form is used for more than 

obstacles, for operating without FM SECURE equipment, and for use in an EW environment wher e 

transmission time must be minimized. 

Besides listing preplanned missions in an orderly format, the Missi on Status Report should be used to assign , 

in advance, mission numbers to tasks not assigned by th e 

war plan, but highly likel y according to th e MTOE 

capabilities of the unit and the commander's best guess 

as to possible contingencies. These missions can be 

forecast using the ARTEP as a guide plus a little crystal 

ball action on the terrain . Th ere is no need to be highly 

specific in these possible mission assignments since the 

primary purpose is to provide immediate advance warning to subordinate units so that the y may begin appropriate actions while awaiting more definitive instructions. 

It should be noted that the reporting requirements for 

the Mission Sta tus Report ca n and should be modified 

for local use. Specifically, there may be neither a need 

nor a requirement to use all of the columns. This can 

easily be taken care of by annotating the form . Likewise, 

not all reports need be transmitted by radio. Data as to 

the status of non- critical missions can and should be sent 

by couri er. 

Once your shifts and opera ting procedures have been 

set up and exercised in garrison, you are ready to hit the 

woods . Begin with an alert and run th e CPX discussed 

earlier from a field location . Note that we're still exercising battalion and company "operators" without wasting 

the time of our troops. 

Natually, if you are going to start with an alert, the 

first hurdle, other than an effective notification system 

for all S2 and S3 pesonnel, is to get the TOC operational 

and up on the net. 

Thi s is going to take a little forethought and planning, 

but shouldn't be too difficult. First , you might think 

about where your TOC vehicles ar e normally parked in 

garrison. Ask yourself if they are in the most advan ­

tageous position for immediate operat ion. For example. 

inst ead of the S2 vehicle and S3 vehicle being parked "on 

line" with th e rest of the HHC fleet , maybe they should 

be routinely b acked up to each other in a secure ar ea 

near battalion headquarters. 

Next, put yourself in the position of SP4 Jones, your 

faithful clerk or radio operator who happens to live in th e 

16 WINTER 1980-81 
barracks and is probably in best shape to quickly set the 

TOC in motion. There are a few problems. however. 

Jones needs his mask and weapon. so he stands in line 

with everyone else waiting for the NBC NCO and the armorer to open up their areas for issue of equipment. 

Once these have been taken care of, there is the TA SO to 

be carried out and the vehicle must be dispatched-so 

there's mor e time standing in line. In the meantime. the 

Battalion Commander, 52. S3, Company Commanders, 

and a whole lot of other essential people are having a tit 

because the organization is going without command or 

control. 

How about this instead? At the first word of an 

alert, Jones. or th e first 53 person in, goes to the 

SDO and draws the extra CEOI issued to the SDO for 

just such contingency. Then Jones, assuming he's first, 

goes to the motor pool, performs only those preoperation checks necessary to safely Ere up the 

vehicle-essentially a check of oil and water-and starts 

up the TOC to include getting the radios up on the appropriate nets and starting the journal. As TOC personnel arr ive, Jones can be spelled to pick up his equipment. 

Later personnel can get the vehicle dispatched and complete pre- operational checks. (Since Jones didn't move 

the TOC vehicles, no key would normally be required to 

simply start the equipment.) An improvement on the 

system would be to store TOC personnel's TA SO on the 

van. truck or trailer in some secure fashion . Same with 

protective masks. 

You can also exercise your ability to handle the various 

Emergency Action Messages which transition your unit 

from a peacetime, garrison footing to a fully deployed 

posture. 

Ultimately, you'll move from garrison to the field, normally a local disp ersal area. Here's a chance to check out 

your strip maps and wartime movements procedures. 

Once in the field. if you haven't done so earlier, bring 

in someone to monitor your transmissions and to inject 

an appropriate amount of jamming and int erference to 

your radio traffic. 

Operate for a portion of the time, say in periods up to 

six hours , in full MOP? 

And one thing you might do after a night or so of 

operations is to have someone spot check your noise and 

light discipline. You can figure on a short life span if 

your TOC is lit like a Christmas tree and sounds like a 

steel mill. 

And. when you think you've got the hang of it, try to 

maintain operations and communications while moving 

the TOC an average of six times a day. Frequent moves 

are a sure way to slim down to nothing but essential 

equipment. 

Displacing the TOC is more than the physical aspect 

of knocking down, packing up, moving and resetting the 

equipment. Continuity of operations must be maintained. This means that a Jump TOC must be established. 

Normally, splitting of $2 and S3 vehicles, plus a little 

fine-tuning of your commo shop retransmission vehicle 

will do the trick. You'll have to experiment to find out 

what works best for your operation. 

ENGINEER 

By the way, in order to insure operations continue 

while moving, have your battalion commander set the 

move times without notifying anyone , including Control 

Headquarters, in advance. This can also exercise your 

ability to select CP locations on short notice. Naturally, 

you'll want to ask the CEWI types who are monitoring 

your transmissions if they noted any command and control gaps in your operation while you were shifting locations . 

There are a few other things that will make your TOC 

the epitome of efficiency. Mostly these fall in the 

category of "helpful hints" that we've all learned the 

hard way. 

Sleep Management. Even using a " duty wheel" 

such as described earlier, sleep can be a problem-especially in a fast moving environment. 

There will be a tendency to try to catch a few winks 

in some of the most uncomfortable positions and 

places. Personnel should be supervisied to insure 

within tactical constraints, that they take care of 

their physical needs by pitching their tent, inflating 

their air mattress, unrolling their sleeping bag, and 

laying out fresh clothes. A half hour of setting up a 

bunk, plus three and a half hours of sleep is far 

more restful than four, five, or even six hours of 

"sleep" in the back seat of a jeep (which is 

unauthorized). 

Lights. Since generators tend to go out at the 

most crucial times, gas lanterns with ample spare 

parts are a necessity . Vehicular powered lights are 

adequate in a bind , but they are generally insufficient for sustained operation. A recommendation 

must be that one lantern should be burning when 

the generator is working and that two or more 

lanterns be used at night (to back up each other) 

when the generator is down. You might note that 

some units have only used lanterns due to noise 

discipline. (It should go without saying that one of 

your daytime chores is to fire up all your lanterns to 

make sure they'll work at night.) 

Coffee and chow. It almost goes without saying 

that the TOC runs on "java," but coffee pots tend 

to draw Kibitzers and other interested on-lookers. 

The problem is that all this detracts from the job at 

hand. Likewise, while the TOC may be a cozy place 

to eat, this is just something else to take the edge 

off operations and should be avoided to the extent 

possible. (It also gets your TOe crew out for a little 

fresh air every so often.) 

You should agree that TOC operations can make or 

break a battalion. Unfortunately, learning to run an effective operations center is like learning to ride a 

bicycle-you can't do it by reading a book. You have to 

get out and practice it. 

So, good luck to you and your organization, and get 

out there and peddle for all you're worth. 

Major John W , Braden, Jr.. is an engineer officer current ly 

assigned /0 the Office of the Inspector General, US Army 

Training and Doctrin e Command, Fort Monroe. VA. 

17 
The 18th Engineer Brigade, which includes four 

combat heavy engineer battalions, a topographic battalion, and an engineer construction labor group, is not 

normally considered a bridging unit. However, one traditional wartime mission for its combat heavy battalions is 

the maintenance of corps and theater rear area Main 

Supply Routes. 

Current doctrine dictates that German Territorial 

Commands, in conjunction with the Deutches 

Bundesbahn (DBB, the German Federal Railway), are 

responsible for restoring damaged or destroyed rail and 

high-capacity highway bridges. However, coordination 

visits to the German Territorial Commands early in 1979 

revealed that they stock few semi-permanent or permanent fixed-span bridges. 

Another eye-opener was that the German Territorial 

Commands have few resources of their own. Instead, 

Bridges for training were selected and their release 

from war reserve stocks was secured from the Department of the Army. The training mission was assigned to 

B company, 249th Engineer Battalion. Very little was 

known about the bridges and even the necessary training 

manuals were difficult to locate. The bridges to be used 

were the Unit Construction Railway Bridge (TM 5-372 

dated 9 November 1943) and the 17-foot and 27-foot 

I-Beam Railway Bridges (TM 5-371 dated 14 March 

1944). In addition, B Company drew a Bailey Bridge 

Trestle Conversion Kit to use as temporary support during construction. Arrangements were made to borrow 

ties, rails , and fittings from the DBB to add realism to 

their training. 

The I-Beam bridges were tackled first. Minor variations of these bridges are available in 17, 21, 27, 31, and 

35-foot lengths, and are adjustable in one-foot inSOMETHING NEW IN BRIDGING
 

Training on large-capacity, fixed bridges pays of!for 

the 249th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) 

by First Lieutenant Dennis E. Linn 

they rely upon assets drawn from civilian industry. Such 

dependence is not only risky, but time-consuming in a 

crisis situation. For instance, it will take a relatively long 

period of time to convert steel girders and I-Beams to 

replace a destroyed bridge, if the girders and beams are 

available in the first place . 

Therefore, the commanders of the 18th Engineer 

Brigade and the 249th Engineer Combat Battalion 

(Heavy) determined following their visits to the German 

Territorial Commands that expertise in the construction 

of large-capacity fixed bridges was required. 

An analysis of resources available within the theater 

identified project stocks containing a variety of nonstandard bridges. 

A site visit to the Reserve Storage Area at 

Kaiserslautern was arranged to inspect the bridges for 

suitability and condition . It was discovered that there 

were a considerable number of bridges and trestles scattered throughout Europe but they had not been used in 

many years. No one knew if troop units could construct 

the bridges with organic equipment, if the bridges were 

truck transportable, or if their design was applicable to 

modern railway use. 

crements by means of a cutting torch. They are deck-type 

bridges and loading capacities are available up to 

Cooper's E-45 (or 20 British Standard Units more than 

enough capacity for any military loading) by using either 

four or six main girder variations. 

The girders are spaced by means of diaphragms and 

spacers, and reinforced by diagonal bracing on the 

horizontal plane. This type bridge can be skewed to the 

left or right and will accept curved track. Bridges can be 

spliced end to end for longer spans, but must be supported by trestles at their junctures. Trestles may be concrete, timber, or the standard (T type) or light (L type) 

trestle kits available in war stocks. 

The I-Beam bridge is both light and compact for hauling. An entire kit can easily be loaded on a single low bed 

trailer organic to most engineer battalions. An entire 

span, less ties and tracks, can be lifted into place using 

the 2S-ton hydraulic crane. The l-Bearn's greatest advantage is that it can be assembled in four to five hours, 

complete with ties and rails, by a relatively inexperienced 

crew. 

The only parts required are I-Beams, spacers, nuts, 

18 WINTER 1980-81 
and bolt s. All bolts a re the sa me diameter and come in 

ju st two lengths. Ti es are bolted to the I-Beams by means 

of tie bolts supplied with the kit. Several kits can als o be 

combined to construct trestles ac cording to plans in TM 

5-371. 

