he 

• engineer
 

FALL 1971 
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e

[

the engineer
 

FALL 1971 VOLUME 1 NUMBER 3 

2 Pi peline/ News Items 

4 Engineer Interview/ j\JfG Robert R. Plo ger 

9 Clearing The Way/Robert G. McClintic 

15 Base Development/MG Curtis Chapman 

19 Vietnam Construction Overview/LTG Carroll H. Dunn 

23 The First Y ear/MAJ W . B. Williard 

26 Special Training in th e Skills/Engineer Staff 

29 Mission Accomplisbed.rCt'T Andrew M. Perkins Jr. 

31 The Ugly Truth/W. T . Spriegel 

35 From Concept To Reality/CPT John J. Connor 

40 Soldiers Of Th e Deep/LT M. J. Tercv 

44 Bridging The Gap/Personnel Notes 

DEPARTMENTS: / Chiefs Briefs / Pipeline / Bridging The Gap 
CHIEF'S BRIEFS .....
 

Colone l R icha rd Gridley, A rne nca's first Chief E ng ineer, was born 

at Boston , Massachu setts, on Janua ry 3, 17 10. H e was the outstand ­

ing American M ilitary Engineer duri ng the French and Indi an War, 

from the Siege of Lo uisburg in 17 45 to the fall of Q uebec, wh ich ended 

French ru le of Canada. For his services, he was given a commission in 

th e British Army, a gran t of the Island of Magdalen, 3,000 acres of 

land in New Hampshire, and a life annuity . Whe n th e break with the 

mother co untry came, he declared himself for the col onies ; and in the 

spring of 1775 was made Chief Enginee r and Chi ef of Artillery of the 

New England Provincial Army , with the ra nk of Major General. By 

mak ing this break with the Government in London, he sacrificed all 

his annuities and emoluments from the British Gove rnment. 

On June 16, 1775, the Continental Co ngress au thorized a Chief Engineer "at the G rand Army," and th at night by lant ern light , Co lone l 

Gridley, America's first Chief Engineer , marked the lines fo r entrenchme nt for the defenses OIl Breed 's H ill. Then, with spade in hand, he 

helped throw u p the defen ses, and in the aftern oon was ca rri ed wounded 

from the field after having fought valiantly in th e trenches. This marked 

Co lonel G ridley as the first "pick and shovel" combat engineer in the 

U ni ted States Army. 

T he colo nel was appointed Chie f E ngineer of th e Continental Army 

after Wash ington took command in July 1775, an d directed the construc tion of the fortification s which forced the British to evacuate Boston in March 1776 . When Washington moved his Army south, Gridley 

remained as Chief Engineer of the New England Department to construct fo rtifications o n the New Engla nd coast. He held that position 

until his retiremen t in 1781. 

General Washington wrote that Rich ar d Gridley wa s "one of the 

greatest engi neers of the age. " 

Colon el G ridley died at Stou gh ton , Massachuse tts on June 21, 1796 

at the age of 86 . e .
 

U.S. Army Engineer School 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 

Com ma ndant 

MG Robert R. Ploger 

Assistant Commandant 

BG Richard L. Harris 

De p uty Assistant 

Comm an d ant 

COL Willia m F. Hart, Jr. 

Offlcer-in-Charge 

MAJ Tommy B. King 

Edito r 

Robert G. McClint ic 

Managin g Editor 

Willia m T. Spriegel 

Art Director 

'J ohn W. Savage, Jr. 

Th.e Engineer is a n outhorized quar 
 

terly publication of the U.S. Army
 

Enginur School. It is p ub lished to
 provide fadual and in-de pth inf or­
 mation of interelt to 0 11 Engi neer
 un its. Articles, photogrophs and a rt
 work of general interest ma y be sub ­
 mitted for ccn aiderette n to : Edito r,
 The Engin eer, USA Engin eer School ,
 fort Belvo ir, Virgi nia 22060. View s
 and op in ions expressed her e in a re
 

nof nec&norily those of the D'epa rt..
 ment of th e Army . Use of funds for
 printing of this publi ca tion has bee n
 approved by He adq uarters, Depart ­


ment of the Army, Jul y I I , 1969.
 

Sub script ions to THE ENGINEER
 maga zine a re a vaila b le throug h the
 Superintendent of Docum ents, U. S.
 Government Printing Office, Wa, h..
 ing to n, D. C. 20402. An nual rates are
 $1.50 for ma ilin g to a do mest ic o r
 APO address a nd $2 .00 fo r mo iling to
 a fore ig n addres$. Ind ivid UQI c.opies
 of the magozine are 50 ¢ ea ch. Checks
 should be made payable to the Su­
 perintendent of Documents.
 

ABOUT THE COVER 

The nameless faces
 

of the men and the ma ­


chines that " clea r the
 

way" in a comba t zone
 

as envisioned by Art
 

Director John W. Sav­


age, Jr., illustrates the
 

Engineer presence in
 

Vietnam.
 
•• 

OUT OF THE BLUE
 

..... ¥. .'­

A SKYCRANE AIRLIFTS concrete to tower bases that support 

the steel towers which in turn will 

support the new roadway span on 

the Chesapeake Bay Bridge. In a 

continu ing series of shuttle flights, 

the Skycrane lifts the prepoured 

concrete in four-ya rd buckets, and 

flies to a barge anchored along the 

individual towers . Each four-yard 

load weighs about 17,000 pounds. 

The concrete is released into a hopper on the barge and is then transferred by conveyor belt to the tower 

foundation and spread by work 

crews. U. S. Army engineers have 

been watch ing this operation with 

2 

interest because normally concrete 

work over water is done with barges. The Skycrane method can do 

the job in 19 days. It would take 

six months to do the job under the 

conventional method. 

NO MILITARY 

CONSTRUCTION FUNDS 

SLATED FOR SE ASIA 

SUPPORT IN FY 12 

The Defense Department ha s requested a whopping $2,259.4 million in authoriz ations for milit ary 

construction during Fiscal Year 

1972 as compared with DOD requests for $1, 893 .3 million in FY 

1970 and $2,069 .1 million in FY 

1971 . 

None of the FY 1972 money will 

be used for military construction in 

support of oper ations in Southeast 

Asia. Th is is the first time since the 

buildup began over there that DOD 

has req uested no authorization or 

appropriations for military construction for th at ar ea. 

Actual enactments in the two 

prior years totall ed $ 1,639.7 million 

and $2 ,001 .2 million , respectively. 

The increase in requested FY 

1972 authorizations over the 

amo unts requested for fiscal years 

1970 and 1971, is due prim aril y to 

additional emph asis on housing for 

both bac helor and ma rried personnel as well as increases for pollution abatement and Reserve Forces facilities . 

NEW ENGINEER LAB 

MOVES FROM NATICK 

TO FORT BELVOIR 

The Earth Sciences Laboratory 

(ESL) has finally relocated from 

Na tick, Ma ssachusetts, to its new 

address with the U. S. Army Engineer Topographic Laboratori es 

(ETL) at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. 

ESL was officially transferred 

from the Army Ma teriel Command 

(AMC) to the Corps of Engineers 

last May but the phy sical move was 

just completed in September. The 

Corps of Engineers' U. S. Army 

Topogra phical Command is th e parent organization of ETL. 

Th e ESL mission is to perform 

research and development in the 

fields of environmental and geographic sciences. 

BATTALION SOLVES 

MAJOR PROBLEM 

FOR Sl\tIALL TOWN 

The 293rd Engineer Batt alion 

has tak en a lon g step toward cementing German-American friend ­

ship for the U . S. Army En gineer 

Command, Europe . 

When the wells wen t dr y in the 

sma ll town of Od enbach near 

Baurnholder, the citizens were faced 

with a major pro blem. The town 
had no water trucks and needed 

help quickly. It came from B Company of the 293rd. 

The unit sent a water truck to 

the town every day until the water 

supply was relocated. En gineer 

drivers made 14 trips a day-accounting for 44 ,000 gallons of 

water-to keep the town well supplied. 

Od enbach did not forget B Company. As a token of their appreciation, the citizens presented a pewter 

teapot to the company. In addition , 

all members of the unit were invited 

to an Odenbach festival. 

ARMY TAKES HARD 

LOOK AT NEW 

"SOFT" LENS CONCEPT 

Engineers who must wear eyeglasses while using optical-lens 

equipment may soon be wearing 

special "specs." 

Some soldiers have broken their 

glasses while using surveillance devices and have suffered a double 

tragedy-they sustained eye damage and the Army lost some highlyskilled specialists . 

To counteract this problem, the 

Army is looking beyond the ordinary contact lenses toward a principal called the "soft" lens. 

These are flexible silicone rubber lenses which appear to meet 

many of the required characteristics 

such as safety, comfort, stability and 

continuous wear for a minimum of 

five days in a military environment. 

Recent studies and surveys by 

the Combat Developments Command indicate that some 35 percent 

of our soldiers wear glasses (26 percent came into the Army wearing 

them. ) 

Also listed are some 92 optical 

sights and devices that a soldier 

with glasses would have difficulty 

operating, or that he could handle 

more effectively with "soft" spectacles. Engineer equipment that Corps 

personnel, who wear glasses would 

hav e difficulty handling, inc1udeplotting instruments, mechanical 

stereo platters and other surveying 

instruments, azimuth measuring devices and theodolites. 

24TH ENGINEER GROUP 

GETS NEW CREST 

Members of the 24th Engineer 

Group , based in Kaiserslautern, 

Germany, have pinned on a new insignia that significantly portrays 

highlights of the unit's history since 

its activation . 

The scarlet and white colors of 

the insignia are , of course, the 

colors of the Corps of Engineers. 

The Korean Gate (South Gate of 

Seoul) and the laurel wreath commemorate the unit's combat history 

during the Korean War. The 24th 

earned two Republic of Korea 

Presidential Unit Citations and 

eight campaign awards (battle 

stars) for its service during that action. 

The laurel, indicative of merit, 

together with the scarlet knot, also 

refers to the Meritorious Unit Commendation for Korea. The 24th 

Group's World War II campaign 

service in Europe and historic Combat Engineer mission are not ed by 

the swor d. 

The pick mattock signifies the organization's subsequent and present 

Engineer Combat mission. 

ENGINEERS LAUNCH 

PROGRAM TO ATTACK 

\XlATER POLLUTION 

The Engineer Corps has initiated 

a two-pronged program aimed at 

cleaning up the nation's rivers and 

lakes. 

Feasibility studies into wastewater management problems should 

provide some answers . Two programs, the permit program, aimed 

at keeping pollutants out of the 

water and the waste-management 

program, aimed at finding other 

ways to get rid of them. e 

3 
• looks like the typical large corporation president. or a banker, or a engineer flag o fficer. lJe is the latter. 

"He com es across in conversation 

as a tru e gen tleman with a quick 

and agile mind. His great compas­ intervie\N: sion for his troops is readily apparwith 

majo r general 

Robert 

R. 

Ploger 

The fall issu e of th e engineer 

m agazin e is highli ghting Engineer 

accomplishments in Vietnam and 

on many of the following page s, 

hop efull y , provides an in-depth account o f the trials and successes 

since the buildup began in 1965. 

T o get ans wers to some of the 

more probing questi ons, engineer 

Editor Bob M cClintic ask ed an expert on such matters. 

That expert, Major General Robert R. Ploger, Commanding General 

of th e U. S. Army Engineer Center 

and Fort Belvoir, and Com m andant 

of the Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, has writ ten a book 

abou t the exploits of " A rmy Engineers in V ietnam-1965-1 970." 

A ve teran combat en gineer with 

32 yea rs in the Corps , General 

Ploger commanded both the 18th 

Engin eer Brigade (the first major 

engine er combat unit in Vietnam) 

and the U. S . A rmy Engineer Command during a tw o-year tour in that 

co untry . 

M cClintic took the followin g impressions awa y from th e interview: 

"Ge neral Ploger's headquarters 

offices are located at Flagler Hall . 

an old bri ck mansion that nestles 

midst gigantic oa k trees adjacent to 

Fort Belv oir's sp acious parade 

ground . Two bronze cannons, their 

glitter tu rne d 10 a greenish-blue patina by time and natural oxidation , 

stand majesticall y at th e entrance . 

"A t first glance, General Ploger 

ent-s-especially for the private, the 

noncommissioned o fficer, and the 

yo ung officer. 

" It is said that the mark of a 

soldier can be weighed by his com ­

bat decorations, his various badges, 

the mileage he has covered throughout the world, and the wars he has 

fou ght. 

"It is also said that one need look 

no furth er than a m an's eyes to find 

the mark. In General Ploger's cas e, 

the mettle shows through in the 

wisd om and deep com prehension 

reflected in his piercing , unwa vering eyes. Even if he were incognito 

and in mufti, the general would impress yo u in a dire ct con frontatio n 

as someone wh o has been there and 

hack and would lik e to go hack 

again. " 

Commissioned in the Corps o f 

Engineers in 1939 following gradua tion from the U. S. Military A eademy at We st Point, General Ploget 's career has had many highlights. 

"We must us e every man , . ." " . . must use every machine. . sr "and every moment to advantage." 

4 
Du ring W orld W ar 1/, he m ad e the 

Omaha Beach landing as engine er 

ad visor to the comm ande r o f the 

2 9th Infantry Di vision, and later led 

th e J2 / st Engineer Com bat Battalion through the No rmandy , 

N orthern Fran ce and Germ any campaign s. Wh en th e buildup in V ietnam began in 1965 , Gen eral Ploger 

was tap ped to com m and the 18th 

En gineer Brigade. 

He later becam e the CG of the 

U. S. A rm y Enginee r Command 

and Senior A dvisor to the Chie f of 

En gineers of the R epublic of Vie tnam, Th e genera l has served in 

man." other com m and assignments 

- A rm y Di vision Engin eer fo r New 

En gland , T o pographer of the A rm y, 

and Direct or of Military En gineering in the Office o f the Chief of 

Engineers. 

The gene ral has two masters degrees-one from Cornell Univ ersity 

in En gineering, and the other from 

Ge orge W ashington Unive rsity in 

Business A dministration . FIe also 

att ended th e Industrial Co llege o f 

thl' A rmed For ces and after completing the resident course, se rved 

for three years all the staff and faculty as a lecturer with a N ationa l 

Security Semin ar team of th e co llege. 

General Ploger wea rs thr ee hats 

at Fort Belvoir and, conse quently , 

has three fundamental missions. 

One, he commands all of the units 

tha t are assigned to him at Fort 

Belvoir. Two . as Commandant of 

the En gineer School , he manages a 

highlv-technical institution involved 

in providing fut ure military engineers with the professional and technical ex pertise necessar y to m eet all 

engineer responsibilities in the future Army. Three , as post com ­

mander he provides logistics and adm inistrative support for some 30 

organizations tha t are located at 

Fort Belvoir but are not assigned to 

the Engine er Center. 

General Ploger sums up his Fort 

Belvoir assignment most appropriate ly : " With the preparations we 

(Ire m aking. enginee rs of th e future 

A rmy will be abreast of every ad­

\'ance an d ready once again to respond as proiessionals," 

ENGR: GENERAL PLOGER, 

YOU OHGANIZED THE ENGINEER COMl\lAJ'ID IN VIETNA~l

AND HAVE WATCHED IT 

GROW FROM INFANT TO MAN· 

SIZE PROPORTIONS. YOU 

HAVE BEEN VITALLY INVOLVED IN ITS jUANY AND 

VARIE)) ACCOMPllSHMEl\TS. 

WO ULD YOU COMMENT ON 

THE COMMAND ACCOMPLISH. 

MENTS? 

PLOGER: I start ed out when an 

engineer presence already existed in 

Vie tnam. There were some 5,000 

offi cers and men already on the 

ground when I got there but I saw 

the Engineer Command grow to a 

strength of about 30,000. The accomplishments ranged across the 

full scope of engineering- from 

such simp le things as preparing terrain ana lysis for tactical commanders to the erection of highly complex stru ctures. J think the real accomplishment is measured in the 

statement of man y tact ical commande rs over there who said that 

no operation, tactical or otherwise, 

suffered or failed to be performed 

becau se of any shortcoming on the 

pa rt of engineering input. 

ENGR : WO ULD YO U COM· 

MENT ON THE COMMAND'S 

PROBLEl\lS SINCE ITS ESTAB. 

LISHMENT IN LATE 1965? 

PLOGER : I would say the problems were mostly associa ted with 

makin g the environm ent adaptable ; 

amenable to our interests. We had 

a few orga nization problems such 

as finding people with the right 

skills and getting adequate supply 

support. There was a shortage of 

engineer and con struction materials, and spare pa rts. I suppose the 

most se rious probl em related to 

spare parts support-keeping the 

equipment functio ning, Another 

major problem that was un ique to 

South Vietn am was the necessity to 

ke ep book on every bit of construction th at we perform ed . We had to 

set up a cost accounting pro gram to 

insure that we were not violating 

congressiona l appro pria tions legislation in term s of fina ncial construction , We were also trying to find solution s to things like dust contro l. 

and counter-min e wa rfa re. 

ENGR: WHAT HAS BEE 1 

THE MAJOR MISSION OF THE 

ARMY ENGINEER IN VIE TNAM? 

PLOG ER : Th e major rrnssion 

has been to insu re that the engineer expertise is provided to en hance 

the success of tact ical operations, 

This goes beyond direct application 

to the tactical situ ation because, in 

order for the tactical operation tu 

work , you must worry about equipment , spare parts, weapon s, ma intenance. ammunit ion and petroleum 

reaching the users where and when 

they need it. Th e enginee r provides 

a logistics fram ework structure. fa ­

cility suppo rt, roads, airfields, and 

ammun ition storage areas. We provide these facilities all the way from 

the sho reline to a ba ttle site for the 

tactical commander. 

ENGR: WILL THE ENGINEER i\lISSION CHANGE TO 

MATCH THE CHANGE IN ITS 

PERSONNEL STRENGTH IN 

VIETNAM? 

5 
PLOGER: The mISSIon will not 

change. It is, of course, set forth in 

Army Regulations. It is further defined locall y to meet a particular situation. There will be less involvement of U. S. engineers in combat 

operations because the elements 

they support arc being removed 

from this activity. We are now 

pointed more toward supporting the 

Vietnamese-through tr aining, education, example, and advisors. Our 

mission is not ch anging but the proportion of time devoted to the different aspects will unquestionably 

change-as it has over any peri od 

of time . F or instance, in the very 

early days of our peri od in Vietnam, 

a tremendous propo rtion of our 

time was dev oted to the development of the bases from which U. S. 

forc es could launch attacks. Subsequently, this changed and more and 

mor e engineer effort went into the 

support of tactical formati ons in the 

field. 

ENGR: AS A VETERA~ COl'IBAT ENGINEER, DO YOU 

THINK THE WAR IN VIET· 

NAM HAS BEEN MORE TRY· 

I~G FOR ENGINEERS THAN 

THE TWO MOST PREVIOUS 

WARS-WWII Ai'lD KOREA? 

PLOGER: r think Vietnam presented more of a chall enge. This 

might not be universally tru e . We 

had pe ople in the Southwest Pacific 

and in th e Burma, China-India a rea 

who endu red the same kind of 

weather that is characteristic to 

Vietnam. But there were new challenges. There was a demand for 

greater co mpetence in the construction busin ess than was tru e in the 

past. We combat engineers from 

combat battalions were involved in 

constructing some rather sophisticated fac ilities. For example, at An 

Khe, the 70th Engineer Combat 

Battalion built an ice plant. Although prefabricated, it was still a 

fairl y complicated structure. Another challenge to tho se engineers 

who lack ed experience in the tropics 

stemmed from the intens e rains and 

heavy runoff charac teris tic of Vietnam. Enginee rs had to worry about 

dr ain age every place over there. You 

can get up to five to seven inches of 

rain a da y nearly anywhere in the 

cou ntry . Another serious challenge 

was the cost accounting program . 

This was a very tough pr oblem to 

add ress in a combat circumsta nce. 

But we did address it and did a very 

fine job of accounting for co nstruction . Both combat and construction 

batt alions had to keep cost record s 

on whatever they built. This is 

something that was not required in 

previous military tactical operations. 

We used to be able to draw supplies 

to do whatever con struction was 

required with little regard to its intended use. This time we had to account for how much wen t to Arm y 

military con stru ction . H ow much 

went to operations and maintenance 

for the Arm y? How much was 

chargeable to oth er purposes') This 

was a whole new problem area that 

was unique to tactical operations in 

South Vietnam. I would hope we 

could find some shortcuts if we 

sho uld ever have to repe at this kind 

of operati on o utside the United 

States. Enginee rs are not using the ir 

skills to best advantage when the y 

are required to be accountants. This 

is not their area of expertise. If we 

need accountants, perha ps we 

should have some people so quali ­

fied , come in and handle that side of 

the program , and let the engineers 

go on with their own special skills. 

ENGR: WHAT DID YOU 

THINK OF THE ENGINEER 

SOLDIER AND OFFICER IN 

VIETNAM ? WERE THEY AS 

GOOD AS THEIR COUNTER. 

PARTS IN PREVIOUS WARS 

WHERE YOU HAVE SEEN 

ACTION? 

PLOGER: They were the best 

ever. I placed tru st and confidence 

in both the officer and enlisted man 

working on engineering items in 

South Vietnam. Th ey responded 

with enthusiasm and never let me 

down. They had a staggering task 

and yet they handl ed the job with 

characteristic aggressivene ss. They 

did not complain about working 10 

to 12 hours a day, seven da ys a 

week . Work was the byword. r always felt that the engineer soldier 

and officer in South Vietnam worked more diligentl y, hard er, and 

longer hours than any othe r element 

of the milit ary co mmand . r agree 

that the engineer's job is pr obabl y 

more interesting. In any event , the 

response was universally tremendous. 

ENGR: DID THIS WAR RE· 

QUIRE MORE SOPHISTICAT· 

ED EQUIPMENT TO GET THE 

.lOR DONE THAN WWII AND 

KOREA ? 

PLOG ER : Yes, I would say it 

did . Of course, one could do most 

engin eer held tasks with shovels and 

manpower. The more sophisticated 

equipment we received over there, 

made it possible for us to do more, 

faster and better. We received larger trucks for highway con struction. 

pneum atic drills fo r rock quarry 

work, and new well-drilling eq uipment. During WWII, we used PSP 

- Pierced Stee l Plank for our airfields . We needed something better 

th an that in Vietnam for the more 

sophistica ted military aircraft of today. Thanks to deve lopment efforts 

back in the States, we wer e able to 

use Solid Steel Plank , SSP, and two 

6 
forms of aluminum matting for runways. 

ENGR : WHAT WERE SOME 

OF THE MORE IMPORTANT 

I,ESSONS ]\'lILITARY ENGINEER S LEARNED FROM THE 

VIETNAM WAR? 

PLOGER : Pr obably the most impo rtant single lesson is the recognition of the need for usin g eve ry 

man , machine, and moment to advantage. One mu st do ea rth work 

eve n whe n it is ra ining. You mu st 

find wa ys to bu ild and to move and 

mold ea rth in spite of the weathe r. 

A prime example of th is is re flected 

in the bu ildin g of highways in the 

Delta. We took a techn iqu e which 

had been used in the States, ex ­

pa nded it, and imp roved upon it to 

cons tru ct roads of clay usin g lime 

as a sta bi lizing material. I wa s also 

pe rsona lly invo lved wit h trying to 

build an airfield at Long T hanh , 

where in sp ite of freq uent ra ins, we 

had to build a four- th ousand -foot 

runway in a relati vely short period 

of time. Vet, we co uld ex pect some 

ra infal l eve ry day. Fo rtun ately, even 

in a monsoon period you get some 

sunshine be twe en th e rain sto rms. 

We developed methods to kee p th e 

gro und cover ed with some 1'-17, a 

rubberized membrane. Wh en the 

rain sta rted fa lling, we would cover 

wha t was being wo rked o n and as 

soo n as the ra in sto pped, unc over it 

and begin wo rking again . We found 

it po ssible to wo rk in some areas 

even during the cour se of the rain . 

U the rain do es not get so heavy 

that your wh eels are bogged down , 

you ca n continue movin g. This, 1 

th ink was a major tec hnic al advance. There we re a number of othcrs involving airfield constructio n. 

The combat ba ttalions, in par ticu ­

lar, got int o th is o ne . The air mobile co ncept of en gineer support was 

ano the r major innovati on . It has 

proven out very we ll in South Vie tnam . We have develop ed good system s for suppo rting a ir mobil e operat ions. The line of com munication 

develo pment was not really somethi ng new. Whe re ver engineers go, 

we are in the road building bu sin ess. 

Du st co ntrol systems, revetment systems for protecti on of facili ties, pr otectio n of bridging against sabota ge, 

aga inst mterfc rence by en em y forces, we re the princ iple things we had 

to think abo ut in that respect. Y OII 

can not huild roads in th at count ry 

without inclu ding these programs in 

yo ur overall plan . 

ENGR: HOW DO THESE 

LESSONS RELATE TO THE 

PROPOSAl, FOR REVAMPING 

TH E CONSTRlJCTION BATTALION? 

PLOG ER : The scho ol study on 

the co nst ruction batt alion resu lted 

from a Ch ief of Engineer's Board 

which was looking ove r our orga niza tion for co nstr uction. Based up on 

the experience in V ietnam where 

co nstr uction has been so ext ensive , 

the Board came up with a system of 

organization that would sort of 

pa rallel the way a contractor operates in this country . A major con ­

tractor has his various crafts ope rating und er different man agem ent se tups. T his is the most efficient way 

to perfo rm for a maj or con stru ction 

op er ation. Ce rtain ly a contra ctor 

woul d no t o rga nize in th at manner 

o therwise, because he is wo rking to 

ma ke mon ey. So, why don't we do 

the same thing ill our co nstructio n 

ba ttalio n? Wh y don' t we or ganize 

accordin g to <kills and put all th e 

electricians in o ne element, all the 

ca rpente rs in ano th er, and all of our 

equ ipment in ano the r? This way, 

whe n yo u need a particul ar skill o r 

c ra ft on one job, you ca l] on that 

cleme nt of command . A lot dep ends 

on the size of the job s. An altern ate 

proposal, th en , is instea d of usin g a 

ba ttali on org a nized as a co ntractor. 

we would use a co mpan y organized 

as a contracto r. T he co un ter-proposal to the Board 's was to use the 

compa ny as the base, as a co ntractor , h ut distribute th ese va rious 

skills so tha t each com pan y ha s the 

same skilis apportioned evenly. T he 

batt alio n organiza tion wher e Company A might have all the carpenter s; Compa ny B might h ave elec ­

tricians and plumbers ; Companv C 

mi ght have some thing else , and 

Compa ny D migh t have all the 

equipme nt: would confo rm to a 

la rger contracto r. The question as to 

wh ich p roposa l is right is partly answe red by knowing h ow big the ioh « 

ar e yo u ar e go ing to be handlin g. Is 

one jo b going to abs orb a complete 

ba tta lion in one locat ion? Or is it 

going to abs or b one compa ny in one 

location with the ot hers elsewhereat three ot her sites? Then you woul d 

need fou r companies; each cap able 

of do ing the same thin g. Anoth er , 

almos t phil osoph ical question , isshould th e Army sec k to o perate 

like a co ntractor? T tend to feel we 

sho uld not, becau se in the mi lita ry 

th e incentive fo r performance by a 

co nstruction organiza tio n is not 

mea surable in dollars. It is measu rable in lives; it is measurable in respo nsiveness . Dollar s mu st be given 

se co ndary consideratio n; whe reas 

fo r a co ntractor, it is the principa l 

factor. We are tryin g to save lives 

and we do th at by exercising very 

tight con trol ove r our soldie rs. The 

tighter contro l comes about in th e 

smaller organizations with clea r- cut 

near-continuous lines of com ma nd 

---with parallel lines of com ma nd 

and op era tional control. 

7 
AB OUT THE USE OF THE CI· 

VILIAN CONSTRUCTION OU T· 

FITS IN VIETNAM? THEY 

HAVE BEEN DOING A JOB 

OVER THERE AR OUND A COM. 

BAT SITUATION WHERE A 

HOT WAR ACTUALLY EXISTS. 

PLOG ER : If we ca n pay money 

enough to h ave civilians work in a 

comba t situa tion, it is fine. They 

have made major contribution s in 

South Vietnam , eve n in near-cornbat situations. In fac t, th is is one 

way in which we tried to divide up 

the wo rk . Wher e the situ at ion requ ires people with weapons to 

gua rd the wor kme n, we have tried 

to use our troops. Where there is 

no imminen t dange r to the workman, the co ntractor should and ca n 

work to the adv an tage of everyone. 

Any contractor will have difficulty 

hiring pe ople if they are going to become sho oting targets while at 

work. If these people are fired upon , 

they scatter- and a re rather slow to 

return . If rep eated , a point is soon 

reache d whe re they do not produce 

at all. Th is is not the right pla ce for 

a co ntrac tor to operate , bu t I cer ­

ta inly would em pha size th at in Vietnam they d id perform a major service . They filled a role which we 

were not prepared to rep lace. 

ENGR: COULD OUR RE· 

SERVE CONST RUCT ION BAT· 

TALIONS HAVE DONE THE CI. 

VILIAN CONTRACTORS JOB 

IN VIETNAM IF THEY HAD 

BEEN CALLED UP? WOULD 

THIS HAVE SAVED MONEY IN 

THE LONG RUN ? 

PLOGER : If we had called up 

the Reser ves, yes, they could have 

don e the job . They probabl y could 

have done everything becaus e our 

Reserve con struction battalions 

have the sam e kind of skills you 

wo uld find in a contractor's outfit. 

So that could have been done bu t 

militar y manpower is more expensive than civilian manp ower. A contr act or do es not ha ve to wo rry abo ut 

trainin g his people on militar y aspects, tactics, and all this sort of 

th ing. This is no t part of his bu siness. He does not particularly care 

whether his people wear dungarees, 

undershirts, Or shirts at all. He is 

concerned about their health and 

safety. But there is a difference between tra ining and equipping a 

wo rk for ce and offering them steady 

employ me nt. A contractor can hire 

people for one job . Wh en they are 

no longer needed, they are off the 

payroll. A contracto r does not have 

to carry workers over a lon g period 

of time when they are not doing 

something constructive. These things 

all tend to make the militar y ma n 

mor e expe nsive to the taxp ayer th an 

the civilian workman. Afte r all, 

when you pay for a soldi er, you are 

pa yin g for a lot more th an a const ruction worker. You are payin g 

for much more than just con struction ability. 

ENGR: DURING WWII, EN· 

GINEER SOLDIERS LAID 

DOW N THEIR PICKS AND 

SHOVELS, GRABBED A WEA· 

PON AND FOUGHT AS INF AN· 

TRYMEN, ON OCCASION. HA S 

THIS ALSO BEEN THE CASE 

IN VIETNAM? 

PLOGER: Yes, I guess the most 

freq uent brushes with the ene my by 

our engineers were in co nnec tion 

with ambushes. U nits were hit from 

time to time from am bush . This 

meant they ha d to always be ready 

for anyth ing. Ou r tro ops took a 

heavy toll of the ene my that tried 

to ambush them. 

ENGR: NOW THAT THE 

WAR IN VIETNAM IS WINDING 

DOWN, WILL THE ENGINEERS 

PLAY A MAJOR ROLE IN THE 

RETROGRADE OF SUPPLIES 

AND EQUIPMENT FROM THAT 

COU NT RY ? 

PLOGER: This is principally a 

logistics operation. Eng ineers are involved bu t I suspect th at there will 

be few items brought back by the 

enginee rs. South Vietn am needs mo st 

of the bridging and othe r construction material s and equipment to 

ca rryon wh at we sta rted. We are 

involved in ma king sure that the 

Vietnamese can continue with the 

con stru ction mod ernization of the 

engineering bas e in South Vietnam. I 

T he LaC (lines of communication ) I 

p rog ram, which in lay terms means 

road network , has been a major I contribution to the eco no my, the r 

cultural developmen t, social develop ment, and polit ical development 

of South V ietnam. 

ENGR: WHAT CAREER AD· 

VICE CAN YOU PASS ON TO 

THE YO UNGER ENGINEER OFFICERS AND ENLISTED PER· 

SONNEL RETURNING TO NEW 

ASSIGNMENTS FROM VIET· 

NAl\'I ? 