The 249 th include d the I-Beam bridge in its 1980 

traini ng evaluation program (ARTEP) after a minimum 

of training, and ach ieved exce llent results. During the 

ART EP , the 17 and 27-foot bridges were spliced to form 

a single 44-foot bridge. For the sa ke of reality, these 

brid ges were pl aced on ste el pil e abutments over an expedi ent tr estl e from the Bailey conversion kit. Finally, the 

ties and rails were placed on the bridge, proving that th e 

I-Beam bridge can be con structed in a reasonable time 

period under sim ulated combat conditions. 

The l-Bearn bridge is portable, flexible , easily constructed, and is currently in the European inventory in 

quantity-97 bridges of various lengths are currently 

stocked in Germany. These bridges, although old , have 

been well maintained and provide an inexpensive 

resource for maintaining our su pply routes. 

B Company began training on the Unit Con struction 

Railway Bridge (UCRR) sho rt ly after the battalion 

ARTEP. It is designed as a through-type bridge utilizing 

trusses fo r structural stre ngt h. It is constructed in sections, based on ch ord length s of 15 and 20 feet , allowing 

spans from 55 to 85 feet in five-foot increments. Load 

be aring stre ngt h of the UCRR is also Cooper's E-4S. It 

can be skewed left or right by five feet (the length of one 

bay). The bridge is conside ra bly more complex than the 

I-b eam bridge, but is well design ed for ea se of construction . Major bridge components are the tru ss, made of a 

top and bot tom ch ord with vert icle and diagonal webs , 

and the floor, made of hea vy floor beams and light 

stri ngers, and stiffened by means of di agonal bracing on 

the horizontal plane. All bridge compon ents are fastened 

using a combination of bolts and short drift. pins. ~nd

rails a re fastened directly to the floor beams without ties . 

Fewer bolts are used than pins. Pins are used at maj or 

stress points, on the principle that bolts fasten parts to 

one an other, while pins, which mu st be driven into their 

holes, provide shear strength across the joints. This combination increases the strength of the bridge and at the 

same time cuts down con siderably on the time ne cessa ry 

to construct it. Longer bridges can be built by combining 

kits and using intermediate trestles. The trestles ma y be 

concrete, lumber, or steel. Standard (T type) or ligh t (L 

typ e) trestle kits may also be used . 

The Unit Construction Railway Bridge is con siderably 

heavier than the I-Beam type. Its weight exceeds 1100 

pounds per linear foot of finished bridge, and chords and 

floo r beams weigh over 2000 pounds each. It is. however, 

easy to transp ort. A complete brid ge kit, capable of building an 85-foot span , is easily loaded on three 

lowb ed trailers and two five-ton dump truc ks. 

The UCRR was designed to be built on an existing 

railway with a launching nose. It should be launched 

across the gap on dollies and lower ed into place. 

However, B Company concluded that the best means of 

construction using assets ofthe combat heavy company is 

to pr efabricate the bridge in chord length sections on flat 

land near the gap and lift them into place on temporary 

ENGINEER 

Troops assemble unit construction railway bridge. 

su pports of Bailey Bridge trestle or other suitable 

material. T his method of construction is compatible with 

most uses of the bridge . It als o pr ovides an increased 

work for ce because crews and sites can be duplicated for 

each cho rd section. It also reduces by half the amount of 

material which must be hauled by eliminating the need 

for th e launching nose. The Unit Construction Railway 

Bridge is stocked at several loc ati ons in Germany, with a 

com bined stockage of 3S kits. 

Aside from the railroad application of these bridges, 

both the l-be arn and Un it Construction bridges can easily be modified for expedient highway use. The I-Beam 

bridge can be widened with additional spr~aders and b.y 

decking it to suit the intended class of vehicle, The Unit 

Construction Bridge may also be used as a highway 

bridge, but its normal configuration limits vehicular 

width. The bridge has a clearance between trusses of 10 

feet-4 inches, while the width of an M60 tank is 10 feet-6 

inches. However, the bridge can be built in an inverted 

position and decked over, providing an overall width ~f

14 feet-8 inches. Two-way traffic can be handled by addition of a floor section and one truss, providing a threetruss bridge with an overall width of27 feet-2 inches. The 

deck desi gn provides the load limit for either the one or 

two-lan e bridge. 

The I-beam and Unit Con struction Railway Bridges 

are permanent, heavy capacity bridges. The fact that 

they ar e both easily transportable and easy to con struct 

mean s that th ey can be adapted to a wide range of use s. 

The German Territorial Commands and the DBB may 

be ca pable of ma intaining rail be ds and bridges under 

combat conditions, but the 249th Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) now stands ready to assist them in keeping 

ope n vital supply lifelines. ... 

Lieut enant Denn is E. Linn is currently attending the Engineer 

Officer Advanced Course at th e US Army Engineer School, 

Fort Belvoir. VA. He was fo rmerly assigned as the construction 

offic er fo r B Company, 249th Engineer Battalion (Combat). 

Karlsruhe, Germany. 

19 
The EngineerMuseum
 

Y( Jof,)(yl. 11(llllltw Ifp (HII' I 6 //(e/ {Ilflim', aille r; 7a/{{! ('I 'Illy. all,! 

(Ial !/rj l ay lit' ,5'60 I N 1(((:)((111. fllal /roo ((jJ 1~/all(j 1ft' P/l/l ihYN!IIII'!/-' 

lItill. am! (Ial II/e l ay ~/ lip/II 1ft' eY..:!OI n /1/01111....." 

Text by Mary Vitek
 

Photos by Specialist
 

Four} im Eady 

.~

, " 

were still needed to construct forENGINEERS tifications. Therefore, between 1807 

M ore than two centuries of 1'_,' military engineering, beginning
 (--' with the legislative procl amation
 "": .. above, are preserved and displ ayed 

:'::'~~'. within the US Army Engineer ..... . " 

Museum at Fort Belvoir , VA, home 

of the US Army Engineer Center 

and School. The museum's 

historical collections and artifacts 

reflect the Army engineer story and 

depict our nation's progress in 

times of pea ce and war. 

Perhaps the most priceless artifact on display in the museum is 

an original map rendering in detail 

the siege of Yorktown , VA, during 

the Revolutionary War. Briti sh 

forces at Yorktown surrendered to 

the American and French troops on 

October 19, 1781. ending the war 

and assuring our country's independence , 

Alth ough the Continental Army 

Corps of Engineers disbanded after 

th e Revolutionary War, engineers 

7J/p "(}IHI/timllat _6ollf l(>JJ 

\fi~II 16: 1775 

designed and built 24 forts and 32 

coastal batteries. Several years 

lat er, in 1839, a turreted castle was 

officially approved as the symbol 

and insignia of th e Corps of 

Engineers. Exhibited in the 

museum is the original drawing of 

the castl e approved by Chief of 

Engineers Major Gen eral Joseph G. 

Totten. The original insignia was 

initially worn on the uniform belt , 

but later on the cap and epaulatte. 

It has remained the symb ol of the 

Corp s to this day. 

Museum photographs and 

diagrams illustra te various construction projects completed by th e 

Corps during th e 19th century. 

Among them is the Washington 

Monument, completed in 1885. 

Colonel Th omas L. Casey of the 

Corps of Engineers supervised con ­

struction of the monument and 

latcr supervised construction of the 

Library of Congress (1896) and the 

State, War, Navy Building (1888). 

Among other remarkable Corp s 

The original art of a World War 1/ and 1812, military engineers of Engineers achievements recorded 

recruiting poster. 

20 WINTER 1980·81 , . 
The Corps of Engineers "castle" first appeared on the hilt of a nineteenth century Army rapier which is part of a collection of miscellaneous accessories and uniforms 

displayed throughout the museum. 

by the Engineer Museum is the 

sa lvage of the Battleship " Maine." 

The Maine sank in Havan a Har bor 

in 1898, following a mysterious explosion . Fourteen years later 

(1912), the Corps raised her , towed 

her out to sea, and gave her a fittin g bu rial. Th e raising of the 

Main e has been described as "an 

eng ineering task with out precedent, 

frowned upon at the start by many 

prominent engineers, but now considere d by the most skeptical. .. .an 

unqu alified success." Th e Maine 

began her last voyage at 2 p.m . on 

March 16,1912. Three miles and 41 

min utes later. the 324-foot ba ttleship was sub merged aga in, this 

time at 600 fat homs. To document 

the engi neering achievement, the 

shi p's wheel, a cable section, h atch 

lock, lam p and ph otographs are on 

display in the museum. 

The oldest artifact on display is a 

Gr eek ring dat ed at approximately 

350 B.C. The fac e of the gold ring 

bears a resemblence to Alexander 

the Gr eat. 

ENGINEER 

More th an 400 Army engineer insignia ar e also displayed. The collection includes: the 405th Engineer 

Battalion's insignia, upon which is 

inscrib ed "The camels ar e 

coming;" the 391st Engineer Battalion's insignia with the inscript ion 

" Y' all come;" and the 203rd 

Engineer Battalion' s insignia, inscribed with " Don't kick our dog. " 

Other Army engineer memorabilia includes uniforms, posters, 

personal items, portra its, firearms, 

and furn itu re. 

Today, the US Army Corps of 

Engineers is the world's largest 

enginee ring organization . It serves 

the Army and our country in the 

tra dition which began more than 

205 years ago. The US Army 

Engineer Mu seum conveys the 

proud tra dition of the Corps in a 

colorful and interes ting format.

... 

Mary Vitek is a fo rmer Army journalist 

an d st aff writer fo r ENGINEER 

Maga zin e. 

21
 

Ship's wheel of the battleship 

Maine, salvaged in 1902. 
I 

Field Manual 100-5 prescribes four basic tasks for 

the covering force. 

*Force the enemy to reveal the strength, location, and 

general direction of his main attack. To do this, the 

covering force must strip away enemy reconnaissance 

and advanced guard clements, establish contact with the 

enemy main body, and fight with sufficient intensity to 

make the enemy prematurely deploy maneuver and fire 

support units and begin his main attack. 

*Deceive the enemy. or prevent him from determining 

the strength, dispositions, and locations of friendly 

forces in the main battle area. 

*Divest the enemy of his air defense umbrella, or force 

him to displace his air defenses before attacking the 

main battle area. 

*Gain time for the main battle area force, enabling it 

to deploy, move, or prepare defenses. 

The employment of an armored cavalry regiment in 

covering force operations is doctrinally routine . 

Numerous service schools and staff college exercises incorporate this mission since cavalry is generally considered superior to other units for the covering force mission. Their special training. superior communications 

capability, integral air units, and high density of 

surveillance equipment particularly suit them for such a 

role. Cavalry will probably fight the first battle of the 

next war. Nevertheless, the employment of an armored 

cavalry regiment in the classical covering force role on a 

free-play maneuver exercise had not been attempted for 

at least a decade prior to CERTAIN SENTINELIREFORGER '79. 