PLOGER: I would ur ge each of 

them to commit their experiences to 

writi ng . Secondly, I would urge 

the m to seek to widen the value of 

their expe rience . One of the shortcomings of many people returning 

from Vietnam is that they saw a 

little piece of the country and man y 

of them think that their little part 

is just like every other little par t. 

mate, in the types of works and in 

the typ es of orga nizational relationships across the country. So , they 

sho uld seek to exchange ideas with 

their peers and subo rdinates and 

th ose superiors that rem ain a round. 

They should not accept observed 

practices as abso lute . They are not 

absolutes. Th ey ar e activit ies relating 

to a particular enviro nment which 

may not apply in the next location. 

I would say to ea ch of themcapitalize on that exp erience to the 

maximum degree, work to improve 

their education , and learn through 

exposure to the differ ent experiences of others. These th ings will 

make them mor e valuable to the
 

Army and to the country in the
 

future.
 

8 
VIETNAM- 1965 TO NOW
 

CLEARING THE WAY
 

ROBERT G. McCLINTIC
 

Editor-the engineer
 

H is name was Rohert E . Knadle, 

The r e was little to se t him apar t from the average young m an in m ain str e am U.S.A. except that 

he was a secon d lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers. 

Even after he was or-d ered to Vietnam, there 

was nothing to d istin guish Lieutenant Knadle 

from hundreds of other you n g officers over there 

doing their jobs as platoon leaders. 

But, as things turned out, Lieutenant Knadle 

was quite differ en t fr om many of his contemporaries. He had a date with destiny. It cost him his 

life. It also p u t his name on this country's records 

as a winner o f the n ation ' s secon d highest combat 

decoration-th e Distinguished Service Cro88. 

This is wh a t happened : While enroute to his 

base ca m p by jee p from an operation near Phu Li 

Bridge on October 9, 1967, Lieutenant Knadle 

and his squad were ambushed by a numerically 

superior Viet Cong force firing automatic weapons and grenades from hoth sides of the road. 

The lieutenant was wounder and his vehicle was 

disahled b y the harrage hut he directed his men 

to defensive positions while remaining in the open 

neal' the jeep to radio for reinforcements and 

medical evacuation. Disregarding his own safety, 

the lieutenant maintained radio contact with 

friendly forces until he was seriously wounded by 

an enemy grenade. Even then, he refused aid and 

led his men against an enemy attack. Although 

he was mortally wounded during the fire fight, 

Lieutenant Knadle's actions inspired the squad 

members to continue fighting until reinforcements 

arrived and defeated the hostile force. 

9 
Highway 19 is surfaced with asphalt. 

Grader is used to spread and level lime. 

10 
Engineer-built base camp post exchange. 

Saigon's 1OO-acre port complex. 

This is but one exa m ple o f engin eer d eter m in ation and sheer gu ts again st a crafty enemy. Ther e 

are hundred s of others. 

H eroics, of course, was not the big en gin ee r 

story in Vie tn a m . Theirs was an un told story of 

flexibility which en a b le d them to ge t the job d one 

.in the early goin g with Iittle more than determ in ation and good old Amer ica n ingenuity. 

When the buildup began in Vietnam, the en ­

glu ee rs were faced with challenges they had n ever 

had to cope with in previous wars. There wer e 

old roads, dense jungl es and the new air m ob il ity 

concept that introduced the helicopter in varied 

roles to an elusive enemy. 

Engineers rebuilt the roads, cleared the j u n gl es 

with the " R om e p low" and the LeTourneau tr ee 

cr usher, and su r faced the airfields and h eliports 

with a new t ype of landing mat and a waterproof 

m embrane that can control dust swir ls ca used b y 

propellers and rotor blades. 

Also introduced for the first time in militar y 

hi story was the DeLong pi er-a dock that ca n h e 

towed from one harbor to another to berth d eepdraft cargo ships. 

These are only some of the major highlights of 

the story but wh a t about the r est ? Engineer operations are u sually hack page fill er but if it wcre n ot 

for their unexciting project s the com b a t job in 

Vi etnam could not b e accomplished. 

11 
Steel and concrete bridges re p la ce low lo a d ca p a city bridges. 

To get true insight into the total engineer picture over th e re, we must look at all of the innovation.. and methods our people have employed to 

malic their mission a success in a complicated 

environment. 

First off, we should set the stage with a geo­ Da ily min e swe e p . graphy lesso n . South Vietnam is crescent-shaped 

and is perched on the soufheastet-n edl-!C of the Indochina peninsula. The a rc formed hy South Vietnam is about 700-miles-Iong and ranges in width 

from 40 miles in the north to 120 mile s in th e 

so u th . The country is hordered on the north by 

Com m u n ist Vietnam and on the west hy Laos and 

Cambodia. The South China Sea is on the east 

and the Gulf of Thailand is on the Southwest. 

South Vietnam comprises about 66,000 square 

miles; has a coastline of more than 1,500 miles, 

am! a population of ahont 16-million people. 

"ietn a nr' s climate is tropical monsoonal with a 

wet season in most sections during the southwest 

monsoon ( f r om mid-May to early October ), an d a 

relatively dry season during the northeast mono 

soon (from early November to mid-March ). 1\Iost 

of the northern two-thirds of the country consists 

of forested mountains and hills characterized by 

steep slopes, sharp crests, and narr-ow valleys. 

Most peaks are from 2,000 to 6,000 feet ahove 

12 
Forward fire base construction . 

sea level. F ew exceed 8,000 f eet. In the west central 

part of the co u n try, th e mount ains give way to 

rolling p laius 1,000 to 3,000 f eet above se a level 

while the so u ther n third co nsis ts primarily of the 

vast delta of the Mekong River. The Mekon g Delta 

is a flat, low lying rice g rowing plain, mostly flood. 

ed from early June through December. Elevations 

throughout the Delta are generally less than 10 

feet above se a level and den se networks of canals 

and ditehs connect the wide, deep, and meandering di str-ibutar-ies of the major r-iver-s, 

The mountains and hills of the north and we st 

are covered with a d ense jungle gr o wth that prohibits cross cou n tr y ve h icle movement and ser ves 

as cover for guerilla o per-ati ona. The silty soils of 

the delta are rich in clay and organi c material and 

present many problems for huilding foundation s, 

roads, and airfields. 

On top of all this, there is the dust. It ex is ts 

almost eve r ywhere when it is not r-aining or mudd y. The dust acts as an abrasive when ca u gh t up 

in the working parts of eq u ip men t. It also presents a morale problem b ecause it sif ts into the 

clothing, food, and living quarters of our troops. 

This, then, wa s the ter r a in and climatic situation our engineers faced wh en the buildup bezan 

in 1965. When the enginee r s go t there they w:re 

in immediate trouhle becau se of the p oor roads 

in S ou th Vi etnam. The to tal h igh wa y sy stem consists of about 12,000 m il es of roads ; o n e-four-th 

of.which had a bituminous-trea ted surface. Only 

pnmary roads had sccr io ns p er m ittin g two-way 

traffic. 

Through hard work a n d p erseverance, the Engineer Co m m a n d, Vietnam, r-eb u ilt the roads anti 

did many more thing8 than can he told here . The 

Command, which co nsis ts C)f four En gin eer groups 

and three Engin eer di stri ct s ( a ls o two br-igad es 

until r ec ently ) , ex pen ds nearly 50 p ercent of its 

effort on comhat and operational support and the 

rest on h ase and road co nstr u ction . 

H ere are some of th e Comm a n d ' s major a ccomplishments dur-i ng the past fiv e and one-ha lf 

year-a in Vietnam: 

• Item-Engin eers developed d eep d r aft ports 

at Danang, Qui Nh o n, Vung Ro Ray, Ca m Ranh 

Bay, Saigou , and Vung T au to acc ommodate the 

some 600,000 ton s o f incoming cargo p er month. 

• tem-En~in er e~an wo r k in J une 1965 to 

construct a port and lo gistics fa cil it y at Qui Nhon. 

How to cIo it was the prob le m . Qui Nhon was an 

ov ercrowded coastal town th a t r eached a lmost to 

the sh oreline. Little real e sta te was available close 

to th e h arbor for huilding a p o rt o r depot. No f aciliti es e xi st ed for han dli ng d ee p draft ships and 

the h arhor channel was too shall ow to accom m odate them. The constructio n of th e port included 

th e extension of the peninsula with ahout 45,000 

euhie yar rls of fill to create a u sea hle area of 220,­

000 ;;q u a re f eet for off-loading a n d lighter age. The 

mission wa s to build a port an d h a rbor ca p ab le of 

handling deep draft sh ips. The Ar m y En gineer s' 

lar1! e sea-goin g Civil Works dr-erlge, th e Davison, 

was withdrawn from its operation s in the Portland, Oregon, area and se n t to Vietn am. It was 

br-oug h t in to d eepen th e two -m il e-long approach 

channel to the Qui 'h on port area. The turnin g hasin wa s d eepened b y a h ydraulic d r ed ge . A 

d eep draft port wa s t h en constr u cted usina Irv. ­

d rau li e fi II provilli n g a large su rfa ced transit st o r ­

age a r ea and causeways with paved roads. T od ay , 

the port of Qui Nh o n has fo u r deep draft herthing sp ace", at the Delong pi er a n d tr ansit stor a ge 

space alon g the ca useways. 

• It em. Engineers have constr u cted Iour deep 

draft pi er-s at Ca m R anh Bay wh ich is one o f the 

b est n atural d eep water h a r b o r s in Southea st Asia. 

13 
T h ey a lso huilt a gigantic d epot there. 

• Ite m . Engineer soldiers built the community 

I a cilities in the base cam p s. T h ese Faciljties included the post exchanges, the ch a p els, and th e Iih r a r-i es. 

• Item. E ngineer troops and civilian contracto rs 

h a ve drilled hund r eds of wate r wells at the var io u s 

ca m p !! throughout Vietnam. I n developing the 

we lls, they had to co n str uct wate r tank s and in sta ll 

tr eatm ent facilities. 

• Item. Engineers h u ilt many o f the Army hospital f a cili tie s in Vi e tnam. They a lso constructed 

m a n y o f the field hospitals a n d co n va lesce n t centers. 

• Item. Eugineers have estahlished quarries 

aml crmlhing units throughout thc country that 

produce a b o u t one-third of a million cubic yar d s 

o f crushed rock each month. 

• Item. E n gi n ee rs have huilt many steel and 

concrete hridge s a s r-ep lacements f or low load 

capaclty br-idges. So m e of the lo n ge r b r id ges represent 8i fi engineering achievements. 

• Item. Engineers helped construct the man)' 

airfie lds throughout the co u n tr y. They have also 

huilt n u m e r o u s aircraft support facilities su ch as 

control to we r-s, pr-otective parking r eve tm e n ts for 

rotary win g a n d fixed wing a ir cr a ft , and maintenance hang ars, 

• Item . Engineers have been applying dust 

palliatives to roads, a ir field s, and base cam p areas 

daily for the pa8t f e w yea r s. They u se an a sphalt 

ermrla ion known as pcneprime to su p p r e ss the 

du~t whic h has ca u sed serious maintenance prohle rn s with our complex equipment. 

Of course the primary m issio n of the Army E n ­

gineer in Vietnam is to support the comhat soldier. As in World \Val' II and Korea, he has been 

doing j u st that. ­

Enginel~l' so ldie r s often accompany Infantry 

assault waves or s wee ps. Af ter- heiru; " cllOp p er cd " 

to a j u n g le dearing, Engineer troops cut helicopter 

landing zones with chain saws a n d demolitions a ru ] 

help co n str- u ct defensive p o sitio n s. 

The j u n g le has been a major problem because 

it is here th a t the enemy h as had some sa n ctua r y. 

So, the U. S. Army developed a new concept in 

j u n g le warfare. An Engineer land clea ring team 

outfitted with 3 0 tractors with speci a l tr ee cutting 

blades can mow down all vegetation in any section 

o f the jungl e in a matter of hours. To date, more 

than thre ~-fourth of a million acres o f jungle have 

hecn cleared hy the sp ecial Engineer teams. 

Constr-ucting fo r wa rd fire bases is another j o b 

that has b een set asid e f or the Army Engineers. 

There a re a numher of ways engineers complete 

this mission. Som e engineer units have an air 

mobile ca p a b ility. So they prefabricate smaller 

hunkers, guard towers, a nd other str u ctu r es in 

the rear areas and a irli ft th em to the forward fire 

b ases. The la r ge r bunke rs arc constructed on-site. 

Engineers al so pro vid e th is typ e of comhat support b y constr u cti n g a r tiller y fir e suppor-t bases. 

The road s a r e still th e principal means for the 

movement of su p p lies and eq uip m en t even though 

hoth the helico p ter a n d new transport aircraft are 

used extensive ly f or this type of thing. To keep 

the access r o ads f r ee from land mines and booby 

trap s, Enginee r tr o ops must sweep hundreds of 

kilometers each d ay. T hey do almost all of it by 

hand because it is the m o st reli ab le . This method 

is also the m o st d ange rou s. Mine rolle,rs and mine 

dogs have h een u sed to detect mines with only 

p a r ti a l success. 

T h e scope of the U. S. Army Engineer Comm and , Vietnam, is trem en d o u s. During a one-year 

period, the Comm and cl ea r ed more than 100,000 

a cr es of jungle, paved some two-million sq u ar e 

yards of a ir fi e ld surface, m oved m o r e than 20­

million tons of earth an d fill , buil t m o r e than 150 

miles of road and logged rnor'e t h an seven -m illio n 

hours in the repair and the ser vi ce o f equip m ent. 

T h e Command a lso rebuilt a nd gra d ed t h e northso u th coastal h ighway, e r ec ted tr oop h o u sin g, storage depots a n d othe r facili ties tot.a li n g over 10 

million sq u a r e f eet, an d completed four m il e s of 

tactical bridging. 

Army Engineers have don e an outstand ing job 

in a d iffic ult land during a difficult war. T hey h ave 

heen the builde rs o f the landi n g pa d s a n d th e r un ­

ways for our aircraft. They have h u ilt new r oad s 

and r-ehujlt old ones. They have d r illed a n d b la sted 

t h r o u gh rock h a n k s to open p a8s e s for o u r tr o o p s. 

They have m apped that country to provid e precise in f o r m at io n in support o f Army artillery, 

hydrography and n avig a tion , a n d th e lo ca tion of 

Air Force a ru] Navy r ad a r sites. T hey have carved 

out a n engineering r eco r d th a t is unparalleled in 

the aunuls of warfare. 

Our engineers have lem'n ed their lessons the 

h ard wa y a n d well in Vie tn a m . But they have 

fo rged ahead thr o ugh know-h o w, so p h isticated n ew 

eq u i pm en t an d modern m a nag ement technique s. 

The knowledge they h a ve a cq u ired over the yea r s 

in Vietnam will he the h u h of the p rog r ams m il itary engineers 111U8t use in t h e Se venti es-to help 

provide for the modernized Arm)' of tomorrow. 

14 
BASE 

DEVELOPMBNT 

Major General Curti s Chapman 

A new system 

Engineers will use 

as part of the total 

planning picture. 

ARMY ENGINEERS have long recognized that 

base development planning is an integral part of the 

total planning system. 

Base development includes the advance planning and 

all subsequent actions necessary to provide, in a timely 

manner, facilities in the quantities, types, and proper 

locations to enable military forces to initiate and sustain the operations directed in joint contingency operations plan s. 

Lessons learned in Vietnam have shown that there 

is a pr essing need to dev ise and use a base devel opment planning and execution system which will be 

responsive to the needs of the field commander. Such 

a system is evolving now. 

Our poor experience in Vietnam has sparked the 

Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) decision to ensure that 

the commanders of unified commands assume direction of base development plann ing and execution rather 

than following the previous pr ocedure of accepting 

separate plans prepared by the Service components. 

The JCS decision evolved over several years, with 

certain significant milestone s. Perh aps the earliest information that influenced the JCS decision was reEngineer troops buiding hospital at Qui Nhon in 1966. 

Building forms for foundations . 

15 
Storage Warehous e s. 

Base Barber Shop. 

leased in May 1967 in a publication from the Military 

Assistance Command, Vietnam (MACV) titled "Observations." It was a compilation of observations, 

suggestions, and recommendations from the Director 

of Construction of MACV, the three components 

commanders, the Officer-in-Charge of Construction 

(OICC), and the cost-plus-award fee Contractor. 