During that exercise, the 2d Armored Cavalry RegiCombat Engineers
 

Up Front
 

by Lieutenant Colonel Cerald C. Brown 

The covering force battle is a key to the active defense. Success 

in those operations demand the skillful utilization of all elements 

of the combined arms team . Today , more than ever before, combat engineers play an indispensable role. The January 1979 

REFORGER exercise CERTAIN SENTINEL provided a unique 

opportunity to evaluate forward combat engineer support on a battlefield where terrain reinforcement was the focus of the tactical 

plan. Every aspect of the engineer's role was scrutinized under 

rugged winter conditions, during a scenario as demanding as 

peacetime conditions permit. This article describes that experience and major lessons learned. 

22 WINTER 1980-81 
ment (2 ACR), reinforced by the 4-73d Armor Battalion, 

17th Field Artillery Group, and the 82d Engineer Battalion (Corps, Combat), was employed on a covering 

force operation forward of a deploying reinforced 

mechanized infantry division. The Covering Force Area 

(CFA) was established in the Steigerwald Forest along 

the Main River plain bounded by a simulated international boundary. The terrain was a low mountainous 

for ested area interspersed with river obstacles, but still 

affording several high speed avenues of approach into 

the covering force area. The sector stretched 93 

kilometers wide with an average depth of 26 kilometers. 

For over two days and two nights the regiment and its 

supporting units covered the sector against the 

ORANGE attack of a reinforced armored division . Effective terrain reinforcement was the cornerstone of the 

operation's success , clearly demonstrating the feasibility 

of covering force operations outlined in FM 100-5. 

The problems resulting from a 93-kilometer front are 

difficult to imagine. REFORGER '79 stretched the 

capabilities of the 82d Engineer Battalion and the OP ­

CON 84th Engineer Company from the 2 ACR to the 

maximum. But combat engineer operations across vast 

expanses are the norm today in the European environment. Therefore, the lessons learned by combat 

engineers on the Army's only recent experience in full 

scale covering force operations can hardly be overstated. 

Supporting the same maneuver unit they had worked 

with on several previous exercises afforded the 82d 

Engineers an important edge in planning and executing 

their varied missions. They knew the commanders, their 

style of fighting, and the particulars of their weapons 

systems, enabling them to anticipate tactical requirements for obstacles. The battalion was ready from 

the day it was designated as direct support to the 2 ACR. 

the Regimental Commander of the 2d To 

Armored Cavalry , combat engineers were the key 

to his active defense. His concept of operations hinged on 

the covering force's ability to: 

".. .structure the battlefield through obstacles and 

fires to halt the enemy for the purpose of condu cting combat operations on the enemy's flanks 

and rear where the ratio of combat power is in our 

favor and battlefield victory can be achieved. " 

Linear obstacles to stop or canalize tank formations 

were paramount in stopping the enemy. However, those 

obstacles had to be supported by carefully chosen and 

fully coordinated gaps and lanes, which permitted 

counterattacks to defeat enemy advanced elements and 

develope the situation. 

The 82d Engineer Battalion developed the obstacle 

portion of the draft operations plan. It was initially 

prepared using map analy sis. A detailed reconnaissance 

then followed, conducted clown to the platoon leader 

level. Positions were selected for weapon systems to cover 

obstacles. Exact ranges and dead space were determined . And counterattack lanes were selected by the supporting engineers and tactical commanders. The regimental 

plan was subsequently refined , and the final operations 

plan was published . The next step was a tactical rehearENGINEER 

sal without troops, directed by the regimental commander. Engineers participated down to squad leader 

level, using that period to verify communications, 

prepare target folders, and practice target turnover procedures. 

The even distribution of engineer effort across the battlefield, or perfunctory weighting of engineer support to 

favor the most dangerous avenue of approach, is wasteful 

of combat power. Engineers should be concentrated on 

terrain with lucrative terrain reinforcement potential. 

During this exercise, engineers concentrated their effort 

in the river valleys south of Bamberg and in the Steigerwald . The plains to the west, where the lack of defensible 

terrain would have required several battalions to produce 

significant results, received light engineer support. 

The western open expanses afforded great opportunities 

for counterattack against the exposed flanks of the attacking enemy, especially using aerial antitank systems. 

The regimental commander appreciated the fact that 

once the battle is joined, overwatching maneuver units 

can be rapidly shifted to counter opposing threats while 

precious engineer effort invested to structure the battlefield cannot be relocated. His analysis proved accurate 

in the subsequent battle. 

There were four avenues of approach into the covering force area. In the west, the open terrain north 

of Wuerzburg afforded a rapid approach to the FEBA 

and turned the flank of the riverline defense along the 

border. However, this approach was bounded on three 

sides by the Main River. It would have required a 

deliberate river crossing into the FEBA. This avenue was 

dubbed Bowling Alley West and was lightly defended by 

one reinforced cavalry troop supported by two platoons 

of engineers. The engineer missions were to destroy 

several major bridges over the Main River and disable 

the four- lane Kassel autobahn. Mobile Assault Bridging 

from MBA forces was planned to recover friendly forces 

withdrawing back across the Main. 

The plain between the Main River and the escarpment 

of the Steigerwald, given the sobriquet "Bowling Alley 

East ," offered a second high-speed approach to the 

FEBA . In this sector, the enemy could conduct a river 

crossing along the simulated international boundary 

against light resistance due to restrictions along the 

simulated politically sensitive border. However, 

mediocre crossing sites complicated this advantage. In 

addition, the natural terminus to this avenue of approach was a wide choke point near Schwanberg Mountain, with further advance to the south difficult. The evident vulnerability of an attacking force to air and ground 

counterattack permitted it to be lightly screened. The 

four engineer platoons utilized on this avenue of approach prepared the bridges for destruction and 

prepared that battlefield for a highly mobile defense. 

The Steigerwald approach between EHman and 

Bamberg offered good river crossing sites that were 

covered and concealed. It also offered a good armor approach onto the MBA. The dominating ridgeline south 

of the river was too close to the simulated international 

continued 

23 
I 

boundary to organize a strong defense against a 

deliberate river crossing. The main disadvantage of this 

avenue was the cross-compartmentalized terrain in the 

CFA, which facilitated terrain reinforcement. This area 

was defended by TF 4-73 Armor, a balanced task force of 

two mechanized infantry companies and two armor companies, supported by three combat engineer platoons. 

The Valley Complex between Bamberg and the east 

boundary was the most dangerous avenue of approach. It 

provided the shortest route to the FEBA , running down a 

series of ridges and valleys and was easily entered by 

crossing the fordable Regnitz River . ORANGE Force 

success in this area would endanger operations in the 

Steigerwald and allow premature penetration of the 

FEBA. Drawbacks to this approach were the difficulty in 

lateral movement created by forested ridges and 

tributaries to the Regnitz. The regimental commander 

directed top priority of engineer support to this area, 

24 WINTER 1980·81 
where the first battle could be quickly lost. Eight combat 

engineer platoons were employed to structure the battlefield for defense by one squadron of cavalry. The 

regimental commander counted on a defense based on 

engineer obstacles to make this avenue impassable. 

The regiment's broad concept of the operation was 

to economize on the relatively invulnerable left 

flank , weight the right flank heavily with engineers to 

block enemy penetrations, and to concentrate forces on 

the two center avenues of approach. One cavalry 

squadron plus a tank company was held in regimental 

reserve. Initial positioning of the maneuver forces and 

preparations by the 82d Engineers were design ed to sup ­

port the two most likely contingencies: a fast, fluid attack across the plain of Bowling Alley East , or a slow, 

methodical delay through the Steigerwald. 

Th e bridges across the Main River between Schweinfurt and Bamberg, and acro ss the Regnitz River from 

Bamberg to the right boundary posed a dilemma for the 

covering force commander and his engineers. These 

rivers constituted the simulated international boundary 

acro ss 80 percent of the front. Political restrictions 

similar to those along the actual Communist border in 

Germany prohibited fires across the boundary until after 

formal declaration of hostilities . Forbidden were preemptive spoiling operations and overflights into enemy 

territory for either air strike or reconnaissance. 

When combat begins along an inviolate international 

border, the enemy will enjoy a tremendous initial advantage of political and tactical initiative. Capture of a 

bridge intact will provide the enemy with an even greater 

tactical advantage. Therefore, all 31 bridges over the 

Main and Regnitz Rivers in th e covering force area had 

to be destroyed, regardless of their size. The covering 

force commander was placed in the unenviable position 

of either starting the war by blowing the bridges too early 

or losing it by blowing them too late. Detailed planning 

went into their destruction, including redundant firing 

systems and multiple communications means. 

Senior personnel headed each firing party, whether executed by engineers or cavalry. With instructions to 

destroy the bridges on order, or to prevent capture, 

problems developed. Spirited troops eager for action faced each other across narrow expanses of water. Small 

arms and machine gun harassing fires were directed 

against the defenders at several sites. Some firing party 

commanders considered their positions in danger and 

destroyed their bridges prematurely. Their decisions, 

made under fire, were difficult to explain to senior commanders who had issued clear orders that ORANGE 

must intiate the battle. 

Terrain reinforcement requires time . During CERTAIN SENTINEL, the 82d Engineer Battalion prepared 

obstacle plans, assuming 48 hours would be available for 

around-the-clock work, before the onset of hostilities. 

Generall y, combat engineers are among the very first to 

deploy. The effectiveness of the defense depends to a 

large degree on the time available for preparation, which 

in turn depends upon the political release of alert 

measures to permit preparation of the battlefield. NATO 

ENGINEER 

war plans give priority to the covering force area, where 

specific targets have been authorized by the German 

government for earlier emplacement. 

But under the tactical scenario for CERTAIN SENTINEL, obstacle work was not permitted until the attack 

was imminent. Fortunately, targets on the bottom of the 

list were not emplaced. Tactical commanders sought optimum effort from their engineers by having them work 

to the rear of the line of contact, preparing positions for 

turnover as they fell back. This concept worked well 

where supporting engineers were thoroughly familiar 

with their supported unit. 

The alert measures for REFORGER 79 represented a 

short notice from Warsaw Pact Forces that NATO allies 

must be prepared to counter. Political restrictions can be 

expected to result in the release of alert identifiers in a 

careful and deliberate manner. Precious little time may 

be available to structure the battlefield effectively and to 

provide time for the MBA force to deploy and prepare. 

The combat engineer family desperately needs improved 

equipment and methods to increase responsiveness on 

the huge, dynamic European battlefield. Needed now are 

the M-9 Universal Engineer Tractor, the M-180 Cratering Device, and Scatterable Mine Systems, all in various 

stages of development and testing or procurement. 

Target turnover was not a problem with 2d 

Armored Cavalry Regiment units because of normal association and joint training. All targets turned 

over were non -electrically fired. Detonating cord for each 

circuit of the dual-primed systems terminated at a small 

stake on the friendly side of the obstacle. A sand bag 

placed on each stake contained two sections of time fuse 

with cap and fuse lighter, necessary tape, and illustrated 

instructions. These methods had been incorporated into 

the SOPs of both the cavalry and engineers. Target turnovers to the attached armor units were much less successful, however. 