To correct the weakness of the base development 

system documented in "Observations," the JCS initiated 

a comprehensive study of the entire planning system in 

November 1967. They established the Joint Military 

Construction Study Group which examined every facet 

of the system and made recommendations in key areas. 

These recommendations brought about the JCS decision for unified commanders to assume responsibility 

for base development planning. 

In 1968, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense 

for Properties and Installations published another important document, "Base Development for Contingency 

Operations," which provided information, policies, and 

guidelines to assist in planning and executing base development in overseas areas of contingency operations. 

To further coordinate the planning process, the JCS 

established a Joint Staff-Service Construction Board for Contingency Operations in 1969 . This board has been 

collectinz, developing and proposing construction standards and planning factors for JCS approval and implementation in contingency operations. The board also 

publishes a joint catalog of facility components to 

disseminate information among the Services. 

The most recent evaluation of base development in 

support of the Vietnam effort was completed by the 

Joint Logistics Review Board (JLRB) . In November 

] 970, the JLRB presented its report on base development in Southeast Asia . The report's recommendations 

have helped solve significant problems in base development planning and execution. 

Within the Army Staff, the Deputy Chief of Staff 

for Logistics (DCSLOG) organized a Base Development Board which identifies staff responsibilities to 

ensure that future Army 

support in contingency Operations is both effective and responsible. And early this 

year, a final draft of PM 31-82 "Base Development" 

was prepared and distributed by the U. S. Army 

Combat Developments Command. 

Since the fall of 1968, the Chief of Engineers has 

supported the Army component commands by drafting their base development plans . Due to this experience 

and requests from component commanders, a decision 

was made for the Chief of Engineers to operate an 

Army Base Development Planning Office, consisting of 

trained planners assisted by computerized techniques 

16 
who can provide expert planning support for the Army 

components worldwide. 

The various boards and study groups have provided 

still oth er lessons from Our experience in Vietnam. 

Some of the more important lessons and their implications are­

• Facility Components. These components are preengineered and prefabricated items (o r families of 

items) of facilities that are required to support contingency operations. They are easily transportable, 

easily assembled and may be relocatable. The Army 

catalogues these items in the Army Facility Components System (AFCS ), formerly the Eng ineer Functional Components System , which also identifies most 

common-use facilities necessary to support tro op units, 

regardless of mission . Tn addition to construction planning served by the former system, an updated AFCS 

will provide logistics planners with data for base development planning and operations planners with, information for development of project stocks, It wiJl 

also accommodate phased development of milit ary 

compl exes through application of space criteria and 

standards of construction. Recently, the Chief of 

Engineers, Lieutenant General Frederick J. Clarke, 

has applied renewed emphasis to AFCS management 

by establishing a special office within his Directorate 

of Military Engineering. 

• Construction Capability. The construction rerequired as a result of the 1965 decision to build up 

forces in Southeast Asia generated the need for far 

more troop construction units than existed in the 

active Army. Since the DOD planning policy was to 

rely on the Reserve Components, the Army's mobiJization concept emphasized combat engineer battalions 

in the active establishment with the bulk of the construction battalions in the National Guard and Reserves. Because of the decision not to call up Re serve 

and National Guard units, the initial Army construction 

capability was severely limited. Significant reliance had 

to be placed on contractor capabilities while all Services 

accelerated their programs to incre ase the number of 

construction units in active forces. The contractor had 

inhe rent limitations, such as being tailored for specific 

endeavors, needing considerable time to mobilize, 

requiring comparatively extensive sustaining base facilities, and being employed only at relatively secure 

sites. 

• Responsive Funding. Pin-pointing of funds to finance construction in support of contingencies has 

always been a problem. Construction support of the 

Korean War was funded primarily from Operations and 

Maintenance (O&M) appropriations. This is appropriate in a declared war ; however, in a cold war or 

Bunker Constru ction. 

laying an airfield landing strip. 

17 
a contingency situation, there is no legal authority for 

using O&M to construct other than very minor facilities. 

For any major construction effort during a contingency, Congress must appropriate military construction funds. 

It was learned in Vietnam that to provide the neces sary 

flexibility for changing situations , requirements must 

be programmed on an area-Wide , gross facilities basis for ea ch Service, with provisions for easy adjustment by MACV between various type s of facilities . This 

lump sum procedure was used for all worldw ide construction which was in direct support of the Southeast Asia operation. Since the fundin g was not tied to individual projects, adequate flexibility to meet changing requirements was provided for the in-country commander, with controls on major deviations reta ined 

in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. 

• Centralized Direction of Construction. This problem was most difficult to solve for Vietnam, and the 

solution still is not completely accepted by all. Realization of the value of having centralized authority to 

direct and control all DOD 

construction commands 

and agencies ( both military and civilian) , except for 

th ose elements organic to 

major combat units, is one 

· '! , of the most valuable lesson s of the Southeast 

Asia 

conflict. It is essential that all requirements be considerA -Frame Chapel. ed as a single integrated progr am. The execution must 

be placed under centralized control and direction at the 

Deep Water Port 

joint level in-country. This arran

gement is necessary Facility. 

to establish priorities in acco rdance with the desires 

of the unified commander 

and to allocate resources 

properly. The elimination of competition and duplication between Services, the appli cati on of areawide 

standards and criteria, the continuing coordination of 

all construction agencies, and the development of meaningful management information are other desirable 

characteristics of this "construction boss " concept. 

The major construction problems identified in Vietnam have been analyzed, and positive step s have been 

initiated to avoid or minimize their repetiti on in future 

operations. These 

steps are expected to be reflected in 

a positive , comprehen sive systems approach to base 

developm ent planning for contingency 

operations. e 

M ajor General Curtis Chapman is the Deputy Commanding General of the Combat Developments Com ­

man d at Fort Belvoir , Vir ginia. Prior to 

assuming his 

presen t post, the general was the Director oi M ilitary 

En gineering for the Corps oj Engineers. A veteran oi 

two wars, he served in the Pacific durin g WWlJ 

with 

the 186th En gineer General Service Regim ent . Later, 

he was the Comma nding General of the 20th Engineer 

Brigade in Vietnam , and then Division En gineer for 

the A rmy Engineer Division, Pacific Ocean . 

18 
AN OVERVIEW 

OF THE 

CONSTRUCTION 

PROGRAM 

IN VIETNAM 

Lieutenant General Carroll H. Dunn 

COMBAT ALWAYS PRESENTS a multitude of 

difficult problems. When the Viet nam War began escalating in 1965, our Engineer units were faced with a 

question-how to perform major construction in the 

middle of a combat conflict? 

The answ er was clear. We did not have enough experienced Engineer units in the active Army to handle 

the major bu ilding program that was required to accomplish our mission. 

So, for the first time in U . S. combat history, contractors and civilian workmen assumed a major construction role in an active Theate r of Operations. 

There arc no contingencies to co pe with the en ormity 

of th e construction problem in the early planning. It 

was simply a situation where prior planning had not 

prepar ed for the massive buildup that was to come. 

Before mid - 1965, when th e first U. S. E ngineer 

units arrived in Vietna m, the only American construction cap ability there wa s a small civilian force under 

contract to th e Navy. During this period, the Navy's 

Bureau of Yards and Docks, now the Na val F acilities 

En ginee ring Command (NAVFAC) , an d the Army 

Corps of Engineers share d worldwide respon sibility for 

milita ry con struction . 

This responsibility was limited to con tract work and 

did not include construction by troops. Southeast Asia 

was among th e areas assigned to the Navy. As Department of Defense contract construction agent, NAVFAC 

had an Officer in Charge of Construction (OICC) for 

Southeast Asia with headquarters in Bangkok , Thaila nd , and a branch office in Sa igon . In July 1965 the 

Na vy divided the ar ea by creating the position OICC, 

Repub lic of Vietnam (R VN). 

During th e milita ry buildup in Vietnam, en gineer 

and construction forces rece ived high priority for mobilizati on and deployment. With the coming of contingen ts of Army E ngineers . Navy Seabees, Marine 

Corps Engineers, Air Force Prime Beef and Red Horse 

un its, and civilian contractors , U. S. construction 

strength in RV]\; mounted rap idly. V ietnamese Army 

Engineers and engineer troops of other Free World 

allies handled some of the construction for their own 

for ces which helped further th e overall effort. 

In February 1966, the Directorate of Construction 

was established in the Militar y Assistance Command, 

Vietnam (MACV) , to provide centralized management 

of the U. S. program and 1 was named its first Director. 

It was my duty to make sur e that the construction effort was responsive to tactical nee ds and pri orities. 

I had to hold construction to minimum esse ntial requirements and en force the most austere standards consistent with operational needs and tactical objectives. 

Embracing ports, airfields, stor age areas, ammunition 

dumps, housing, b ridges, roads, and other conventional 

facilities, the constru ction program was probably the 

largest concentrated effort of its kind in h istory. Pressure for speed was unremitting and co ndition s were 

adverse. 

Civilia n contractors were a mainstay of the bu ildin g 

19 
Airfield construction. 

Roadway maintenance. 

Su bgr ade preparation. 

program. With out their contribution many more troops 

would have been requ ired to do the job. 

Our engineers were confronted with many obstacles. 

For instance, the tropical climate, with its monsoon 

rains and enerv ating hea t, imposed severe hand icaps on 

constru ctors . Few building materials, either natural or 

manufactured , were available locally. The country's 

extensive stands of timber were in Viet Cong hands, as 

were many sources of aggregates. Saigon was the only 

deep-draft port. Roads, most of them primitive, were 

interdicted by the enemy. Cargoes had to move in 

coastal vessels or by air. Th e supply line to the Continental United States stretched 10,000 miles. N ative 

labor was largely unskilled. 

An other thing that complicated the entire construction program was the use of essentially peacetime funding methods in a war situa tion. In itially, requests were 

itemized and had to make their way through bureaucratic channels- the Department of the Army or other 

services, the Department of Defense, and the Bureau 

of the Budget-to Congress. This was later modified 

mat erially but never to the extent that book keeping 

could be considered a min or problem. But, in spite of 

the many dr awbacks, the construction mission was a 

succe ss. 

We built many military base facilities in Vietn am. 

Each of these ba ses had to have canto nments, storage 

facilities, roads, electric power plants , communications 

centers, wate r supply and sewage systems, and provisions for security. Many also had airfields, ports, and 

petroleum storage and distribution facilities. Some of 

the outstanding ba se facilitie s and related engineer ing 

works included­

• Ports. Initially the port of Saigon provided the 

only unloading faciliti es in R VN for ocean-going vessels. Its six deep-draft berths were altogether inadequate to handle regular commerc ial Shipping and the 

hundreds of ships bringi ng milit ary cargo from Am erica. The result was a monumental shipping tie-up . To alleviate this pro blem the port capacity of RVN ha d to 

be magnified five-fold . Cam Ranh Bay was an excellent natu ral but wholly undeveloped ha rbor when the 

Army Engineers moved there in the spring of 1965. 

The engineers installed a De Long pier and a causeway 

pier at Cam Ranh that enabled four ships to be unloaded simultaneously. Six more be rths were subsequently constructed in this harbor. Civilian contractors 

constructed the Newport port facilities on what had 

been ricepaddy land two miles north of Saigon. As silt 

from the river bottom was unsuitable for fill, great 

quant ities of rock and sand were brought in by barge 

and truck. Today , Newport can accom mo date sirnul20 
taneously four ocean-going vessels, four shallow-draft 

landing craft, and seven barge s. Deep-water berths and 

appurtenant coastal facilities have also been constructed 

at Da Nang, Qui Nhon, Vung Tau, and Vung Ro . 

• Dredging. The Republic of Vietnam has been the 

scene of one of the world's la rgest dredging operations. 

Since 1966, 14 or more dredges have been doing harbor 

and land-fill work in that country. They have cleared 

and deepened harbors, rivers, and canals; stockpiled 

sand for road and base construction ; and recla imed 

land for military, industrial, and housing sites. Without 

continuous dredging the accumulation of silt would 

close the harbors and inland waterways to navigat ion. 

• Airfields. Eight airfields which accommodate the 

big jet aircraft were constructed at Da Nang, Chu Lai, 

Phu Cat, Tu y Hoa, Cam Ranh Bay, Phan Rang, Bien 

Hoa and Tan Son Nhut. These are huge installations 

with 10,000-foot runways and the whole range of appurtenant facilities, including administrative buildin gs, 

hospitals, hangars , repair shops, warehou ses, barracks, 

officers quarters, and messhalls. In November 1967 , of 

90 other airfields using expedient surfacing materials, 

11 were operational for jets and 62 for C-130 mediumcargo aircraft. 

• Wells. A massive well-drilling program has accompanied the buildup of American forces in Vietnam. 

Although the Agency for International Development 

(AID) has sponsored well-drilling in RVN since 1967, 

MACV has had to develop its own water supply for the 

various base facilities. Maior work was done under 

contract to OICC. Between July 1966 and September 

1967 contractors drilled 233 successful wells and 48 

test holes at 25 sites. These wells have an aver age depth 

of 170 feet and an average test yield of 96 gallons per 

minute . Additional wells have been dril!ed by Engineer 

Well Drilling Detachments. As of December 1, 1967 , 

a total of 100 drilled wells has been developed and 14 

more were under development. Besides those wells 

now in production, the records of the well-d rilling program will be valuable to geologists and engineers charged in peacetime with the respon sibility for developing 

Vietnam's water resources. 

• Major Command Posts. Major comm and posts 

for MACV and USARV were specially designed to 

get the American troops out of the scattered offices 

and billets of the congested city of Saigon . " Pentagon 

East," as the MACV command post is sometimes 

called , is situated near Tan Son Nhut Airport. It is a 

network of two-story prefabricated buildings that provide air-conditioned working space for 4,000 persons. 

In addition to cantonments and utilities , it includes 

mortar shelters, security fences, and guard towers. The 

headquarters complex for USARV was constructed 

Ships h ave 110 pr oblem unloading cargo here at
 

Cam Rah n Bay. En gin ee rs b uilt the fou r deep
 

dr aft piers.
 

An Engineer P or t Construction Company built this
 

PO L jetty at Qui Nhon,
 

21 
Commercial construction equipment is used to 

gather rod; and soil for road building. 

Vietnamese receive orr-the-job training in con. 

struction of building panels and roo f trusses in 

Saigon carpenter shop h u ilt by engineers. 

at Long Binh, 16 miles from Saigon. It occupies 25 

squ ar e miles an d houses 50,000 soldiers a t a cost of 

$ 100-million. 

• T r oo p Construction Pr-o jects. Among the major 

projects under co nstruction by En gineer tro ops at the 

beginnin g of 196R were 15 cantonme nts large enou gh 

to accommoda te from 4,000 to more than 17,0 00 men. 

• Road Restoration P r ogra m . This is the lar gest 

proj ect of its kind eve r undert aken by the U. S. military 

in a foreign country. It was started under AID and 

tran sferred to MA CV Sept emb er J, 1968. Pri orities 

have been jointly established by militar y and civil 

autho rities. The goal is to construct and upgrade 4,300 

kilometers of nation al and inter-provinc ial highways. 

When com pleted, the system of two-lane all-weathe r 

roa ds will pass throu gh the Delt a, Saigon, nort hwar d 

along the coast, and into the Central Highlands. Standa rd brid ge designs and standard highw ay and bridge 

mark ings and numbe ring procedures have been ad opt ed . 

Thi s vast highway restoration project will strengthen 

the uni ty and eco no my of RVN . La cking the air mohility of USA RV, ARVN will utilize the road s to deploy swiftly toward Red -menaced communities. The 

roads will end the isolation of rural areas and open 

them to tr ade. 

Amer ican enginee rs will bequeath a rich legacy to 

the peop le of South Vie tnam whe n U. S. fo rces disengage from that country. Much of the construc tio n 

com pleted by our forces will serve as the found ation 

for nat ional deveJop ment in the years just ahea d. Seven 

deep -draft ports exist where there was only one . Similarly, road s, bridges, utiliti es, and many airfields and 

othe r facilities will remain as valuable assets to the 

co untry . 

Perhaps the engineering prog ram's greatest impact 

ha s bee n upon the people themselves. Tens of thousands of Vietnam ese ha ve had an opportunity to learn 

American building techniques and many of them have 

become skiIlcd welde rs, electricians, plumbers, carpenters, and heavy-equi pment operators. Their competence will contribute mea surably to the goal of economic viability . e 

Li eutenant General Carr oll H. Dunn, /lew Director 

of the Defense Nuclear A gency. is the forme r Deputy 

Chi ef of Engineers. A combat veteran with 33 years 

o f service as an En gineer, the general participate d in 

the land ing at Omaha Beach with the 30th Iniantry 

Division and was Director of Construction and subsequentl v serve d as 1-4 for the Mili tary Assistan ce Com ­

mand in V ietnam during the period February 1966 /lIItil October 7967. He holds a Ma ster of Science degree 

in Civil Engineering from the University o f Iowa . 

22 
COMBAT ENGINEERS IN VIET AM
 

Major W. B. Williard 

THE
 

FIRST
 

YEAR
 

The author assembled as historical, 

eyewitness account of his unit's combat engineering operations during the 

first year in the Republic of Vietnam. 

D espite Napoleon's imm ortal aph orism that "an 

army tra vels on its stom ach," historians have 

pointed out thai his Grande Ar rnee's comrnissa rv more 

ofte n than not was in shambles. . 

Not so his enginee rs. French soldi ers might come 

close to starving because the Emperor had ruthlessly 

denuded his wagon train of horses to squeeze an extra 

cavalry squadron int o his scree ning operations; but 

rarely were Napoleon 's operations delayed becau se his 

pioneers and sappe rs lacked the know-how or the 

ma teri al to throw up a qui ck bridge at a vital river 

crossing . 

The secret of Napoleon's success did not lie in some 

sort of "instant commissar y," capable of pr oducing a 

hot meal at the right time and pla ce, but rath er in his 

concept of small, mobile for ces. He reorgani zed the 

French Arm y into self-sustaining corps, anyone of 

which was powerful enough to pin a larger enemy 

force while the others concentrated on the enemy's 

flank or rear. 

The key to this mobility was a co rps of ca pable, 

well-equipped engineers. Napoleon realized all too well 

that while his troops could go without food for several 

days at a clip , they could not go very far without the 

engineers. 

Military history is full of examples which show that 

ultimate victory in any campaign to a lar ge extent 

depends on successful engineer support. Th e current 

U. S. commitment in South Vietnam is no exception. 

Very littl e attention ha s been paid to the engineering 

aspects of the Vietnam War , Correspondents covering 

the war naturally concentrate on the more glamorous 

details of combat. Ignored in the box-score statistics 

that spelled out the success in a given com bat operation 

are the engineering pr eliminarie s that mad e it all 

possible. 

Followin g the decision to comm it U . S. troops to 

action in the summer of 1965 , the area of combat 

shifted from the Mekong Delt a a rea and the south to 

the Central Highlands of South Vietnam. Fully 75 

percent of the U. S. ground opera tions took pla ce in 

this reg ion-s-t he II Corps T actical Zone-during the 

23 
first year of the war in that country, 

The 937th Engineer Gr oup (Combat) was tapped 

for the II Corps assignment by the 18th Engineer Brigade, Command He adqu arters for all non-d ivision engineer units. The 937th consisted of three combat 

battalions (the 19th, 70th and 299th) ; one construction battalion (the 84th) , and several attached companie s, including the 509th (Pa nel Bridge) , the 511 th 

( Panel Bridge) , the 362nd (Light Equ ipmen t) , the 

630th (Light Equ ipment ) , and one platoo n of the 

497th (Port Construction ) , 

On paper, this assignm ent looked good. The 937th 

was the only combat engineer group in Vietnam and 

it was being assigned to the action area. Its mission 

was to suppo rt the infantry with the building of fortifications, the laying and removal of rninefields, and the 

construction of roads , bridges and heliport s. 

But thin gs did not turn out this way, Th ough the 

937th received its full share of combat support missions 

(mainly with elements of the First Ca valry, the 25th 

Infantry, and the Republic of Korea Capitol Divisions) , 

the group found itself in an engineerin g situation 

normally reserved for construc tion units. Combat engineer battalions were not organized or equipped to 

perform such lar ge scale and sophisticated projects 

as those that were assign ed to the 937th , 

The prim ary mission of the 937th was to provide 

base development for incoming combat un its and offloading and storage facilities for the tremendous logistics buildup that followed. The 70th Engineers were 

moved to An Khe to prepare a cantonment site for 

the incoming First Cavalry. The 19th Engineers developed 20 miles of cantonment roads in pr eparation 

for the arrival of the Republic of Korea "Tiger" Division , and a 25-unit permanent heliport. 

The construction battalion (the 84th) , which had 

been in Qui Nhon since June of 1965, continued its 

port development mission. By October, a floating dock 

and causeway was completed, allowing Fght ers to unload some 800 short tons of cargo a day from coas tal 

freighters and tankers anchored offshore, By March of 

the following year, the Qui Nhon Logistics Depot and 

add itional port facilities were sufficiently completed 

to allow incre ased off-loading, Cargo handled rapidly 

rode past 2,000 short tons per day. 

In the first few months of fighting , the First Cavalry 

Division suffered more than 100 casualties a week and 

the facilities of the division's field hospital were soon 

exhausted. 

Normally, building a bas e hospital is the lot of the 

construction engineers. But there were none so the 

task went to the 70th combat battalion. They constructed a 200-bed facility (the 2nd Mobile Army 

Surgical Hospit al ) at An Khe , the division 's headquarters. And at Qui Nhon, elements of the 84th 

construction engineers went on 24-hour shifts to build 

the 540-bed 85th Evacuation Hospital. 

In October, both the 299th combat battalion and 

the monsoon rains arrived, The 299th was tasked with 

hacking and clearing a one-mile square area for an 

ammunition storage depot in the jungle south of Qui 

Nhon. Under the conditions, it was remarkabl e that 

10 ammunition storage pads were operational by February of 1966, When a brig ade of the 25 th In fantry 

Division arrived in January 1966 even this high-p riority 

mission was interrupted to a degree, One company of 

the 299th was diverted westward to Pleiku to help the 

brigade's engineers in base development work , and the 

construction of an 80-bed hospital, the Pleiku Logistics 

Depot and Camp Holloway, 

In the meantime, the 70th at An Khe was involved 

in the construction of an estimated 17 miles of perimeter security lighting, the An Khe Logistics Depot, 60 

perimeter guard towers with searchlights, Division 

He adquarters and Adm inistration Buildings, an underground Division Tactical Operati ons Center (20 feet by 

75 feet with no intermediate supports), the Division 

Heliport and a temporary C-1 30 Airfield . Later two 

companies from the 84th constructed a 30-ton ice 

plant, a dial central office, and the permanent asphalt 

airfield at An Khe. 

The "F irst Cav" with its helic opter assault concept 

was the ideal answer to the severe geographical handicaps Vietnam offered. Its pers onnel could reach an y 

point in the II Corps area from the An Khe base in 

less than 30 minutes by chopper, But, as time passed, 

the "First Cav" became less and less mobile. Th e 

Vietn ame se dust, which is a lot closer in size to sand 

than powder, literally sand-blasted a chopper's rotor 

blad es, The blades gave out months in advance of their 

expe cted wear out expectancy and dust-clogged engines had to be overhauled about twice as frequently 

as anticipa ted , So, the helicopter's life expectancy 

in Vietnam was cut in half. 

The dust problem was not entirely unexpected because the division ran into the same situation during 

trainin g at Fo rt Benning, Georgia. Even so, the division's plann ers felt th at the choppers could operate 

temporarily from forward bases in conjunction with a 

tactical ope ration. This supposedly would preserve the 

natural sod and eliminate th e dust problem. 

This theory was initially tried when the "First Cav" 

machines were bedded down permanently in the rolling, 

green hills around An Khe. More than 100 acres were 

cleared by hand to preserve the natural sad. This land 

was promptly dubbed the "Golf Course." 

24 
In about three months, the "Golf Course" became 

the "Sand Trap," To make matters worse, it was soon 

found that the "dust free" period was reduced to just 

a few days when choppers were used extensively at 

forward bases. 

The dust problem soon became the number one 

headache for the 937th. It played havoc, creating 

safety hazards for all vehicle operations and sanitary 

hazards for all personnel. Also different types of soils 

in different areas required different dust-proofing measures to further complicate the problem, 

A team of soil experts was sent to Vietnam in the 

spring of ] 966 by the Chief of Engineers to find some 

answers. After an exhaustive study, they reached the 

conclusion that the only permanent solution to the 

dust problem was to bury all roads, bases and helicopter pads under asphalt Or concrete. However, 

several stopgap measures were proposed . All of them 

met with some degree of success on a short range 

basis, Among them­

• T·17 Membrane, Two-ply, neoprene plastic sections 66 feet by ] 00 feet were glued together to form 

the membrane, which proved particularly successful 

in the fine orange clay conditions prevalent in the low, 

rolling hills around Pleiku , The stress of C-130 aircraft, however , proved too much for the membrane and 

required continuous maintenance. 

• Peneprime. An MC-30 asphalt cutback with 

several chemical additives, peneprime partially met the 

requirements of heliports and airfields in the lateritetype soils around An Khe. It was less successful in 

standing up to the stress on road surf aces. 

The lack of aggregate used for soil stabilization, 

concrete and asphalt work presented still another 

major problem. With only one construction battalion, 

the 937th simply did not have enough organic crushers 

to produce aggregate in sufficient quantity to meet the 

demand. Although additi onal machines were eventually 

sent to Vietnam from the States and a small amount of 

crushed rock could be purchased locally (at less cost 

than that produced by the 937th's crushers), this 

problem was never completely solved. In Pleiku , for 

example, most of the rock outcrops were too hard for 

the crushers to handle. The efficient operation of quarry 

sites also proved to be too costly and too time-consuming a process, 

Lack of equipment also hampered the group's earthmoving activities when they shifted into high gear in 

the early months of 1966, The 937th's machinery also 

was considered too light to get the job done, So the 

937th recommended a modification of the Table of 

Organization and Equipment to give combat engineer 

battalions an improved earthmoving capability. 

As spring arrived and the monsoon season ebbed, 

U. S. military operations moved into the offensive 

phase, and most of the 937th's combat engineers returned to their more familiar combat support roles. 

Heavy emph asis was placed on the construction, rehabilitation and expansion of air bases and small 

heliports, and bridge con struction. 

By May, the 19th battalion had completed most 

of its task of building a mammoth 112 ,OOO-barrel tank 

farm (begun the previous September) near Qui Nhon. 

Two 4-inch submarine pipelines were installed by the 

497th Port Construction Platoon, and by early June, 

the first T-2 tanker anchored off Qui Nhon was offloading directly into the storage tanks, 

The 937th estimated that by late spring it was supporting about 60,000 American and Korean troops. 

It was impossible for the group to fully support this 

number of troops so a "Self Help Program" was established. Under this realistic program , personnel of 

all branches of the Army and Air Force pro vided the 

final assembly touches to structures which had been 

designed and prefabricated by the 937th battalions. 

Administration buildings, mess halls, billets, bunkers, 

latrines, water towers , and open storage shed s began 

springing up rapidly all the way from Qui Nhon to 

Pleiku, 

Late spring also highlighted other 937th accomplishments. The 299th completed most of its work on 

the Qui Nhon ammunition storage depot and the entire 

battalion was reassigned to Pleiku to support a brigade 

of the 4th Infantry Division that had just arrived from 

the U , S. And the 19th received the additional missions 

of constructing a 6,OOO-man COSTAR maintenance 

area seven miles west of Qui Nhon just off Route ] 9 

and a post exchange facility at Qui Nhon itself. 

When the 937th's first year in Vietnam ended in 

August, it was estimated that the group's operations 

had cost more than $40-mitlion in construction materials alone. But the most amazing fact to come out of 

that first year of operation by the group is that the 

magnitude, type and high quality of the construction 

was not accomplished primarily by construction battations with their sophisticated equipment, but by the 

initiative and ingenuity of the soldiers of the combat 

engineer battalions, e 

Maj or William R , Williard, Jr. presently teaches 

environmental engineering at the U. 5. Army Engineer 

Scho ol, Fort Belvoir, Virginia , Originally an Infantry 

officer, he serv ed in Vietnam as a Commanding Officer 

oi C Company, 19th En gineer Battalion (Com bat) 

and later as Assistant 5-3 of the 937th Engineer Group 

(Combat) . 

25 
A PILOT PROJECf ENGINEER STAFF 

Special Training
 

•

In
 

The U. S. Army Engineer Center
 

has launched a training program
 

that is expected to augment
 

mounting shortages in many
 

of the critical construction skills.
 

Plumbing stud ent learns operation of electric snake 

from foreman on job site . 

the Skills
 

Ever need a plumber-or an electrician in an emergency, and couldn't get hold of one? Familiar situ ation? 

Hom eowners galor e have been be-deviled by these 

circumstances many times. 

The Army finds itself in much the same predic ame nt 

at pre sent, insofar as the availa bility of soldier-craftsmen trained in constru ction skills is concerned . 

So--what to do? 

Harassed homeowner-c-it he has any p ractical 

skills at all, attempts an altemate solution unt il he 

can obtain the service s of a professional. And if he 

has any foresight, he seeks to expand his "know-how" 

to be better able to cope with future emergencies of 

like na ture. 

The Army? Not so . 

Authorities at the U. S. Army Engineer Center and 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia, are enthusiastically optimistic 

that they have devised a program which will eliminate 

the problem. 

Produ cing and retaini ng pe rsonnel qu alified in the 

construction skills in numbers enough to meet its 

needs is a continuing difficulty for the Army. Throughout the entir e senior service, engineer personnel are 

expected to provide the expertise that is always required to accomplish the varied carpentry, elect rical, 

plumbing and maso nry tasks. 

Engineer unit commanders and Facilities E ngineers 

arc constantly faced with qualified personnel shortages 

in thes e all-important and widely needed skills. 

Yet the prevailing climate of austerity under which 

the military services are currently operating precl udes 

the initiation of any massive training program in these 

fields . An y such program would be impractical in any 

case, from the viewpoint of cost per student , and eventuall y would produce marc MOS qu alified individuals 

in these skills than could be absorbed into the military 

work force . 

The Engineer Center has initiated what it calls the 

Engineer Skills Training Program, which is designed 

for maximum effectivene ss and minimum impact on 

availab le resources. 

The pilot program is now being tested to determine 

the feasib ility of meeting Army requirements for en26 
Electrical students perform practical ex ercises in connection and installation of switches and control boxes. 

gineer soldier-craftsmen, qualified in various construction skills by combining supervised self-study and onthe -job pr actical, technical training. The scope of the 

training parallels that prescribed by the Department 

of the Army for the appropriate MOS, and hopefully 

will produce skill levels equivalent to those prescribed 

by the construction industry. 

In August, 16 enlisted rnen-c-12 from the 11th 

Engineer Battalion (Combat), and four from the 77th 

Engineer Company (Port Construction) , became the 

first group to complete this unique training, and to 

be designated MOS-qualified in the construction fields 

of carpentry, plumbing, masonry and electricity, without having been required to attend classes at a service 

school or neglect their regularly assigned duties. 

Text material for each of the skills was developed 

by the U. S. Army Engineer School's Department of 

Non-resident Instruction at Fort Belvoir. The training 

packets include the applicable correspondence course, 

the program of instruction, class schedule and instructor guides. The Dir ector of Facilities Engineering, 

U. S. Army Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir, is responsible for the technical aspects of the program and 

assigns the students to the appropri ate foreman for 

"classroom" (i. e. shop) instruction and practical tr aining. 

The actual learning process, though quite simple, 

has proven to be highly effective, according to the 

several instructors participating in the pilot program. 

The student completes the lessons, studying at his 

own rate of learning, and submits his solutions to 

various problem solving situat ions encountered in the 

text material. Corrected lessons are returned to him 

by his Training NCO or Office r, who discusses all aspects of the problems with him to insure that the student is completely informed and understands the 

solutions. The would-be craftsman then applies the 

knowledge he gained to practical use under the direction and supervision of his instructor-s-a foreman 

qualified in the particular skill the student is studying. 