CERTAIN SENTINEL clearly demonstrated the need 

for the mechanization of engineers supporting the covering force . The 84th Engineer Company, organic to the 

regiment , was generally more effective than the wheeled 

Corps engineer units because of superior mobility, additional firepower, and greater survivability. The 82d 

Engineers were not always able to keep up with supported cavalry elements, especially when maneuvering 

cross-country over snow and ice covered terrain . 

Operating near the line of contact and despersed over a 

wide area with heavily outnumbered friendly forces to 

their front , covering force engineers needed the additional firepower provided by mechanized fighting 

vehicles. 

Communications were a major problem. A Corps 

engineer battalion needs a higher density of communications equipment for the covering force mission. Communication during CERTAIN SENTINEL was dependent upon carefully selected FM sites for command posts 

and relays to net across the vast area. AM afforded some 

backup, but was unreliable. RATT was able to stay in 

contact with the engineer higher headquarters, the 7th 

Engineer Brigade. 

continued 

25 
The ORANGE attack was well executed. At 8:00 p.rn. 

on January 29, a series of demonstrations were conducted along the simulated international boundary and 

continued until 11:00 p.m. At 8:25 p.m., TF 4-73 Armor 

responded to border incursions by destroying two 

bridges. At 9:50 p.m. , the regimental commander 

ordered all remaining bridges blown immediately. All 

bridges were down by 10:00 p.m. 

The enemy launched two strong supporting attacks on 

the flank avenues of approach on January 30. In Bowling 

Alley West, the light screening force withdrew under the 

attack of an enemy brigade. Two troops from 3d 

Squadron, 2 ACR, crossed one of the unblown bridges 

and attacked the rear of the enemy brigade with excellent 

results until called off by an umpire who was confused 

about the status of the bridge they had crossed. Friendly 

troops were then withdrawn from Bowling Alley West , 

which was successfully covered by air cavalry. In the 

Valley Complex, the 4th Canadian Mechanized Brigade 

attacked but was skillfully handled by the 2d Squadron, 

2 ACR, thanks to the priority of engineer effort placed in 

that sector. 

ORANGE Forces infantry crossed the Main River at 

Eltrnan, and surprised and destroyed A/1-16 Infantry at 

3:00 a.rn., January 30. The 3d Squadron in reserve 

deployed one cavalry troop to a blocking position behind 

that sector. Minor build-ups continued during the day, 

and by early evening, bridging was reported at Eltman 

and Bischberg. Pressured by intense artillery and rocket 

fires , friendly artillery had withdrawn and could no 

longer range to the bridge sites. Lance missiles were fired 

on enemy engineers at the crossings, slowing their efforts. Counterattacks to destroy bridges under construction were unsuccessful. Early on the morning of January 

31 , major elements began crossing into th e Steigerwald. 

The cross-compartment terrain reinforced by engineers 

and covered by outnumbered cavalry, greatly slowed the 

ORANGE attack to the south. 

The enemy again demonstrated near Hassfurt on 

January 31, but did not cross. By early afternoon on that 

date, all ORANGE units south of the Main had been 

identified. The regimental commander briefed the MBA 

commander and key VII Corps staff personnel on enemy 

dispositions and the direction of the main attack. No 

longer hamstrung by political restrictions, the regimental 

commander proposed a major counterattack to seize the 

initiative. His recommendation was denied, primarily 

due to administrative requirements of exercise control 

and deteriorating weather conditions. The covering force 

was orderd to break contact and begin withdrawal at 

5:00 p.m. on 31 January. 

The experience of the 84th Engineer Company and the 

82d Engineer Battalion during CERTAIN SENTINEL! 

REFORGER 79 demonstrated that engineers ca n reinforce th e terrain for the covering force battle over a vast, 

dynamic and lethal battlefield. It also revealed major 

problems of aging equipment and outdated methods. 

Lessons learned are difficult to visualize by personnel 

responsible for designing equipment or developing doc ­

trine. In an era when field exercises on the scal e of CERTAIN SENTINEL are all tOQ few th ose lessons should be 

embraced throughout the engineer family for training, 

and improvement of our equipment and doctrine . 

Engineers must also communicate these lessons to tactical commanders. who must employ combat engineers 

more effectively with the combined arms team. Their full 

support is vital for the procurement of new equipment 

and for the developmen t of new doctrine to improve 

engineer responsiveness on future battlefields. ... 

Lieut enant Colonel Gerald C. Brown is curren tly a student of 

th e Army War College in Carlisle Barracks. PA. Wh en he wrote 

the article above. he was assigned as the commander of the 

82nd Engin eer Battalion. 7th Engineer Brigade. His unit was in 

direct support of the 2nd Armored Cavalry Regiment (the 

BLUE covering fo rce) during FTX CERTAIN SENTINEL. 

ENGINEER PROBLEM
 

The Brigade Commander has directed you, the cornplish the mission: 

Brigade Engineer, to emplace an antitank 1. Compute the required antitank mine density 

minefield from coordinate UT042835 to coor­ to produce a 70 percent kill probability. 

dinate UT04S831, with a depth of 250 meters. 2. Determine the total number of mines reNo antipersonnel mines are required . The com­ quired and the number of mine rows. 

mander has specified that the probability of tank 3. Determine the required number of platoon 

kills should be at least 70 percent. Your company hours to emplace the minefield and t he required 

is equipped with an M57 Antitank Mine Dispens­ number of five-ton dump trucks to transport the 

ing System that is available for use. mines. 

Three tasks must be completed in order to ac- See THE SCHOOL SOLUTION, page 40 

26 WINTER 1980-81 
Engineer Preparation 

of a Position 

b y Colonel F. Palaguta 

During the years of the Gr eat Patriot ic War, 

intelligent use was made by service personnel of the 

protective feat ur es of terrain and various field 

defensive structures in order to successfully execute 

assigned missions and reduce casualties. This 

ena bled us to maintain the capacity to fight back 

even after strong artillery attacks and bombing 

ra ids and beat off sup erior enemy forces. 

In his book of reminiscences, " Malaya Zemlya" 

(Small Earth), Leonid Il'ich Brezhnev writes: "The 

question might arise as to how it was possible for 

people to survive after having been plastered by 

hundreds of tons oflethal metal by an ememy force 

greatly exceeding our own?" And the answer to 

that is that " all this was opposed by experience, 

presence of mind , cold calculations, and routine 

daily work.. ..scores of kilometers of communications passages, thousands of riflemen pits, 

tr enches, and foxholes were dug." 

Front line experience testifies that the intelligent 

concealment of firin g weap ons and personnel along 

with other factor s predetermined the success of 

battle in the final analysis. An antitank gun located 

in a position prepared by enginee rs and properly 

camouflaged usually destr oyed two or three enemy 

ta nks, but if it was in an exposed position . it could 

fire only one or two rounds and destroy at best but 

a single tank . 

This article was published originially ill Voyennyy 

Vestnik, No. 4. 1979. and was reprint ed in Military 

Herald , FS TC- H T 531. 79. #4. 

Given the constant improvements made in 

missiles and conventional means of attack, the role 

of troop protection and, therefore. engineer 

prepar ation of a position, is dr am atically increasing. A simple calculation will show that the more 

simple structures, such as trenches, ditches. commu nication pa ssages. and slit trenches can reduce 

losses to personnel from the shock wave of a 

nuclear blast by a factor of 1.5 to 2.0, reduce the 

flow of penetrating radiation , and provide protection again st light radiation. 

In the opinion of foreign specialists, the neutron 

weapon greatly complicates the solution of the 

problem of protecting personnel on the battlefield. 

Here, protective works are deemed more effective 

than arm ored vehicles. 

The new developments in infantry , artillery, and 

other types of weapons and military equipment call 

for change s in the forms of protective structures, 

especially tren ches and shelters. Th e principle of 

erect ing such structures remains the same- to insure the most effective use of ta nk, artillery, and 

motorized rifle elements in warfare, their 

maneuver, and provide th e necessary prot ection 

aga inst all manner of attack means. Additionall y, 

another element is required in the engineer 

preparation of a position , which . in modern times , 

is one of the decisive factors, and that is speed in 

setti ng up the protective works. Toward that end, it 

is necessary to work persistently to perfec t engineer 

troop tr aining and more fully utilize mechanized 

equipment and explosive charges which will reduce 

the time for preparing a position. continued 

ENGINEER 27 
Unfortunately, during the course of tactical instruction of subunits, only limited tasks in engineer 

preparation of a position are performed. In such 

subunits, the troops have acquired no skills in digging trenches or ditches, to say nothing about constructing equipment dugouts and shelters, and the 

like. We sometimes had occasion to observe a 

situation wherein after a few rounds from an artillery piece it was necessary to strengthen improperly prepared works that were intended for 

prolonged use. We still get reports about individual 

officers, especially among the younger men, who 

point out that they can prepare a position which 

will meet all regulations when that will be required 

in a real battle situation. However, experience 

shows that ability and practical skills do not come 

of themselves. but are acquired through persistent 

effort. It is necessary to improve and consolidate 

them continually. 

As we know. in order that a unit occupying a certain area in the field be in a state of constant combat readiness, its personnel and equipment should 

be positioned beforehand in structures built according to a certain definite sequence. 

First. foxholes, pits for all firing weapons, slit 

trenches for personnel, and the basic structures for 

control posts and for providing first aid to the 

wounded are dug, and obstacles constructed forward of the main line of defense on the flanks. 

Second, trenches are dug for the subunit, reserve 

pits for weapons , and structures are further fitted 

out for staff officers and medical aid centers; 

covered slit trenches and dugouts are prepared, 

shelters are dug for equipment and material, and 

obstacles reinforced. Sections of roads and the 

man-made structures on them are prepared for 

demolition and routes are prepared for maneuver. 

Later on, the protective works are improved 

upon, their protective features augmented, areas of 

deployment of the second echelons and antitank 

reserves prepared, and the necessary trenches and 

shelters in areas earmarked for the reserves at the 

alternative and dummy positions, etc. , constructed. 

All measures are carried out with strict observance of camouflage discipline. Engineer preparation of a position usually begins with digging in. 

First, foxholes are dug for fire from prone positions, which are 60 centimeters wide, 170 centimeters long, and 30 centimeters deep. For convenience in conducting fire, a support is constructed 10 centimeters higher than the bottom of 

the pit for resting the elbows. This threshold is 25 

to 30 centimeters wide. The earth or snow is thrown 

forward when forming a breastwork 30 centimeters 

high , the sloping side facing the enemy . The foxhole for use in fire from prone position provides 

primary protection again st rifle and machinegun 

fire and shell splinters. Gradually deepening the 

trench, the trooper adapts it first for fire from a 

kneeling position and from a standing position. In 

these cases, the depths dug are, respectively, 60 

and 110 centimeters , and the height of the 

breastwork is increased to SO or 60 centimeters. 

In addition to the one-man trenches, two-man 

and occasionally three-man trenches are built in 

the form of slit trenches of rectilinear or broken 

outline up to three meters long. Roughness of ter­

(b) 

(a) Construction and arrangement of individual foxholes 

and group trenches at a subunit position and a trench 

shelter for an infantry combat vehicle. (a) Trench for infantry combat vehicle during disengagement phase. (b) 

Trench for two riflemen. 