27 
Electrica l students receive instruction from expe rt el ectricia n a t DFAE. 

At the termination of his tr aining, currentl y planned 

as a l 6-week course of instruction, the student must 

pass a written examination and a final, graded practical 

exercise to determine his proficiency and the effectiveness of the training. The appli cable MOS is awarded 

only after successful completion of the MOS test and 

a demonstration of comp etence in all tasks enumerated 

for that particular skill. 

Fo r enro llment in the program, an individua l must 

be highly motivated, while voluntary participation is 

considered imperative in view of the reliance placed 

on trainee initi ative throughout the program. Those 

undergoing the training cycle must have a GM score of 

90 or higher, and a rerainabilit y of four mon ths in the 

service upon completion of the course. 

Fo r the individual, benefits are considered to be 

many, for he learn s a trad e which is in high demand 

in the civilian domain. Under provisions currently 

being negotiated with the construction labor union, 

the Arm y En gineer SkilJ Rating which the student 

receives upon completing the train ing program indicates his level of competence, and is intended as an 

equivalency union rating should he choose to return 

to civilian life. 

Army authorities are highly enthusiastic about the 

prog ram . Its implem entation incurs no added expenses, 

as text materials are readil y available, and additional 

instructors are not required due to the size of the 

classes. Un it commanders are now pro vided a means 

of obtaining technically proficient personnel, MOSqualified , without decr easing un it effectiveness or suffer ing personnel losses to resident schooling. 

Although final analysis and eval uation of the pro ­

gra m have not yet been compl eted , it wou ld appear 

that the system offers a pr actical and economical 

solution to a long-standing problem from which other 

Army units might well benefit . 

28 
Engineer troops construct a bridge in the shadow of Nui Ba Din-the Black Virgin Mountain in Vietnam . 

MISSION ACCOMPLISHED 

For years Presidents have made numerous speeches 

and I have never noticed any effect on my life style. 

But once you don the uniform of your country, this 

seems to change . You never reali ze how much effect 

the Pr esident's words and actions have on you until 

you become part of the giga ntic military establ ishment. 

Of co urse, man y milit ary pe rsonn el never feel his influence until they are assigned to a war zone, 

T did not realiz e the impact of the President's power 

until shortly after Tarrived in my fi rst war zone-Vietnam. Every move we made was influenced in some 

way by our Commander-in-Chief's words. His influence on me was exemplified shortly after his historic 

speech in May of 1970 in which he told the American 

public he had ordered U, S. troops into Cambodia to 

clean out major enemy sanctuaries in that country. 

Within hours after President Nixon's statement that 

he was committing U. S, force s to support a combat 

ope ration which became known as the "Cambodian 

Captain Andrew M . Perkins, Jr . 

Sweep, " American and South Vietn amese troo ps we re 

0 0 the move. My outfi t, Company B of the 588th Engineer Battalion went alon g, and not just for the ride. 

Engineers of the 20th Brig ade were among the lead 

elements of the operation. ARVN troop s hit an area 

appropriate ly named Parrot's Beak and the U. S. 

combat divisions moved iota a geographi c land conformation they dubbed the Fishhook. 

For the road-building and land-clearin g engineers, 

the dramatic eight-week oper ation became 56 brutal 

days of clock-racing construction and comb at. 

To the north, east, and south of the Fishhook, what 

had been a series of insignificant dots in the jungle , 

became str ategically cruci al staging areas as the 79th 

Group Engineers launched an around-the-clock fight to 

upgrade and maintain them. The nam es "Katum" and 

"Thien Ngon" were hittin g newspapers around the 

globe while the 588th Engineer Battalion repaired de29 
teriorating runways and built logistics facilitie s at both 

airstrips, in the mid st of pounding C-130 landings and 

one-a-minute helic opter take-offs. 

Badly-needed main supply routes, OL-22 and TL-4, 

were bein g constructed from Tay Ninh when the II th 

Arm ored Cavalry Regiment and the 25th Infantry Division tank s began rumbling toward the border. To accommodate them, OL-22 and TL-4 were opened to the 

bord er by the engineers of the 588th Battalion. 

The first engin eers to operate from a base inside 

Cambodi a were 53 men from Company B, 588th Engineer Battalion. A vital extension of QL-22 had to 

be upgraded to TL-7 , some 20 miles inside Cambodia, 

in order to provide a badly -needed supply and withdr awal route . For five days the engine ers worked 

around -the-clock to transform a " trail" int o a 20­

foot-wide all-weather road to aid the movement of 

combat vehicl es. The road susta ined transport movement during the entire operation. 

Some 30 miles to the east, Alpha Company, 588th 

Engineer Battalion , cr ashed through the jun gle border 

so uth of Mem ot on borrowed Rome plOWS. Behind the 

plows, earthmoving equipment was cutting out a road 

that would lay the western port ion of the Fishhook open 

to U. S. arm or and facilitate the overland evacuation 

of fant astic quantities of captured war materials. 

As the unit moved through incr edibly stubbo rn and 

tangl ed vegetation, enemy sniper attacks hindered the 

search for natural deposits of laterite , which wa s needed to give the road an all-we ather surface. In our 

search for this much needed substance. the unit found 

two bunker complexes load ed with rice, livestock, 

weapons and an estimated 10,000 pounds of medical 

su pplies. And we acco mplished our mission by finding 

laterite. 

Toward the end of the 22 kilometers of dri ving construction work , the unit was reinforced by memb ers 

of the 595th Engineer Company. Together, the two 

units pushed through to Cambodia Highway 7 and to 

Mem ot-completing the tacti cal link far ahead of 

schedule. 

President Nixon had dir ected that the operation end 

by June 30 , 1970. But as the calendar turned to the 

month of June and the deadline approached for all 

Allied forces to withdraw from Cambodia , we were 

confronted with still another major problem. He avy 

winds and rain began building up to monsoon pr oportions. A real mon soon would have wiped out ha stily 

constructed ro ads and temp orary bridges before the 

tactical units could get back across the border. My outfit, Company B of the 588th , began a wind and rainracing, laterite-repaving project to save TL4 south of 

Katum for an evacuation route during the withdrawal. 

When the job was done, we stood by and watched 

mud-spl attered convoys and long line s of tanks stream 

out of Cambodia over TL-4 to secu re areas in South 

Vietnam on Jun e 29-one da y before the withdrawal 

deadline. 

Once again the engineers had played an invaluable 

suppo rt role . With out that 100 percent effort from the 

engineers, the entire combat operation could have bee n 

in big trouble . 

Engineers not only helped guarantee the success of 

the troop withdrawal but their actions also bought 

some valuable time for the ARVN troops to strengthen 

themselves for man y more battles to come against a 

deadly and determined enemy. e 

Capta in And rew M. Pe rkins Jr. is a gradu ate of Hampton 

Institute with a de gree in Architecture . A recent graduate of 

the Eng ineer Officer Ad van ced Co urse at Fort Belvoir, he is 

now assigned to the U. S. Army In structor Gr oup, Sen ior 

ROTC, Milwaukee, Wisconsin. 

30 
THE UGLY
 

I

•
 

w. T. Spriegel 

"The priority of the program is so great 

that all necessary resources should be devoted to it." 

Thus concludes a message last June from the Department of the Army to the Commanding General, 

Continental Army Command, establishing guidelines 

for commanders within the continental limits of the 

United States for treatment of "active duty Army dru g 

dependent personnel returning from Vietnam by aeromedical evacuation. " 

"It also accentuates the concern of the Army leadership for the problems imposed by drug abuse, and the 

urgency which is attached to the implementation of 

measures designed to counter the misuse of drugs by 

Army personnel ," says Brigadier General Robert G. 

Gard, Jr. , Chief of the Army's Directorate of Discipline 

and Drug Policies, Office of the Deputy Chief of Staff 

for Personnel, Department of the Army. 

In consonance with a concerted Department of Defense and national effort to combat this menace to the 

health of military and civilian personnel the world 

over, and the adverse impact which it imposes on 

operational efficiency, the Army has gone all out to 

develop an accelerated, comprehensive program to control drug abuse . 

General Gard is charged with that mission, and has 

just recently returned from an extended trip to Vietnam 

to see first-hand what progress was being made in implementing local programs. 

"We have had a remarkably successful response in 

the initiation of short term programs," the general reported, "but we have discovered that education of our 

own personnel is paramount, if we are to be successful 

31 
In our efforts to control drug abu se, or minimize its 

use." 

Considering the numbers of engineering personnel in 

Vietn am-and the likelihood that they may well remain in that country for some time in support of the 

Vietn arnizat ion program-the Arm y's rapidly expanding program to fight drug misuse is of particular significance to engineers worldwide. 

Within the Co ntinental Army Comm and , the First 

U. S. Army at Fort G. Meade, Maryl and, became the 

first comm and to publ ish a definitive Alcohol and Drug 

Abu se Program, based on the guidelines provided by 

General Gard's office. Details of the First Arm y Program were announced and disseminated to subordinate 

units within that command in mid-July. 

Using such guidelines, installations within the First 

Army Area reacted with speed and effect to initiate 

their own local programs similar in pattern, such as 

that now in operation at the "Home of the Engineers" 

at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. 

The programs have four main objectives: 

• Pr evention-which encompasses educ ating the individual as to the dangers of drug abuse , and aggressive 

law enforcement in efforts to reduce the availability of 

illegal drugs. 

• Identification-through which drug users are encouraged to volunteer for treatment. 

• Rehabilitation-the first step toward which is detoxification . . . 

• Data collection and analysis-through which critical evaluation of the program may be made. 

"T he incre asing use of heroin among soldiers 

throughout the world is our greatest conc ern ," says 

General Gard, "particularly among tho se in Vietnam 

where high potency drugs are readily and easily obtainable at little expense. Heroin is our primary and 

most immediate target, and the Army has zeroed-in on 

that aspect of the burgeoning drug problem which we 

are bending every possible effort to solve. Highest priority is being given to the identification and detoxification of heroin users before they depart Vietnam-and 

arr anging for follow-on treatment as required upon 

their arriv al in the United State s," he declared. 

In its counter-offensive against drug misuse , the 

Army has expanded the identification process to include amphetamines and barbiturates, in addition to 

opiates, with testing and treatment on a worldwide scale 

being pushed vigorously. It is anticipated that by November, world-wide spot checks, treatment and rehabilitation of drug users will be underway, although in 

overseas areas such care at first will, of necessity, be 

austere. 

Three techniques are now in use in the Army program for the detection of drug users : 

• The Free Radical Assay Technique (FRAT) 

• Thin Layer Chromatography (TLC ) 

• Gas Liquid Chromatography (OLC ) 

Despite rumors to the contrary, urinal ysis by these 

meth ods for the detecti on of drug users has pro ven to 

be highly reliable. In fact, it has been reported that 

there is no substance known to Army toxicologists that 

will mask the presence of the drug being tested under 

this system. 

To augment tests performed by military medical 

techn icians, the Arm y has contracted with civilian laboratories to conduct urinalyses. Such firms report their 

findings by telephone within 24 hours, and confirm the 

tests in writing within seven days. These tests are more 

than 98 percent reliable, according to authorities. 

Meanwhile, in Vietnam, urine testing machines are 

operating daily at the Army's replacement centers at 

Long Binh and Cam Ranh Bay, where all personnel 

slated for return stateside are tested prior to departure. 

Individuals testing drug positive are quarantined for 

a maximum of seven days in detoxification areas, under medical control, where withdrawal from drug use 

can be effected . 

Gene ral Gard cautions, however, that although 

physical dependence on heroin can be rather quickly 

eliminated, the hazard of psychological dependence 

may well remain because it is a most difficult condition 

to treat. 

To comb at that situation, the patient receives highly 

intensive counseling and close medical observation during the detoxification period, by both psychologists and 

social workers-and, if necessary, by psychiatrists. 

Current policy now provides that all drug users be 

32 
returned to the United State s under medical evacua ­

tion, after detoxification and outprocessing. Upon arrival back home they arc couns eled fur ther as a followon measure, and are told about all of the specific 

trea tment facilities available to them. 

Urinalysis screening in Vietnam has been extended to 

include personel requ estin g extensions, and those departing on leave or for rest and recuperation (R&R). 

If heroin traces are det ected , detoxificat ion and followup treatment replaces the individual's proposed absence for such purposes. Current policy precludes ordinary leave or R&R for personnel unle ss it is verified 

that they are not drug dependent. The policy does not 

apply to emergency leaves, however. 

In Thailand, SEA TO facilities are being upgraded to 

accommodate urine testing of bot h Army and Air 

Force person nel. By November I, that capability hopefully will be available. Meanwhile, specimens from that 

area are flown to Vietnam for analysis, with detoxific ation and med-evacuation to the United States in accordance with the foregoing procedures. Screening for 

dru g use began in Thailand on Jul y 23 . 

In other overse as are as, similar measures have been 

implemented. Laboratory anal ysis is bein g accomplished in-country if civilian facilities are available, 

otherwise analysis will be done in the United States. 

As of the moment, screening of personnel ret urnin g to 

the U. S. for leave , or new assignments-c-or requ esting 

extensi ons of the ir tour has been pha sed in. 

In most areas, dependent families and civilian employees wo rking overseas may voluntaril y participate 

in the Army drug detection program. 

Here in the United States , Army authorities are taking unprecedented steps to stave off the onslaught of 

drug abuse. 

During separation briefings at processing points in 

Oakland , Califo rnia, Fort Lewis in Washington , and 

at Fort Dix, New Jersey. dischargees who have been 

on heroin or other drugs are urged to seek help , if 

needed followin g sepa ration, from one of the dr ug testing cent ers operated by the Vet erans Administration 

(VA) or other civilian programs. 

Although VA capability to treat dru g users is presently limited, it ha s been ann ounced that 27 new dru g 

treatment centers have recentl y been opened (October 

1) to augment the five VA centers previously in operation . This expansion will permit the care of an additional 6,000 veteran drug-d epend ents, and will relieve 

long-term burdens on military facilities by ph asing exten sive treatment cases into VA rehabilitation pro gram s. 

The Army program is one which is non-punitive, and 

offers amnesty to the soldier who has the guts to face 

his problem, and wants to kick the habit. Under the 

immunity-or amnesty-policy, no soldier will be subject ed to disciplinary measures under the Uniform 

Code of Military Justice, or discharged under other than 

hon orable conditions, solely on the basis of volunteering for treatment, Or ident ification as a drug user 

through urinalysis. This is an integral part of the drug 

abu se program which encourages those dependent on 

dru gs to voluntarily seek treatment. 

The policy, however, doe s not exempt the soldier 

from other legal con sequences as a result of violation 

of other laws and regulatio ns. if such disciplinary action is supported by evidence not att ributed to urine 

testing or volunteering for treatment. 

According to official statistics, the amnesty feature 

of the Armis program has had positive effect. For instance, in Vietnam during the first five months of this 

ca lendar year-January th rough May-more tha n 6,­

800 persons of all services voluntarily turned themselves 

in for treatment-an average rate per thou sand of 54 .6. 

During the months of June and Jul y, a tot al of 4,513 

person s-or an average of 113.5 per thousand-entered the program . 

One of the most important agencies in the rehabilitat ion of drug dependent pers onnel is the "Halfway 

House." Commanders throughout the Army are being 

urged to establ ish such an activity as soon as they 

possibly can do so to help dru g users make the switch 

from hosp ital to full duty. 

Although rehabilitation of drug users actuall y begins with detoxification- as pointed out earlier-soldiers rem aining on active duty, if they really want to 

"make it," go into an outpatient program of community-ba sed therapy, activit y and involvement. 

33 
Under the concept of the Halfway House, the soldier spends his duty hours at his unit and stays in the 

Halfway House after duty hours. Staffed with both 

medical and nonmedical personnel, the Halfway House 

system prov ides housing arrangements and structured 

activitie s during non-duty hours-and includes occupational therapy, ind ividual and group counseling, group 

recreation, and other activities under the close supervision of prof essional coun selors. 

During the rehabilitation process , periodic checks 

through urinalysis-probably about twice weekly-will 

be conducted. "Rehab-success" will not be confirmed 

until a patient has undergone a series of "clean" urine 

tests, and has demonstrated that he is psychologically 

fit for return to full duty. 

If the drug user is unable to pass such tests after a 

minimu m of 60 dav s rehabilitation effort, he will be 

considered a "rehab-failure" and administratively separated from the service. 