FIGURE 1 

28 WINTER 1980-81 
rain greatly facilitates laying out the tr enches. 

However , here it is inadvisabl e to locate one's position near individual bu shes, mounds, or boulders 

readily visible to th e enemy, because they might be 

used as reference points for registrat ion fire. In all 

cases, the trenches should be ca refully camouflag ­

ed in keeping with the surro unding terrain 

background, using mat erials readily ava ilable and 

special camoufl aging, weavin g in bu nches of grass 

and tree branches. 

The time requ ired for tr oops to dig a foxhole 

of th e single man type in class I and 2 soils is: 

fo r prone fir e, not over 30 minu tes; ti re from kn eeling position, up to 1.2 hours; and for fire from 

sta nding positi on , up to 1.5 hours. The time requi red for digging a two-ma n trench is 1.5 to two 

times greate r. 

Th e positi on for fire with machin egun consists of 

two slit trenches disposed at a slight angle with an 

area of 100 by 100 centimete rs. The br eastwork is 

const ruc ted on three sides with a height of 50-60 

centi meters, and in the arc of fire, it should be up 

to 20 centimeters high. About 2.5 hours is required 

to dig this type of trench . 

Time permitting, single foxholes ar e connected 

togeth er into tre nches for a squad, and th ese are 

subsequent ly formed into trenches both for conducting fire and observation, and for movement 

along the front. As a result, the troopers have an 

opportunity to establish cont act with one another 

during th e course of the ba ttle, a fact which has a 

very positive effect on their psychological sta te . 

Former fron t line fighters kn ow how imp ortant this 

is in a combat situation. In his book , " Soldier's 

Duty," Marshal of the Soviet Union K.K. 

Rokossovskiy cites such an example. He writes, 

" Our manuals in force before the outbreak of the 

war taught us to bu ild our defen ses based on th e 

so-called 'yacheyechnaya ," or sma ll tr ench syste m. 

But alas! Th e war ta ught us something different. 

Up on reaching one of the sma ll tre nches I relieved 

the soldier sitting there and rem ain ed alone. As an 

old soldier who had taken part in many battles I 

fra nkly confess th at I felt awfully ba d in that nest. 

During the ent ire tim e r had th e desire to jump out 

and see if my comrades were sitting in their nests or 

whet her th ey had aba ndo ned th em and left me 

alone. And if the sense of alarm did not leave me , 

what mu st it have been like in the case of a ma n 

who, possibly , was in combat for the first tim e. 

People will always be peopl e and, naturally, one 

wants to have a buddy by his side. In addition, one 

wants the commander to be near , especially during 

per iods of dang er. 

The author continues: " Everyone decided it was 

necessary to get into th e tr enches immediately. On 

that day all un its were given appropriate instruction s.. .. Everyt hing was accomplished easily and efficientl y. And the defense becam e stronger." 

Subsequently, rega rdl ess of th e type of action it 

became a fixed rul e to: stop, dig in, and, if time 

permits, improve your positions. 

The outlines of th e trenches and communication 

passages should be curvil inear, broken and with 

recesses , dep ending on th e method of digging and 

the terrain relief. In order to reduce casualties to 

continued 

(c) 

(a) 

(e) 

Preparation of a trench for a subunit. (a) Covered slit 

trench or dugout. (b) Embrasure. (c) Trench for infantry 

combat vehicle at main firing position. (d) Latrine. (e) 

Trench for infantry combat vehicle at reserve fire position. (f) Possible communications trench. 

FIGURE 2 

ENGINEER
 29 
FIGURE 3 

Trench for infantry combat vehicle with circular field of 

fire. (a) Water collecting sump. (b) Shell slit (covered slit 

trench). 

personnel by the shock wave and splinters, the rectilinear portions are made 15·20 meters long at 

angles of 120 to 160 degre es to one ano ther. 

Covered port ions of trenches and overhead protection abo ve embrasures with earth cover over 10 ern 

thick protect troops against incendi ary mixtures 

such as napalm, radioactive substances and 

droplet gases , and are used as often as possible . 

The constru ction of trenches and communication 

passages is accelerated considerably if mechanical 

equipment is used. For example , the PZM 

(regimental excavating machine) type equipment 

in ten hours of operation can replace 200 men digging for ten hours in med ium type soil. However, 

protective works of this kind should be finish ed off 

manually. 

In addition, combat conditions generally restrict 

the use of engineer machinery to the areas of the 

first and second trenches. Accordingly, each 

trooper must know how to dig and prepare 

trenches and other of the more simple shelters 

manually, especially in hard ground , using various 

devices and explosives. 

Armored equipment per se is a reliabl e shelter 

but trenches for tanks, infantry combat vehicles, 

(armored carriers) and artillery greatly improve 

protection for teams, crews, and equipment 

against the effects of modern attack means. Such 

trenches consist of an area for conducting fire, 

shelters for the crew or team, ramps, and 

breastworks. Depending on the mission assigned , 

I 

I the conditions of the terrain, and time available , 

trenches for tanks are constructed by th e crews 

themselves with the aid of multipurpose bulldozer 

equip ment (BTU) both with a limited sector of fire 

(60°-120°) and with a circular sector of fir e. 

Trenches for infantry combat vehicles are prepared 

in the same manner. 

Artillerymen addi tion ally excavate ammunition 

recesses. In all cases, the service equipment should 

be well camouflaged with standard means of 

makeshift materials. Since various kinds of vegetation is ofte n used for this purpose, one should bear 

in mind that cut grass and branches of the leafy 

species change color and th e spectral characteristic 

in several days, whereas the evergreen varieties 

preserve their color longer-up to 15 days in the 

summer and over a mon th in the winter. Reeds. 

sedges, and moss do not lose their properties for 

from 10 to 15 days. Branches of such deciduous 

species as oak, birch, ba sswood, and maple are 

considered the better camouflaging materials. 

Branches of aspen and alder turn brown in 24 

hours. In the winter, snow and flaky ice form ed by 

spattered water make the best camouflaging 

materials. 

An important factor in engineer prep ar ati on of 

the terrain when constructing trenches , foxholes 

for riflemen, machinegun emplacements, as well as 

shelters is the coordinated construction of protective structures and camouflaging activities . 

Therein lies the guarantee of success in conducting 

combat operations. 

Secrecy in work activities is achieved by making 

maximum use of the dark period of the day, the 

camouflaging properties of the terrain , and 

weather conditions. All structures dug during the 

night should be carefully camouflaged before the 

arrival of morning light. Remnants of building 

materials, various types of containers, and the like 

should be cleaned up and tracks of vehicles in the 

soil should be eliminated . 

Th e following sequence should be adh ered to in 

constructing trenches: select an area, clear the terrain and the field of view and the fire sector, dig 

foundation area and ramps, prepare ammunition 

pits and shelters for personnel , and camoufl age 

area. 

In the process, the team, crew, and subunit 

should at all times be prepared to go into action .

... 

30 WINTER 1980-81
INTEROPERABILITY
 

Soldiers of the Pionierbataillon 12 cross US floating 

footbridge. 

ENGINEER 

-more than just a word 

by Major Laurence R. Sadoff 

The goal of USAREUR 's Project Partnership is to
 

strengthen our NATO forces through mutual training
 

and social interaction. The 9th Engineer Combat Battalion
 

(C01pS) and the German Pionierbattalion 12 demonstrated
 

the effectiveness of the program during 1979.
 

E ery soldier who has served in Europe during 

he last 13 years is familiar with the 

USAREUR Project PARTNERSHIP Program 

designed to facilitate interoperability training 

among NATO allies. Through such training, 

soldiers of allied nations develop confidence in and 

understanding of each other's tactics and procedures. They learn about each other's equipment, 

weapon systems, munitions and logistics. They 

learn about each other's culture and heritage, 

about what motivates and inspires both the individual soldier and his nation. 

During 1979, the 9th Engineer Battalion (US) 

and the Pionierbattalion 12 (GE) were recognized 

for their outstanding PARTNERSHIP affiliation. 

Many successful joint training exercises and professional development activities have resulted from 

their affiliation-activities which have helped 

develop a unified peacetime deterrent force. 

JOINT TRAINING 

The foundation of the PARTNERSHIP Program 

and INTEROPERABILITY training between 

these two battalions has been team and unit training. Some of that training is described below. 

Exercise Harter Amboss (Solid Anvil) was a joint 

battalion training exercise conducted 5-10 April 

1979 and hosted by the PiBtl 12. Included was a 

two-day MAPEX and a two-day joint CPX/FTX. 

Participants included representatives from the 

Panzerpionierkompanie 140, Panzerpionierkompanic 350, Panzerpionierkompan ie 360 , 9th 

continued 

31 
Troops load test a Bundeswehr pneumatic float bridge constructed by personnel 

of Pionierbataillon 12 and D Company, 9th Engineer Battalion on the Danau River. 

Engineer Battalion , 565th Engineer Battalion and was designed to fill a significant void in training 

Pionierbataillon 12 (PiBtl 12). Participants analyz­ guidance to the field. Units can use the ARTEP to 

ed and discussed various problems that might arise train and evaluate themselves and to diagnose their 

if US and Bundeswehr units were in support of. strengths and weaknesses through dynamic 

under operational control of. or attached to each performance-oriented training. 

other during combat operations. During 1979, the PiBtl 12 participated with 9th 

During the joint CPX/FTX, each unit set up a Engineer Battalion units in both squad and plaTactical Operations Center (TOC) in a school toon ARTEPs. Only previous operational comhou se. The exercise commenced when an OPORD mitments prohibited their participation in a formal 

(lAW NATO STANAG 2014) was issued to both company ARTEP. 

headquarters. The order, issued in German, During these evaluations, US standards, tasks, 

directed each battalion to conduct reconnaissance and conditions were used to evaluate two 

and plan munitions for a series of preselected Bundeswehr squads and one platoon . 

obstacles. In June 1979. soldiers of Company D, 9th 

From their reconnaissance. an estimate was Engineer Battalion and PiBtl 12 participated in a 

made of the amount and types of munitions that joint river crossing exercise across the Danube 

were needed for the obstacles. After this informa­ (Don au) River, the second swiftest river in Europe. 

tion was passed to higher headquarters. another During the first portion of the exer cise. known as 

OPORD, also issued in German, directed the bat­ EINING AM DONAU BRIDGE TRAINING, 

talions to estimate the time and manpower to soldiers from Company D trained with Bundeswehr 

emplace the obstacles and report certain informa­ pneumatic float bridging equipment. They learned 

tion. The 9th Engineer Battalion, since it was in an about the various rafting configurations, and about 

FTX mode , actually emplaced the obstacles, German river crossing doctrine and tactics. Trainassisted by Wallmeisters from VBK 64. Target ing was also accomplished on the French Mobile 

turnover was also practiced. Assault Bridge . The culmination of the exercise 

The 1979 exercise was considered an overwhelm­ was a complicated and sophisticated link-up of an 

ing success and led to MAPEX HARTER AM­ eight-raft section, 132-meter bridge acr oss a quickBOSS II, hosted by the 9th Engineer Battalion in ly rising Danube River. The link-up was 

April 1980. The format remained the same as remarkable because it involved rafts constructed 

1979. Salient topics discussed and analyzed includ­ and controlled by both US and Bundeswehr 

ed: soldiers and was conducted as the Danube began to 

(l) Support of ADM operations flood. 

(2) Conduct of river crossing operations Flooding was so great that all bridging had to 

(3) Development of realistic resupply rates cease. During the training lull, units conducted 

(4) Various methods of command and control essential interoperability training in target 

under engineer task force organizations. turnover. Interpreters were purposely not providEvery American soldier is familiar with the Army ed. Soldiers were forced to communicate using 

Training and Evaluation Program (ARTEP). It their inherent skills . 

32 WINTER 1980·81 
The collective trarnmg during CPX/FTX 

HARTER AMBOSS, ARTEP training, and Eining 

am Donau Bridge Training was instrumental in 

resolving differences in doctrine, tactics, terminology, organization, command and control, 

and logist ics. 

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT 

In addition to continued participation in major 

joint training, both units conducted special professional development training to demonstrate their 

respective doctrine, tactics, terminology, organization, command and control, and logistics. Let us 

examine some examples of this training. 

In January 1979, the 9th Engineer Battalion gave 

an antitank ditching demonstration for personnel 

of the PiBti 12 and selected cadre of maneuver 

units they support. Another such demonstration 

was conducted in January 1980. The importance of 

these demonstrations cannot be over-emphasized. 

Antitank ditching is an integral part of US doctrine 

and defensive planning. While US maneuver commanders are aware of their capabilities and 

routinely include them in their barrier operations, 

many senior Bundeswehr maneuver commanders 

remain skeptical about the effectiveness of antit ank ditches. They question the ditching effec ­

tiveness and data on the rate of construction and 

labor required. But through demonstrations, 

Bundeswehr maneuver commanders are able to 

observe the merits of antitank ditches and are 

starting to adopt them as part of their mobility and 

counterrnobility plans. 

Does the individual soldier, NCO, and officer 

know the tactics, doctrine. and weapons systems of 

his allied counterpart? Commanders of the 9th 

Engineer Battalion and Pionicrbataillon 12 realize 

the importance of grass roots training and have initiated extensive individual training programs between battalions. 

In March 1979, a combined team from the 9th 

Engineer Battalion provided detailed instruction to 

the cadre of the PiStI 12 on US munitions and explosives. The Bundeswehr soldiers learned how to 

use the M-S7 mine dispensing system, US mine 

detectors, antihandling devices, antipersonnel 

mines, antitank mines, cratering charges, demolition kits, and minefield recording forms. Later, officers for PiBtl 12 instructed the cadre of the 9th 

Engineer Battalion on Bundeswehr munitions and 

explosives. US soldiers became proficient in the use 

of the Panzermine OM 11 (antitank mine), 

Schu tzensplitterrnine OM 31 (antipersonnel 

splinter mine), Schutzendruckmine OM 11 (antipersonnel blast mine), Sprengkorper OM l l Al , 

OM 21Al, OM 12 (l00g. 200g, 1000g explosive 

charges and SOOg plastic explosive), Sprengschnur 

OM 11 (det cord), and Zundschnur OM 11 (time 

fuze) . Dynamic hands-on training was emphasized 

rather than standard classroom presentations. 

ENGINEER 

PARTNERSIDP-A MARRIAGE OF UNITS 

A PARTNERSHIP between units is much like a 

marriage. Both parties must work hard to make it 

successful. An unsuccessful partnership is agonizing for both parties. 

The partnership activities between units are the 

result of detailed, careful planning. In December 

1979, the S3s of both battalions met and discussed 

their planned activities for 1979 . They reviewed 

each other's plans. PARTNERSHIP training was 

not developed to simply entertain, but to involve 

each other in mutual unit training. 

Besides joint training, specific individual professional development programs were planned to 

enhance mutual understanding. The 5-3s of each 

battalion met each quarter to review previous training and activities, and to coordinate specific training for future months. This procedure produced no 

less than 38 PARTNERSHIP activities in 1979 and 

the process has continued throughout 1980. 

PARTNERSHIP training is conducted so that 

soldiers of each unit can fight alongside each other 

using the other's weapon systems, if necessary. 

Through high-quality joint training, many differences in doctrine, tactics, terminology, 

organization, command and control, and logistics 

have been resolved. Detailed instruction is provided on each's weapon systems and munitions. Officer and NCO professionalism courses have been 

conducted on a mutual basis and each has participated in the other's high-quality unit training 

on a regular basis. 

Volleyball competition between US and Bundeswehr soldiers. 

33 I 
. :', ~""'::

. ..... . --

German recovery vehicle is stymied by an antitank ditch constructed by personnel 

of the 9th Engineer Battalion for a demonstration at the Hohenfels Training Area. 

Involvement in training and social activities at 

all levels is encoura ged. Th e result may be a 

Schutze participating in 9th Engineer Battalion 

Organization Day activiti es; a Specialist Four playing in a 12 PiBtl volleyball tournament; a Gruppe 

or Zug participating in an ARTEP; or a US officer 

participating in Advantessen . 

The PARTNERSHIP Program is based on a 

long term arrangement th at requires effort from 

both parties if it is to succeed, Perhaps the 

strongest testim onial to the lasting relationship 

between the 9th Brigade and 12 PiBtl is the 

distance separating them-160 kilome ter s by 

autobahn. Despite the driving time (nearly four 

hours), the PARTNERSHIP units engaged in 38 

activities in 1979, as menti oned. 

Th e accrued benefits of a successful PARTNERSHIP include mutual und erstanding, increased 

awareness of social and cultural differences, and 

gre ater knowledge of each other's doctrine, tactics, 

terminology, organization, comm and and cont rol, 

and logistics. A successful PARTNERSHIP increases the strength of our NATO force s, which 

must be prepared for any contingency. In ­

teroperability is, indeed. more than just a word . 

III 

Maj or Laurence R , Sadoff is currently att ending th e 

Naval War College in Newp ort, R .I. He f orm erly served 

as the S-3 of th e 9th Engineer Batt alion. 

34 WINTER 1980·81 
n RESERVE COMPONENTS
 

PARTNERSHIP PROGRAM 

Division and brigade-sized combat 

units of the Army National Guard and 

the Army Reserve willsoon train with active Army " part ner" units. 

Th e new AC /RC Partnership Program, initiated by the US Army Forces 

Command (FORSCOM), will pair the 

maj or infantry and armor units of the 

Gu ard and Reser ve with similar acti ve 

Army units for training support, evaluation and assistance. Partnership differs 

from earlier active component training 

support programs in two ways. First , it is 

planned as a long-term relationship. Second, partnership will be expanded 

beginning in FY 81 to provide year-round 

AC support for RC training . 

In comparison, the two program s being replaced by partnership , th e Active 

Component Support to Annual Training RAFT BUILDING CHAMPIONS (ACSAT) and the AT evaluation programs, were operated only during the RC 

unit's two-week AT period and the Army Reservists of the 6S2nd Engineer Company (Float Bridge) work 

AC /RC unit alignments changed each against th e clock during th e annual M4T6 Five Float Reinforced Raft 

year. Building Competition at Fort Leonard Wood, MO. The Ellsworth, WI, 

Partnership complements on-going unit shaved three minutes from the old record which it established last 

programs, such as th e Aftiliati on Pro­ yea r to become th e 1980 champion with a time of 68 minutes. Finishing 

gram and the Army Capstone Program. second with a time of 71 minutes was Company E, 632nd Engineer BatThe partnership program relationships talion, Minnesota National Guard. Hutchinson , MN. Other participating 

were developed based on several factors, units included Company A, Sth Engineer Bat tal ion, Fort Leonard Wood , 

including geographic proximity of units, MO; the 522nd Engineer Company, Fort Knox, KY; and the 224th 

likenes s and compatibility of skills and Eng ineer Battalion, Iowa National Guard, Burlington , IA. (US Army 

equipment, AC unit's capabilities to pro ­ photo by SFC Ron McCumber). 

vide training support, previous relationships (ACSAT, etc.), and Capstone 

methodology. 

TRAINlNG EXERCISE 

A soldier with B Company, 469th 

PX PRIVILEGES DOUBLED Engineer Combat Battalion (Heavy) out 

Army exchange privileges for members of Fort Dix, NJ, is hard at work (at 

of the Army National Guard and the rightltrimming trees removed as the batArmy Reserve have been doubled. talion builds a new parking lot in MonMembers now earn one day of PX mouth County Park System 's Turkey 

privileges for each four-hour drill. That Swamp Park, Freehold , NJ, as part of a 

mean s four days of PX privileges for a weekend military construction training 

two-day drill weekend, instead of only exercise. Dump trucks, supply trucks, 

two. bulldozers, a front end loader, a grader, 

Dep endents of Reserve Component jeeps and variou s other vehicles lined an 

members may use the PX, but they must open tield as members of B Company 

be accompanied by their sponsor. Unit participated in this Army Reserve trainmembers must present th eir red Reserve ing exercise . Other units included A 

Comp onent identification card and Company and HQ Company from Caven 

Leave and Earning Statement when us­ Point , NI. and C Company from Noring th e PX. Only Reserve Component thfi eld, NI. Campers and other park 

unit members may use the PX privileges; visitors were invited to watch and ask 

individual Ready Reserve members are questions and learn about the Army 

not eligible. Reserve and how it function s. 

ENGINEER 35 
__M OFFICER CAREER INFO
 

CIVILIAN SCHOOLING 

Army spo nsored gra duate edu cation is 

restricted to tho se disciplin es in which 

the Army Educa tiona l Requirements 

Board ha s validated requirements and a 

"shortage" of qu alified officers exists. 

Currently, these disciplines, for engineer 

officers, include th e following: 

Civil Engineering 

Aeronautical Engineerin g 

Chemical Eng ineering 

Engineering Ph ysics 

ORS A Engineerin g 

ADPS Enginee ring 

Nuclear Effects Eng ineerin g 

General Eng ineering 

Electronics Engineering 

Geodeti c Science 

Nuclear Physics 

Oceanogr aph y, Hydr ology 

Th ese shortage disciplines also support 

a second specialty in addition to Specialty 21, Engineer. Graduate school opportun ities during FY 81 are anticipated to 

be at approximately 55-65 officers depending on requirements and officers 

availability. 

Fully funded advanced degree training 

(AR 621-1, Chapter 4) is the principal 

program for obtaining a graduate degree 

and pr ovides the primary means to train 

officers at the masters level. Application 

is made by forwa rding DA Form 1618-R. 

An officer's application is automati cally 

considered each tim e he becom es 

available for reassignment. The primary 

zone for consideration for schooling is 

five to 14 years service . The program is 

very competitive and requires an outstanding overall record of performance . 