Before separation, he will be referred to the VA or 

other civilian treatment facilities for follow-on care. 

Dischargees are referred to specific treatment facilities 

and given help in making necessary appointments. 

Other rehabilitation centers are being pushed by the 

Army, under its concerted attack against the misuse 

of drugs. These centers, which will be used for both the 

pre vention of dru g abuse and the reh abilitation of 

those using drugs, will provide various services- individual .counseling (psychotherapy) , group coun seling 

(group psychotherapy). drug information, rap sessions recreation al activities and referral. 

Such centers will operate around the clock , with a 

hot line teleph one for advice and assistance to those 

calling in with a drug problem-much like the highly 

successful operation which Alcoholics Anonymous 

conducts. 

Authorities warn that drug abuse is often a chronic 

condition with occasional relapses, and that short term 

reh abilitat ion should be considered on the basis of pro gress and estimated pot ential for improvement, rather 

than as a success or failure . Decisions concerning adequate progress should be delayed until the patient has 

been afforded a reasonable period to demonstrate his 

attitude toward rchabilitation-normally after he has 

been on-post for about 60 days, and then only after 

consultation with appropriate medical and other specialists. 

The Army's concern with what has become an American epidemic is shown in the massive and urgent 

campaign which it has mounted. Statistics and data 

about the extent of drug abuse in society are difficult to 

pin down because drug users, like alcoholics, are good 

at concealing their problem . Yet both categories subscribe to the same philosophy-the world is wron gnot them . Their problem is one not of their own doing . 

Such an attitude is difficult to overcome. Such an 

attitude, people are beginning to realize , is more closely 

related to illness than to more unconventi onal behavi or. 

Science recognizes that, in the case of drug addicts, 

some are so psychologically strung-out that they will 

never kick the habit, or even want to do it. 

Many persons who have been successful in shaking 

the habit, exhibit an enthusiasm about the "clean feeling" they experience . That enthu siasm, and the assistance of such former drug users in rehabilitation efforts 

for those "still on the hook ," have been most helpful. 

"Scare tactics" are unnecessary to combat drug abuse. 

Facts alone are sufficient to make the nonuser have 

second thoughts before the first "hit." The Army's program is aimed at prevention, and to stop the non-user 

from starting on drugs. 

At the same time , former addicts emphasize the need 

for a "natural high-something that will involve them, 

something in which they can lose themselves-such as 

music, nature, or helping others. But they need the 

compassion which those around them can providethey need an environment of understanding. 

As General Gard puts it: "We must endeavor to reorient institutional attitudes toward the problem of 

drug users to provide a more receptive environment and 

proper support for them. We must divorce ourselves 

from an outlook upon the dru g user as a comm on 

crimina l. We must accept the premise that not all addicted to the use of drug s are beyond help and rehabilitation." 

As to possible changes in the Army's rapidly expanding program, General Gard says that current accent will be to stimulate innovation in the present program-that there is no absolute conventional wisdom 

as to the best approach to use; that a variety of modalities will be tried-but that educ ation of our own 

personnel is paramount to any successful outcome·e 

34 
THE CONSTRUCTION BATTALION
 

FROM CONCEPT
 

TO REALITY
 

CAPTAIN JOHN J. CONNOR 

The recent study conducted at the Engineer School involved actual working situations, wherethe proposals of DCEand CDC were put to the test by the advanced 

course students. Their findings will suprise many engineers. 

Have you ever he ard of the 515th Engineer Battalion 

(Construc tion)? Do you know where it has operat ed 

recently? If you can't answer either of these two questions, don 't feel bad, because the 515th exists only on 

paper at the U. S. Army Eng ineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. It is the designation given to four student groups that took part in an evaluation of proposed 

revisions of the organizati on of the Engineer Construction Battalion. The exercise, referred to simply as 

CONBN, was conducted by the school's Construction 

Engineering Division. This classroom evalu ation is just 

th e latest in a series of developm ents that began in 

September 1969 when Lieutenant General Fr ederick 

J. Clarke , Chief of Engineers, directed that a study be 

made CO re-examine Army engine er organ ization structures following a policy statement from the Army Chief 

of Staff on "Austerity and the Future of the Army " . 

The cu rrent structure of the Construction Battalion 

consists of a Headquarters and a Headquarters Company , one Equipment and Ma intenance Company, and 

three Construction Companies. In add ition to normal 

headquarters personnel , the Headquarters Company 

contains plumbers, electricians, and heating, ventilation 

and ref rigeration speciali sts. The Equipment and Maintenance Company is comprised of a construction equipment section, asphalt section, quarry section , and a 

maintenance platoon. The three construction companies are identical and comprise one earthmoving platoon and two general construction platoons. The construction platoon headquarters includes structur e specialists and masons, while the squads (18 in the entire 

Battalion ) are comprised of carpenters, plumbers, electricians, and dump truck drivers . 

One of the recommendations made by the board of 

officers tha t conducted the study within the office of 

the Chief of Engineers (OCE) was a reorganization of 

the Constructi on Battalion along "function al" lines as 

opposed to the Current "balanced" construction capability now in effect. The boa rd pr oposed consolidation of 

pers onnel by skills to perm it "subcontracting" of manpower and equipment to construction tasks as required 

in the same manner as a civilian contractor. It also 

recommended that a battalion within the Conti nental 

Un ited States be reorganized to test this con cept und er 

a norm al rang e of engineer mission assignments, concurrent with development of a new Table of Organization and Equipment. Th e proposal was favorably received when presented to the Army Gen eral Staff 

Council and as a result, the Assistant Chief of Staff 

for Force Development tasked the Combat Development Command to perform a "detailed examination 

and evaluation of the proposed new construction battalion concept in light of current and probabl e future 

doctrine and reqirements." 

The OCE concept consolidates functions at company 

level and reduces administrative overhead without a decrease in construction capabilities. This new battal ion 

would be composed of a Headquarters and a Headquarters Company, two general con structi on companies, 

one ea rth moving comp any, and a materials support 

company. The Headquarters Company would contain a 

consolid ated mess and a communications section, each 

35 
This block dlagram displays 

the current CURRENT CONST 8N ORGANIZATION 

"BALANCED" concept, with each con­ I I struction company 

having similar engi­ CONST 

neering capabilities. 

PLUMBER 

ELECTRICIAN 

HEAT/VENT SP 

AIR COND SP 

capable of supporting project sites, and a battalion direct support unit for engineer equipment. The Materials Supp ort Company would provide specialized equipment and construction materials support, and would 

consist of a concrete section , asphalt section , quarry 

section, and materials section. Equipment would include 

18 dump trucks (12 cy capacity) , a 150 TPH rock 

crusher, and three mobile concrete mixers (24 cy/ hr) . 

The Earthmoving Company contains the three earth 

moving platoons of the current battalion and a maintenance section. Equipment includes dozers, scrapers, 

and compaction equipment, but no dump trucks. The 

General Construction Companies are organized to do 

vertical type construction and consist of a general construction section composed of carpenters, structural 

specialists, and construction helpers ; a utility section 

composed of electrici ans, plumbers, masons, refrigeration , heating and ventilation specialists, and a utilities 

helper ; and a support section composed of equipment 

and equipment operators needed to support other sections. 

Construction operations of this battalion are envisioned to be similar to those of civilian contractors. The 

staff organization represents a distinct departure from 

the traditional 5-1,2,3,4 staff. It is a double deputy 

system (Chief, Support Operations, and Chief, Construction Operations) in which planning and manage­

... 

E/M 

MOVING 

CONST EOUIP 

ASPHALT

QUARRY

BN MAINT 

EARTH

EQUIP 

CONCRETE PDN SP 

STRUCTURE SP CARPENTERS 

MASON PLUMBERS 

ELECTRIOANS
 

DUMP TRUCKS
 

ment of construction operations is highlighted . There 

is no executive officer, so in the absence of the battalion 

commander, command is passed to the senior chief. 

It was with this background information that the 

Combat Developments Command Engineer Agency 

began its study in March 1970 "to identify improved 

alternative organizational structures for the Engineer 

Construction Battalion, where , through improved management techniques and the introduction of modernized 

construction capabilities, manpower savings can be 

realized without degrading the battalion's capabilities" . 

The study employed both quan titative and qualitative 

techniques to determine the construction requirements 

placed on an engineer construction batt alion and the 

resulting required capabilities. 

After the identification of essential construction 

equipment and skilled trades, unit building blocks were 

developed to permit incremental changes to the existing 

Table of Organization and Equ ipment (TOE) . Finally 

an analysis was performed to determine the savings 

which would result from the pooling of skilled man ­

power and the introduction of off-the-shelf commercial 

constru ction equipment (CCE). Th e study resulted in 

seven alternative organizations, of which the first four 

are the same basic organization as the current battalion. 

Alternative number five and seven represents aCE's 

functionalized company concept, while number six pro36 
••• 

j ­

I 

CON BN ALTERNATIVE 6A 

II 

caN ST 

EOUIP 8. HQ 8. HO MAIN T 

CON ST EQUIP 

ASPHALT 

QUAR RY 

BN MAI NT 

vides for functionalized platoons and sections in an organization essentially the same as the present battalion. 

Eac h alternative provides single and double shift options. 

Th e study recommended that a new tentative TOE 

be prepared for the engineer construction battalion 

based on the modified functionalized concept of alternative number six, and that a battalion be reorgani zed and 

equipped with commercial construction equipment for a 

field evaluation to be conducted in Europe. It also coneluded that the recomm ended changes could be accomplished at a savings in the number of personnel required and at essentiall y the same lO-year dollar cost. 

The modified function al battalion recommended by 

the CDC study is composed of a Headquarters and 

Headquarters Company, an Equipment and Maint enance Company and three Construction Companies. The 

HQ and HQ Company has the normal complement of 

a headquarters element and contains no maintenance 

or construction capab ilities. The organiz ation of the 

Equipment and Maintenance Company is essentially 

the same as in the current battalion, but in the three 

Construction Companies major changes are found as 

they now consist of four platoons each, namely a 

Horizontal Construction Platoon, two Vertical Construction Platoons, and a Special Skills Platoon. The 

horizontal platoon conta ins the entire earthmoving caThis concept 

takes the present 

"BALANCED" capability and functionalizes skills at the company level. 

SKIL L 

ELEC 

PL UMB 

ENVIRONMENTAL 

MA SCN 

STRUCTURE 

pability of the company and is comprised of an earth 

moving section and a tran sportation section which consolidates all of the company's dump trucks. Th e two 

vertical platoon s consist solely of carpenters and their 

tool sets, while the special skills plat oon is organized 

into functionali zed craft sections and includes plumbers, 

electricians, masons, stru cture specialists, and heating 

and ventilation specialists. With this type of organization each craftsman can now obtain the grade of Specialist Five in his own work section as opposed to the 

current max imum of Specialist Four, and can progress 

up to Platoon Sergeant (8-7) in the general field. Thi s 

will result in higher skill levels and enh ance personnel 

retention. 

Neither the aCE or CDC organizations have been 

field tested as yet and no immediate plans to do so have 

been announced . Austere conditions in Eur ope , accelerated redeplo yment from Vietnam, and longstanding 

congressi onal limitations in CONUS make the prospects 

of a field test of both concepts doubtful and of either 

concept uncertain. Th e productivity of a functionally 

. organized battalion has, however, alread y been proven 

by field experience. The Engineer Command, Vietnam, 

reports that the 8l5th Engineer Battalion (Construction) , which has been functionally organized for work 

on the LOC program, (See "LOC" in the spring issue 

of "the engineer") "has proven to be one of our 

31 
Diverting from 

the other con­ cepts, CDC's proposal 

fu nctioualizes skill 

capabilities at the 

platoon level. The 

students favored this 

concept. 

CON 8N ALTERNATIVE 5A 

r---------.--e-$=J-------r- --, 

CONST MAT SPT 

... 

... ... HQ 

SUPPORT HQ CONST UT I LITY SEC 

CARPENTER ELECTR ICAL 

ST RU CTU R E PLUMB ING 

best producers both quantitively and qualitatively" . Initially, plans were for the line companies (B ,C, and D) 

to be responsible for the complete construction of a 

portion of the road-Less paving which would be done 

by A company-but this organization proved highly 

inefficient. The battalion was reorganized to make each 

platoon and company a specialist in one function 

(earthwork, subbase, haul, etc.), increasing production 

in all areas at least 100 percent. The 36th Engineer 

Battalion (Construction) has had similar success with 

a functional organization. 

It was at this point that the Engineer School 's 

Office of Doctrine and Training Development and the 

former Department of Engineering and Military Science began formulating a method of evaluating the CDC 

and OCE organizations in a classroom exercise. Working under the guidance of Colonel Charles S. Reed , Jr ., 

(Director, D/E&MS), Colonel Walter R. Hylander Jr. 

(Director, ODTD), and Lieutenant Colonel Donald A. 

Ramsey (Chief, Construction Engineering Division) a 

3D-hour "war game" was prepared by Captains John 

F. Sheffey and Kevin 1. Mahoney, members of the Engineer School faculty, to test the command and control 

and management afforded by the two organizations. 

The students of class 2-71, Engi neer Officer Advanced Course, were selected to participate in the evaluation and were divided into four battalion staffs (two 

ENVIRON­


M ENTAL
 

MASON 

for each proposed organization) and a l Ovman umpire 

staff. The Chief Umpire for the exercise was Major 

Gerald A. Vick , class leader of 2 EOAC. The first 10 

three-hour sessions was held on June 28, 1971 , at which 

time the proponents of the two concepts briefed the students after faculty controllers had outlined how the exercise would be conducted. The second and third sessions 

were devoted to Standard Operating Procedures and 

TOE study. Sessions four, five and six tested the 

battalion in a centralized project, while sessions seven , 

eight and nine presented several decentralized projects. 

Tn both cases "conflicts" were introduced to test specific elements of the organization. To simulate physical 

separation that would normally require communications 

by radio or telephone, written solutions were required. 

Only those personnel who would work in close proximity, such as the Battalion Commander, and his executive officer were permitted to converse during the solutions of the conflicts . The students were charged to 

exert every effort to make their organization work regardless of personal preferences. A final written report 

was required identifying the preferred TOE and its advantages. This report was presented at a briefing on 

August 2, 1971 . The students decided overwhelmingly 

in favor of the organization proposed by CDC, with 85 

percent selecting this concept. The five main areas 

which influenced this decision were : command, staff 

38 
PERCENTAGES PREFERRING . .. 

Student Survey Results of 75 who selected CDC of 13 who selected OCE totals (881 

CDC OCE CDC OCE CDC OCE 

a. Administration 85 8* 61 31 82 11 

b . Staff Organization 84 13 15 85 74 24 

c. Task Assignments 82 12 0 100 70 26 

d . Area Assignments 82 11 23 77 73 21 

e. Planning of Construction 

Tasks 43 48 8 92 38 55 

f. Identification of 

Responsibilities 100 0 85 8 98 1 

g. Chain of Command 99 0 62 31 93 5 

h. Log istics Support 49 33 0 92 42 42 

i. Ab ility to Tailor Assets 

to Projects 55 31 15 85 49 39 

j. Self-Defense 71 3 62 15 69 5 

k. Unit Integrity 97 1 92 0 97 1 

I. Job Efficiency 70 15 8 77 59 24 

m . Maintenance 60 19 0 92 51 30 

n. Communications 59 7 38 23 56 8 

o . Mess Operations 73 16 46 S4 69 22 

p. Morale of Troops 93 1 38 23 85 5 

q . Efficient Use of Earthmoving 

Equipment 40 45 0 100 34 S3 

r. Conduct of Train ing 72 11 15 46 64 16 

s. Supervision of Pe rsonnel 

During Hours 86 3 8 62 7S 1 1 

t. Supervision of Pe rsonnel 

Off Duly Hours 79 0 42 0 73 0 

u. Effi cient Use of Officers 90 3 8 85 78 15 

v , Efficient Use of NCOs 76 13 0 92 65 25 

w . Span of Control 93 0 25 50 84 7 

* figures do not tolall00% because of " n o difference" answers 

organization, the number of officers at company level, 

administra tion, and flexibility. 