The degre e completion pr ogram for 

graduate degre es is covered by Ch apter 

8, AR 621-1. It allows up to 18 months at 

an accredited university to complete a 

masters degree in one of the aforementioned disciplines. This program varies 

from th e fully funded program in th at 

tuit ion cost must be defray ed by the student. All participants are schooled in a 

shortage discipl ine for which an AERB 

position exists and serve in a follow-on 

utili zati on assignment. 

Officers must possess th e following 

qu alifications in ord er to be considered 

comp etitive for selecti on: 

• Performance ratings must be 

among the top one-third among their 

contempor aries; 

• They must have successfully completed the Advan ced Cours e; 

• They must have successfully complet ed a compa ny command tour; 

• They must have comp leted two 

tours with preference to those that have 

been overseas. 

The maximum period of undergradu ate tr ainin g under the degree complet ion program that can be supported is 

18 month s. The objective is to support 

those officers with outsta nding performance records in obtaining a ba chelors 

degree in disciplines that the Army can 

use. The disciplines are too numerou s to 

list here, but und ergraduate educati on 

direct ed in th e areas where graduate level 

short ages exist receive preferential con ­

sideration. 

SPECIALTY DESIGNATORS 

The Office r Personnel Management 

Directorate has initiated file reviews to 

determine second specialty qualificati ons 

of all OPMD-managed officers in Year 

Group 1974. Some of the fact ors being 

considered include time served in various 

specialty areas, performance ratings in 

these specialty assignments, civilian and 

mil itary education, and individual 

preferences. 

The final determination of second 

specialties, formally designated for all officers completing eight years of active service, is based on the following criteria: 

Army needs, individu al experience, and 

pe rs on al p referen ces. Ar my requirements must be the primary consideration in making final designations. 

Year Group 74 officers have had . or 

soon will have , an opport unity to cite second specialty preferences on person al 

questionnaires which OPMD furnis hed 

through servicing Military Personnel Offices (MILPOs) during November 1980. 

Questionnaires returned to OPMD are 

compared with the results of the file 

reviews before OPMD makes a final 

designat ion for each officer in YG 74. 

The specialty designation process is 

more complex than most officers realize. 

The least complicated situation occurs 

when the company grade officer cites 

specialty pr eferences which correlate 

with his education , training, and experienc e. If there is little or no correlation , OPMD must evaluate the officer's 

experience and preferences and mak e a 

judgement decision based on both Army 

requirements and ind ividual preferences. 

If an officer's preferences are not supported by experience, the OPMD 

evalu ator must also judge the officer's 

potential to complete the necessary train ­

ing, and whether Arm y requirements 

could be filled better by other cap tains 

with similar specialty preferences who 

already ha ve th e required training and 

experience. 

OPMD career managers may have to 

designate some officers from YG 74 int o 

OPMS specialties in which Army requirements exceed the number of officers 

who pr efer those specialties. But 

OPMD's goal is to minimize the number 

of captains who are designated specialties 

which they do not list as pre feren ces. 

STAFF SCHOOLS REVAMPED 

Studies/programs are underway to 

revamp our military schooling for compan y grade officers. The new programs 

retlect some of the recommendations 

contained in the Review of Education 

and Training of Officers (RETO) stu dy. 

Under RETO, the Army will establish 

a Combined Arms an d Services Staff 

School (termed "CAS-cubed" or CAS' ) 

at Fort Leavenworth, KS , this fiscal year . 

When the system become fully operational in FY 85 , all officers can expec t to 

attend the new school sometime during 

their seventh to ninth year of service . 

This means that mor e than 3,300 ofticers 

will be enrolled in CAS' each yea r. The 

school will include both residen t and 

nonresident instruction . 

After an officer has completed the 

nonresident phase, he wilt attend the 

resident phase during his seventh, eighth 

or ninth year of service. AII officers will 

be req uired to particip ate in the p rogram . 

Th e resident phase of the course is tentatively scheduled to span nine weeks. 

Student s will attend the resident phase in 

36 WINTER 1980·81 
a TDY statu s. As an outgrowth of th e 

CAS) pro gr am, the Army has had to 

develop a new system for selecting officer s to attend resident comm an d and 

staff college level schools. Beginning with 

ac ad emic yea r 1982-83 , a year group 

meth od will be used to select officers for 

CSc. Under the new system , offi cers will 

be eligible for CSC consideration during 

th eir eight h through eleventh years of 

commissioned service and will compete 

with officers from their own yea r group 

for select ion. 

During the tran sition period to th e new 

CSC syste m (until 1983), th e Army will 

cont inue 10 give CSC considera tion to officers with eight through IS year s of service. During 1982 and 1983 , the selectio n 

of officers with 12-15 yea rs of service will 

be influence d by how man y officers from 

th ose yea r groups already have attended 

CSC. Year-grou p competition for officers 

with eight through 11 years of service will 

begin in 1982 . T he new CSC system 

should be fully oper ational by 1985. 

COMBINED ARMS COURSES 

To perp etu at e the comb ined arms at ­

mosph ere at the Infan try and Armor advanced course, one engin eer officer will 

be selecte d to attend eac h course. Onl y 

th e most qu alified office rs will be 

selected to repr esent the engineers and 

pa rt icipa te in th ese schoo l courses: 

PHOTOGRAPHS 

Wh at does your photog raph in your 

Militar y Pe rsonnel File say abo ut you? 

Are you well dressed ? Does your uniform 

fit? Are you represented as an officer who 

is ready for ad ded challenges? You r official photograph should repr esent you at 

your very best. Don' t wear " specia l" 

item s such as jump boots, unauthorzied 

tabs, ribbons, berets, et c., when having 

your photo taken . And avoid wearing 

photo-se nsitive glasses which tend to look 

like s unglasses wh en pl a ced on 

microfiche. If your latest photo is out ­

dated , or if you appear overweight , it 

may be doin g you an injusti ce. 

Remember th at AR 640-30 requires a 

new photo of every officer every three 

years . 

PHYSICAL EXAMS 

Ar my Regulati on 40-S01 requires 

physical exams for every officer at fourycar intervals up to age 39, at two-yea r 

int ervals from age 39 through age 48, and 

annu ally beginning at age 49. Offi cers 

should make sure that their corr ect 

height and weight measurements ar e 

retl ected on their Offic er Record Briefs 

(ORB), pa rticularly those who have experienced a recen t weight gain or loss. 

Local Military Personn el Officer s should 

post the ORB based on a physical exam 

or height-weight cert ificate from local 

medical act ivities. 

HOMEBASE ASSIGNMENTS 

Offic ers desiring to return to their cur ­

rent installa tion following a dependent 

restricted overseas short tour must apply 

thro ugh their installation comma nder to 

Comm ander, MILPE RCEN. In stallation 

com me nts will b e con side red by 

MILP ERCEN in progr ammin g 

horneb ase assignments. This pro cedure 

does not delegate veto auth ority on 

homebase assignment s to installation 

commander s. Final authority is retained 

by th e comman der of MI LPERCEN . 

Requ ests mu st be submitted in writing 

to arrive at MI LPERCEN (a ppropriat e 

assignment division) no lat er than 30 

days aft er initial notificati on for the 

overseas assignment. If the request is not 

received within 30 days after initi al 

notification, an ad vanced assig nment will 

be pr ojected based on Army re ­

quirem en ts, in dividual pr of essi onal 

devel opment ne eds, and person al 

desires. 

OPMD REORGANIZATION 

A plan for the reorga nization of 

M ILP E RC E N's O ffi cer P er sonn el 

Management Dir ectorate (OPMD) was 

ap p ro ved d u rin g Fa ll 1979. The 

reorganization, scheduled to take place 

over a 19-month period , is designed to 

provide efficient and effec tive "life cycle" 

car eer man agement for Army officers 

under the Offic er Pers onnel Management System (OPMS). 

The reorgan izati on plan calls for three 

verti cally structured career management 

divisions: Combat Arms Division , Combat Suppo rt Arms Division , and Comb at 

Service Support Division. These divisions 

will be responsible for assignment of 

lieutenants through lieuten an t colonels. 

The Colon els Division and Warrant Officers Division will be retained without 

ch an ge . The Major s Division was 

disb anded in Augus t 1980 and integrated 

int o the Comb at Support Arms Division . 

Th e Lieu ten ant Colonels Division is 

scheduled to be disbanded an d integrated by the end of Februar y 1981. 

Under the new struct ure , an officer's 

ca reer will be managed by one of th e 

three ca reer divisions from th e day he 

ente rs the Army as a second lieut enant 

th rou gh selection for promotion to colonel. Th is not only improves total 

ma nage ment bu t also gives offic ers a 

single point of contact thro ughout the ir 

careers from gra de 0-1 to grade 0-5. 

Offi cers who hold entry specia lties 11, 

12, 13, 14, or 15 will be man aged by the 

Combat Arms Division . The Combat 

Support Arms Division will man age those 

officers with entry specialties 21. 25 , 27, 

31, 35, 36, 37, 72, 74. The Combat Service Support Division will manage officers with entry specialties 42, 43, 44, 

71, 73, 75, 76, 77, 81,82,87,88. and 92. 

"ONE STOP" RECORDS 

SERVICE 

Offi cer s visiting MILP ER CEN to 

review th eir Offi cial Milit ary Personnel 

File ar e now also provided assistance to 

update their Officer Record Briefs 

(ORBs). The new service is part of 

MILPERCEN's effort to provide " OneStop" personnel record s service for officers visiting the personnel center in 

Alexan dria , VA. 

To insure th at ORB inform at ion is accur ate, officers should communicate first 

with th eir local MI LPO to up date the information and not wait un til th ey visit 

MI LPERCEN. 

ENGINEER 37 
__nENLISTEDCAREER INFO
 

ARMY APPRENTICESHIP 

PROGRAM 

Enginee r soldiers have the opportu nity 

to ear n civilian credit for their military 

job by participating in the Army Apprenticeship Program. The pr ogram directly 

relates MOS skills to civilian skills. 

To be eligible, engineers must have as 

a primary or secondary MOS one of th e 

specialties approved for th e prog ra m, 

an d mu st be working in that MOS . 

Most progra ms require 6,000 or 8,000 

hou rs of docum ented work. However, 

previous work experie nce and training 

can account for up to half of the tota l requ ired hours. Not all soldiers par ­

ticipating in th e Army App rentices hip 

Program are guaranteed an ap prenticeship com pletion certificate . All 

criteria mu st be met. Since a soldier is required to perform some duties in an 

MOS not relat ed to the apprenticeship 

requ irements, and since the Army is not 

always able to provide the needed tas ks , 

some hours of qualifying work exp erience 

may have to be completed whe n the 

soldier leaves the Army. 

Soldiers leaving the Army be fore completing the program ca n obtai n letters 

from th eir local education services officer 

(ESO) to cert ify their docume nte d work 

expe rience. 

For ea ch approved program there is a 

pamphlet in the DA PAM 621 series to 

explain the requ iremen ts. Engineer 

soldiers who are int erested in the program should cont act their local ESO who 

will help them fill out a short applica tion. 

Th e Army service school sponsoring th e 

particul ar program decides how mu ch 

credit a soldier shou ld get for previou s 

training and work experience. 

The approved occupational progr ams 

draw soldiers from more tha n 130 MO S 

all of which a re ope n to women. So far: 

th e programs with th e most par ticipa nts 

ar e whee led vehicle mechanic , grading 

an d p a ving eq ui pment opera tor. 

helicopt er mechanic, and cook. App roximately 16,000 soldiers are curr ently pa rtic ipating in the progra m, but an 

estimated 100,000 more sold iers could 

participate. 

NCO DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 

The Army Chief of Staff ha s approved 

th e estab lishm ent of an Army-wide NCO 

Development Program (NCOD P). The 

objective of the prog ra m is to increase 

PROGRAMS AVAILABLE 

FOR ENGINEER SOLDIERS 

OCCUPATION MOS DA PAM 621­

Plant Equipment Operator 62G/H 76 

Grading & Paving Equip Operator 62E/H/J 77 

Heavy Duty Repairer (Const Equip) 628 78 

Universal Equipment Operator 62F 79 

(Cons tr Equip) 

Carpenter 518 84 

Plumber, Pipefltter 51N 85 

Electrician 51R 86 

Firefighter 51M 116 

Refrigeration/Air Conditioning 52C 115 

Repairer/Servicer 

Lithographer (Offset Press Ope rator) 41K ,83E/F 112 

Drafter (Architectural) 81 8 113 

Industrial Electrician/Repairer 52E 117 

Powerhouse Electrician/Repairer 52E 118 

Rigger 128/C 123 

51C/H 

Surveyor, Engineering 82BIO 107 

comba t effect iveness of the Total Army 

by strengthening the NCO Corps in the 

following ar eas: leadership ; professional 

skill development; tra ining; counseling; 

care of the soldier ; and military condu ct 

an d discipline. 

Th e NCO DP will be a uni t com ­

mander' s progr am. cond ucted primaril y 

under noncomm issioned officers when 

ap prop riate . It is at the un it level wher e 

potential nonc omm issioned officers arc 

selected, where th eir most significa nt 

trai ning is accomplished , and where th eir 

perform an ce counts most in the Army's 

mission . Th erefore, comm anders will be 

responsible for creating, impleme nt ing , 

and gui ding noncomm issioned officer 

development programs within their units 

and orga nizatio ns based on individu al require ments and available resources. 

Th e NCO DP will contain training 

tasks, du ties and responsibil ities which 

enha nce un it combat readiness. The uni t 

NCODP will be supported by an HQDA 

program which will develop initiat ives to 

strengthen those Army-wide programs 

pr oviding support to th e NCODP such as 

EPMS. Army Training Literat ure Progr am, Army Conti nuing Ed ucation Progra m, and the Qua lity of Life Program . 

To assist comma nders in NCODP 

development and execution, each major 

comm and will esta blish a Nonco mmissioned Officer Development Advisory 

Coun cil cha ired by the com ma n d 

sergeant major. Members will include 

senior noncommi ssioned officers from 

the comma nd . Th e Sergean t Major of the 

Army has been charged with overall 

responsibility for th e program . 

COMMANDERS AWARD
 

PROMOTION POINTS
 

Unit commanders now have more to 

say ab out who gets promoted to E-5. 

Commanders will award up to 150 points 

based on the soldier 's kn owledge of an d 

ability to perform assigned duties , 

depe nda bility, attitude, initiative, conduct , physical condition, and potential to 

pe rfor m at the next higher grad e. 

Previously, up to 150 points on t he 

I,OOO-point works heet were awa rded based on Enlisted Evalua tion Report 

weight ed averages. Enlisted Evaluation 

Reports are no longer required for E-4s. 

38 WINTER 1980·81 
Commanders will have to submit a DA 

Form 4187 (Personnel Action ) awarding 

the points at the time that the soldier is 

recommended for promoti on . Th ey can 

ch ange the score awarded a soldier by 

submitt ing another DA Form 4187. 

ASSIGNMENT IN RESERVE 

COMPONENTS 

Active Army soldiers are being assigned full time to high priority Reserve Component units to enhance their readin ess. 

Their presence in troop uni ts is expected 

to ensure dail y attention to key areas of 

readiness. Th ese areas include ad ­

ministration, supply, maintenance, and 

tr aining activities. 

Th e reassignment of Active Army 

soldiers to Reserve Component units is 

one of the Army's highest priority personnel objectives. It involves the cooperative 

efforts of both the losing and ga ining 

organizat ions to select qualified soldi ers. 

Befor e being selected , each indi vidual 

has to be chec ked against the high standa rds associated with Reserve Component duty. Th ese sta ndards are specified 

in AR 614-200, Enlisted Personnel Selec­

(ion , Train ing and Assignment System: 

Grades E-I through E-9. 

SOCAD COURSES 

Th e Army has add ed 21 new associate 

degree program s to those alrea dy offered 

through the Servicemen's Opportunity 

Colleges Associate Degree (SOC AD) Program. New cours es include: Law Enforcement; Aviation Maintenance; Communication s Electronics; Accounting; 

A u t o mo t iv e Maintenance ; Civil 

Enginee ring; Communications (Media); 

Computer Maintenance; Construction ; 

Data Processing ; Diesel Maint enance ; 

Offi ce Man agement; Security Services; 

Correctional Services; Tran sport ation; 

Electrical Power; Digit al Electronics; 

Food Service Management ; Instrument ation ; Management Science; and Medical 

Record s. 

Each of the 21 new curricula is in a 

technical field rela ted to certain MOS 

and career management fields. In each 

program a soldier may be awarded credit 

for technical skills achieved through 

milit ary service. 

More th an 300 colleges participate in 

the SOCAD program, and sold iers may 

transfer credit easily from one participating school to another. More than 

70 of the schools offer a management 

program geared to combat arm s soldiers. 

SELECTIVE SERVICE 

REGISTRATION 

Military personn el on active duty are 

11 0t required to register for selective service. However, males born in 1960 or 

1961 who were on active duty at th e time 

registration st arte d and are later 

separated, are requ ired to register within 

30 days of th eir sepa ration. These individu als should go to their local post office and fill out a registration form . 

Beginn ing Janu ary 1.1981. male s born in 

1962 will register, and there will be continuou s registration for 18 years olds. 

Male personnel separated from active 

duty afte r th e period specified for their 

registration mu st register within 30 da ys 

of the ir sep aration. 

OFFICER PROCUREMENT
 

Qualified soldiers are encouraged to 

apply for either Warrant Officer Scho ol 

or Officer Candidate School . 

To be eligible for acceptance to Warran t Officer School, soldiers must be between the ages of 18 and 46, and have 

sufficient education, technical training 

and practical experience to perform 

pr escribed duties in th e MOS requested . 

Oth er requirement s includ e a minimum 

GT score of 110, good moral cha racter, 

g o od l ead ership quali ti es as 

dem onstr ated by person al background 

and previou s experience, and a favorable 

security screening. 

Enlisted personnel and warrant officers on active duty wishing to apply for 

the 14-week Officer Candidate School, 

now called Br an ch Imm aterial Officer 

Candidate Course (BIOCC ), mu st be between the ages of 19 and a half and 29 at 

time of enrollment. However, a waiver of 

age may be granted by Commander, US 

Army MILPERCEN. In addi tion , ap· 

plicants must have compl eted two years 

of a four-year college degree program. 

Male personnel must have a minimum 

GT score of 110 and a composite score of 

at least 200 betwe en the Officer Candidate Test (OCT) and the Officer 

Qualifi cation Inventory (OQl) . Female 

person nel must have a minimum GT 

score of 115. The OCT and the OQI are 

not required for femal es. Individual s 

must have a Class A ph ysical which 

should be accomplished no earlier th an 

six months prior to the date of application , a score of at least 300 points on a PT 

test taken no ear lier th an two month s 

before the date of the board, and a 

favorable security screening. Soldiers 

curre nt ly serving overseas will not be able 

to PCS to CONUS until completing 24 

months of a long tour. Short tour 

assignments of less than 24 months will 

be completed before PCS . 

Class dat es and cutoff dates for submission of appl icati ons for BIOCC have 

been schedul ed as follows: 

CLASS NO. REPORTING DATE GRADUATION DATE CUTOFF DATE 

3·81 April 19,1981 July 28, 1981 January 16, 1981 

4-81 June 14, 1981 September 22, 1981 March 13, 1981 

5-81 August 2, 1981 November 10,1981 May 7, 1981 

ENGINEER 39 
M THE SCHOOL SOLlmON
 

I. MINEFIELD DENSITY 

From Figure M-2, FM 20-32 

(be low right) . th e required 

minefield density is determined to 

be .8 min es per meter of front. 

n. TOTAL MINES REQUIRED 

Compute the total number of 

mines required by mul tiplying the 

min efield dens ity by the min efield 

widt h and add a 10 percent safety 

fac tor (mine rejections. strip length 

variance, etc .). Th e minefield width 

is the distance bet ween the 

minefield coordinates. which you 

determine to be approxim ately 500 

meters. 

Width x Den sity + .10 

(Width x Density) = min es requ ired 

500 x 0.8 + .10 (500 x 0.8) 

mines required = 400 

+ 40 = 440 

In calculating the number of mines 

per row, you must allow at least six 

meters between mines to pr event 

sym pathetic detonation (paragra ph 

4-4 , FM 20·32). Therefore, 500 

meters divided by six meters equals 

83.3 mines, or rounded do wn to 

ju st 83 mines per row. The number 

of rows required is determined by 

dividing the number of mines required (440) by th e number of 

mines per row (83). The result. 

rounded up , is six rows of 83 mines 

each . 

m. PLATOON HOURS; 

TRUCKS REQUIRED 

The time required to emplace the 

minefield using the M57 ATMDS is 

calculated by dividing the number 

of mines by the M57 dispenser 

capability, which is 385 mines per 

hour (para F·5, FM 20· 32). The 

result is ] .14 hour s. rounded up to 

1.5 hours. The number of S-ton 

dump trucks requ ired is determined by dividing the total number of 

mines (440) by the truck haul 

capability, which is 288 mines per 

truck (para F-4, FM 20-32) . Th e 

result is 1.53 tru cks, or rounded up 

to two tru cks. 

100 

90 

80 

70 fz 

w 

U 

t:lI: 

w 60 c, 

z 

>- 50 

I­

...J

-

a:l 

<C 40 a:l 

0 

t:lI: 

c.. 

30 

20 

10 

o 

PROBABILITY OF A TANK ENCOUNTERING
 

A PRESSURE·FUSED MINE
 

IN MINEFIELDS OF VARIOUS DENSITIES
 

--­ ""'" - / 

/ V 

I V 

/

/

1/

J' 

/

II 

o 0.5 1.0 1.5 2.0 2.5 3.0 3.5 4.0 

ANTITANK MINES PER METER OF FRONT 

· U.S GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE, 1981·0·720·09411 

40 WINTER 1980-81