Both the aCE and CDC concepts faired well in the 

centralized situation, but in the decentralized situation 

the aCE organization showed several significant weaknesses. In only two areas did the majority of the students feel that the a CE concept was overall superior, 

namely, the planning of construction ta sks and the 

efficient use of ea rthmoving equipment. In general , the 

aCE concept faired well in construction related categories but was found lack ing in the peculiarly military 

areas such as chain of comm and, responsibility, unit integrity, morale, use of officers, and off-duty supervision 

of personnel. 

In assessing the student's findings, it must be remembered that the exercise offered a choice between 

only two alternatives. Neither the present G-series 

TOE, nor any other possibilities were com pared, and 

certainly the classr oom cannot duplicate actual field 

In proposal 5A, OCE em ploys th e new co ncept 

of a dou ble-depu ty staff in lieu of th e traditional 5-1 .2,3,4 arrangement. 

conditions . Th e students learned plenty from their work 

and the oppo rtuni ty to debate the merits of a new orga­ Captain John J. Connor is a gr adua te of Enginee r OCS , and 

zation. Even so, they still must wait to see the final results of their labors. The 515th Engi neer Batt alion 

(Constr uction) still exists only on paper! 

ha s a degree in Geology from Boston College. He is an instructor in the Department of Engineer ing Sciences, Foundatio ns and Materials Di vision, Soil s and Geology Branch at the 

Enginee r School. 

39 
SOLDIBRS DF
 

lLT M. J. TERCY 

" Because it was there", is a fam iliar phrase 

which beckons to those men seeking the thrill of 

adventure. Some may set out to climb gian t mounta in peaks, wh ile others may try '~s o o ti ng the 

rapids" of some tre acherous river in a sm all canoe. But to the m en wh o di splay the badge of the 

U. S. Army Diver, adventure is routine and risk 

is sim p ly part of the job. 

Most p eople might think of th e Army Diver a s 

the typical " devil -may-ca re" sold ier, who b r eeches 

su bmar ine n ets to infiltrat e an enemy coas tli ne. 

Alth ough h e may b e ca lled upon to p er form su ch a 

TIB DBBP 

missiou, hi s knowledge and ca p ab ili ties go far b eyon el such a ctivities. Because of knowledge of diving and the training h e r eceives, the di ver will 

take n o unnecessary risks wh ich may jeopardize 

his own lif e, or the m ission a t hand . He is a professional b y a ll stan dards. 

:Military divers ca n trace a proud history back 

to the time of Ancient Gree ce. Alexand er the Great 

em ployed divers while destroying the defenses of 

T yre in 333 B. C. In even ea rlier accou n ts, H erodotus r el ates the story of Scyllis, wh o d ove to r ecove r 

su n ken p ersian tr easur e for Xerxes. But the U. S. 

40 
Army Divers of today came into existence at Fort 

Screven, Georgia , hack in 1943. The first Army 

Diving School took shape there, but three years 

later in 1946, moved to its CUrrent location at Fort 

Eustis, Virginia. 

A diver's training hegins with a strong emphasis 

on physical fitness. To be selected for the diving 

school, a prospective student must pass the standard U. S. Army Physical Combat Proficiency Test 

(PCPT ), and a !!eries of swimming tests both on 

and below the water. The keynote here is endurance and coordination. 

Chief Warrant Officer Donald L. Branham, who 

heads the diving school at Fort Eustis, states that 

the attrition rate is as high as 50 percent. Although 

the men who apply for the school are all volunteers, the demanding requirements narrow down 

the classes in the early weeks of the program. Of 

those individuals who drop out of the school, most 

fail to meet the standards because of lack of swimming ability, or they succumb to the pressure tests 

administered at the beginning of the course. Motivation is not a k ey factor contributing to the rate 

of attrition. The divers are a small select group of 

individuals, and commitment to their job is a life 

or death necessity. 

The school is staffed by two Warrant Officers 

and seven Noncommissioned Officers. All have a 

wealth of diving experience and a proficiency 

which comes from dedication to their work. With 

the physical training portion of the course, they 

combine intensive classroom instruction on an 

The two scuba divers (below) inspect the wreckage of a downed helicopter, and after attaching a cable (above), the wreckage Is lifted from 

th e wa ter (righ t). 

41 
su b jects r el a ted to the field of diving. The potential d iver is taught everything from the basic principles of under wa te r safety to a working knowledge of divi n g physics. In sh or t, the diver must be 

a ble to a ssimilate himself to ever-y a spect of the 

under water world he will inhabit. 

To provide th e student with an inherent flexihil. 

ity , he is ta u gh t the techniques of both self-contained (SCt TBA ) and sur face-su p pli ed of deep sea 

divin g. The diver must full y understand the capa h ilities an d lim itatio n s of each system, so he can 

determine wh a t equipment best suits a given job. 

The most f am ilia r syst em of diving is scuba. 

W ith the scu ba equipment a diver ha s portability, 

maneuver ability, and flexibility while working. 

T h e o n ly limitin g factors with scuba equipment 

are the d ura tio n of his d ive and the depth to which 

he can descend, Of the three advanta~e of scuba, 

portab ili ty is a major fa cto r of consideration for 

plannin g a ny diving operation. It sim p li fies the 

establishment of an operation h y allowing for a 

lar ge number of divers to h e easily deployed so 

many diver s can operate at the same time. Indep endence of o per atio n is another major 8S8e.t of 

scu b a gea r. T h e d iver can work on his own, shifting h is atten tio n to many a r eas if necessarv. 

Although lack ing the numerous advant~ge of 

scu b a e q u ip m en t, the su r f ace.su p p lied or deep 

se a d iving equi p m e n t is of eq u al importance. With 

the deep se a outfit the div er requires a su p p ly of 

air gen er a ted from the su r f ace . Normally, the 

d eep sea di ver also r equires at least two men on 

the su r face tending his life lines, and m o n ito r in g 

hi s underwater a ctivity. This method of operation 

is usually em p loyed wh ere the divers work is confin ed to a small area, and stability is of p aramount 

im p o r tance. The actual diving dress of the deep 

sea outfit p r o vid es the di ver with maximum protecti o n a ga in st the undersea el ements. Wi th this 

suit the d ive r can operate in even the most rugged 

ter r a in. Great dep th s and o th er special r equirements may al so n ecessita te th e use of surface supplied eq u ipm en t. 

Exp e r ien ce is sa id to be the best teacher, and 

so it is for th e d iver s. At the !!('hool, practi cal exercise s a r e co ndu cted in a 30-£00t diving tank. Here 

the stu den ts h eco m e familiar with both scu b a and 

d eep sea d iv in g p r oced u r es. While working in the 

controlled en vh-on rnen t of the diving tank, they 

can wo rk o u t any problems under the direct supervision of th e staff. It is h ere also where th ey lea r n 

the b a sic techniqu es o f und e rwat er wo r k su ch as 

wel din g a n d the use of various types of t ools. 

A scuba div er pr epares to surf ace from the depths during a 

training exercise. 

To add a greater amount of r ealism to the practical exercise, the school has converted a n old 

barge a n d created a floating classroom. The only 

one of its kind, the floating classroom is fully 

eq u ip ped to tender a n d communicate with six 

divers at the sam e time. Excursion tours are 

p la n n ed with th e "'Barge" where the stu dents parti cip ate in simulated underwater repair and salvage wor k , a s well as blasting and demolition techniques and port rehabilitation. 

The entir e cour-se at the school lasts for 23 

weeks. The training a diver r eceives takes him 

through the first three sta ges of development. A 

stu d en t starts out as a "Diver Tender" with a basic 

MO S of OORIO. There is no hazardous duty pay 

a t this sk ill level since the training is primarily an 

intr od u ction preparing the students for underwater work. 

Up o n successf u l completion of the first phase 

of training, the stu d en t is awarded the " Scuha 

Diver" rating with an ad d ition al skill level added 

to hi s MOS. Acco m p an yin g the new rating is an 

additional incre ase in p ay. At the scuba level, a 

diver receives a n extr a $ 6 5 a m onth. This additional p a y in cr eases as each n ew skill level is a ttained . T h e Ma ste r Diver, which is the highest 

ratin g a d iver can acquire, receives the maximum 

a m ou n t of SIlO monthly. 

W h il e attain in g hi s rating, the diver assu m es 

42 
Two divers helpers dress a soldier in deep sea gear (abo ve), 

while (be low) the diver begins his descent fro m the "floating 

classroom." 

new responsibilities. He gains com p lete knowledge 

of his equipment, an d lear n s to keep it operational 

under th e most adverse conditions. Also he must 

b e competent in underwa ter r epair, methods of 

salvage, and be proficient in techniques of underwater demolition and blasting. 

At the end of the course a t the d iving sch ool, 

the student becomes a qualified Army Dive r . E ach 

stu d en t is given the rating of "Salvage Diver" with 

the MOS of OOB30. It is on ly whe n h e achieves 

this final goal that the diver is read y to p u t his 

technical knowled ge to p r actical u se an d p rovide 

invaluable su p p ort to u nits in th e field, 

One such unit with a n organic diving capability 

is th e 77th E n gi n ee r Company ( P or t Construetion) base d a t For t Belvoir , . Vir ginia. T h is unit is 

the only one in the con tin ental United States wit h 

a diving ca p a b ili ty that can b e mob ili zed and deployed to any point on th e gl obe where diving supp or t is r equired. The 7 7th has a complete r a n ge 

of undersea equipment, which allows the divers to 

meet any underwat er requirement. Salvage Di ver 

Jack Br ust of the 77th st a ted that give n the job, 

they could float anything an ywh e r e. 

Last yea r, the divers from the 77th team ed up 

with divers from the 7 3rd Transp or tation Com ­

pany of Fort Eustis, Virgin ia , to par ticip a te in a 

marine research project called TEKT IT E II. The 

operation, which took place oft' the Vir gin Islands, 

wa s con ducte d in an undersea hab itat to study tbe 

movements and habits of marine life. The diver s 

p erformed as safe ty teams to insur e the well-b ein g 

of the scien tists below. 

Of their morc r ecent jobs, the divers o f th e 77th 

assisted the Savannah District Corps of E n gin eer s 

at the Cla r k Hill Dam a n d Reservoir in Gco r gia. 

The job wa s to free the waterway from ex is ting obstr u ctions. After inspecting the proj ect site, the 

operation wa s ca rried out. Using m o re th an :i OOO 

pounds of C-4 explos ive , the di vers r emoved approximately 200 trees b elow the su r face o f the 

water, 'Wh en the mission was completed , the river 

wa s able to flow unobstruct ed, and provide the increased n eed for more water. 

These two a ccounts are but a cross se cti on of 

th e se r vices performed b y the di vers. Each m ission 

provides a new challenge to be m et a n d overcome. 

But p erhaps there will h e occasions in dryd ock 

when time go es slow and the divers long fo r th e 

se a . However, once again in diving dress, di vin g to 

som e n ew de p th o f adventure, they will prou d ly 

ca r ry out their mission as prof essionals of the 

Corps of E n gineers. e 

Lieutena nt Michael J. Tercy is a form er Associate Edi tor 

of the engineer Magazine , He is currently assigned to the 

Engineer Schoo l, Fort Belvoir, Virginia , as Aide de Ca mp 

to the Assistant Comma nda nt. 

43 
Bridging
 

FEW FORMER OFFICERS 

QUALIFIED FOR RECALL 

UNDERCURRENT PROGRAMS 

THE DECISION TO LEAVE active duty in the Corps of Engineers has always been an important 

one. In view of the very limited opportunity to return, the decision to leave becomes even more 

significant . During the past fiscal year, the Engineer Branch has received numerous inquirie s about 

return ing to active duty from former Engineer officers, both regular and reserve. But only a small 

number of these officers have been qualified for recall under current programs. Only those junior officers 

who compiled an outstand ing record while on active duty can be invited to return to the Corps. 

While some former officer's motivation for wanting to return is stimulated by current civilian job 

opportunities, in most cases this is not the reason. 

Many officers and their families have later realized that their decision to leave the military was 

not what they really wanted . These officers have since found they are motivated toward a military 

pro fession and desire to pursue a continued military career. It is unfortunate that many highly 

competent officers will not fulfill their desire to return to the Corps since competit ion for the 

limited spaces available is very rigorous. So, if you are having thoughts of leaving the Corp s, it would be 

worthwhile to reevaluate your motives. Is it what you really want? Think it over. . 

REGULATION BLOCKS 

FINAL TOUR PREFERENCES 

FOR MANY OFFICERS 

SOME OFFICERS approaching retirement cannot get their "final tour" preferences. Rules are 

covered in AR 614-100. To clear up apparent misunderstandings , the key points of the regulation are: 

• An officer must be returning from an oversea s assignment to qualify. Intra-CONUS moves purely for 

retirement purposes are not permitted. • An officer must be scheduled for mandatory retirement as 

oppo sed to his stated intent to retire voluntarily.• A valid requirement must exist for an officer to 

get the final tour of his choice unless he has between 120 and 180 days of service rema ining and is 

returning from a short tour. The branch makes every effort to assign officers to the station of their 

choice when it is known that retirement is imminent. However, the rule s sometimes restrict the 

branches efforts to meet an individual's desires. 

SOME OFFICERS 

MAY QUALIFY 

FOR NEW Ph.D. QUOTAS 

THE ENGINEER BRANCH has received some training requirements at the Doctorate level in Civil 

Engineering (Structures) and Geodetic Science. Interested officers with a master's degree in a related 

field should submit their applications prior to December 1, 1971. The application forms (1618-R) 

should, if possible, be accompanied by a letter of acceptance from an accredited university which states 

that an individual will be able to complet e the degree in 24 months or less. Consult AR 621-1 for 

details or call the Branch Education Officer at OXford 3-032, Washington, D. C. 

44 
the Gap
 

10 ENGINEERS MAKE 

SELECTION LIST TO ATTEND 

ARMY WAR COLLEGE 

SPECIAL CONGRATULATIONS are due to the 10 Engineers who were among the 100 active duty 

officers recently selected for enrollment in the Fiscal Year 1972 U. S. Arm y War College Nonresident 

Course. This is the only military correspondence course for which selections are competitive. 

Applications this year numbered well over 300; the highest since the program began in 1968. Graduates 

of the two-year nonresident course receive full credit for War College attendance, and are still 

eligible to attend the resident course. Details of application procedures are outlined in AR 351-11. 

TIME BETWEEN VIETNAM 

TOURS IS INCREASING 

FOR COMBAT ENGINEERS 

COMBAT ENGINEE RS in Military Occupational Specialty (MOS) l2B and l2C have been
 

assigned to involuntary second tours in Vietnam since 1967 to meet operational requirements.
 

Currently MOS 12B and 12C Vietnam requirements are being filled by volunteers and personnel who re­


turned from their first Vietnam tour approximately three years ago-in 1968. This is a marked im­


provement over the 20 month tum-around time which existed at one point during the Vietnam con­


flict. Even longer turn-around times may be expected in the future.
 

To give personnel in MOS 12B and 12C a longer period of time between Vietnam tours, the
 

Department of the Army has made maximum use of MOS substitutions and of retraining other soldiers
 

from MOS's that are less required in Vietnam. This not only increases turnaround time for combat
 

engineers, but also gives other individuals valuable combat experience they would not norrnally receive.
 

ARMY INTRODUCES 

NEW TEST PROGRAMS 

TO CAREER EM 

THE ENLISTED MILITARY OCCUPATIONAL SPECIALTY (MOS) Evaluation System has been 

expanded and is now more important than ever. In fact, many soldiers will not be eligible for 

promotion or reenlistment without taking one of the new Special Qualification Te sts. The tests are 

in the same form as the regular MOS Evaluation Te sts. Here are the requirements: 

• To be promoted in an MOS other than the primary (PMOS ) , a soldier must take the Promotion
 

Qualification Test. To take the test he will need his commanding officer's recommendation and a
 

score of 100 or higher on his most recent PMOS. Procedures for Promotion Qu alification Testing are
 

contained in Department of the Army (COPA-EPPME) Message 221314Z dated June 1971.
 

• Anyone who desires to reenlist and does not have a PMOS evaluation score of 70 or higher in
 

the last 12 months must take a Reenlistment Qualification Test. Proc edures for this testing are con­


tained in DA (COPA-EPPME ) Message 141335Z d ated July 1971.
 

These two special testing programs are aimed at further improving the quality of the enlisted career
 

force. They also emphasize that MOS qualification is the responsibility of every soldier as wen as his
 

commanding officer and personnel office.