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the ngl•

SPRING 1973 VOLUME 3 NUMBER 1 

2 Pipeline / News Items
 

4 Stop-16 / Letters to the Editor
 

5 Engineering Bonanza / Engineer Staff
 

8 An Engineering Glance at Engineer Heritage /
 

LTC C. C. Lussier, Jr. 

12 Union Recognition/COL W . R. R ylander & 

MAJ W. D. Jobe 

17 Pin Puller / Engineer Staff 

18 Rovv Lancaster, Pa. Got Its Bailey / 

CPT G. C. Richardson 

20 The Essayons Button / Engineer Staff 

21 Engineering View of the C-5 Galaxy 

LTC H. Wood & MAJ R. L. Lane 

25 Training Tomorrow's Leaders Today / 

CPT R. R. Froude 

28 Dvriarnic Training / MAJ D. W. Barber 

33 Itschner Award / Engineer Staff 

34 Unit Of Choice/ COL E. R. Ardery 

36 Bridging The Gap / Career N ores 

DEPARTMENTS Cbief'.r Briefr/ Pipeline / Stop-16 

Dynamic Training / Bridging The Gap 

t 

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l 
CHIEF'S BRIEFS .....
 

On e of the two initial gradua tes of the Milita ry Academy at West 

Point-Class of 1802- was appoi nted as the Ar my' s seven th Chief 

Engineer on Jul y 3 1, 1812 with rank of colonel, concurre ntly being 

designated as Superinte ndent of the M ilita ry Aca demy . He was but 

28 years of age at the time. 

Co lonel Joseph Ga rd ner Swift was born on September 31 , 1783 at 

Nantucket, Massachusetts, and subseque ntly was appoi nted a cadet by 

n siden t Adams. Following graduation in [80 2, he served with the 

inee rs in a variety of assignme nts, for this was a peri od when Presit Jefferson 's great dre am of expanding the nat ion to the Pacific 

was nearing reality. From 1804 until J8 12 he worked chiefly on the 

construction of Atl anti c Coast fortifications. 

In April, 181 3, Co lonel Swift reported to the Comm anda nt of the 

department having jurisdiction over New York Harbor , and by a special orde r of the President took command of Staten Island with a brigade composed of two infantry regiment s. He assumed this command 

in additi on to his du ties as Ch ief Engineer and Superintendent of the 

Milit ary Academy . At that time, Swift was personally supervising the 

fortification of New York Harbor. 

Later that year he becam e Chief Enginee r of General Wilk inson 's 

Army on the St. Lawrence where, on 11 No vember J8 13, he distinguished himself at the Battle of Chrysler's Fie ld. After completin g the 

defensive wo rks of New York , for which he was brevette d, he was 

voted "Benefac tor of the Ci ty" by the corporation in J8 14. 

Following the war , Ge neral Swift assisted in the prepa ratio n of a 

new syste m of infantry tactics and rebu ilding the burned capitol at 

Washington . He also reo rganized the acade mic staff and planned new 

buildings at West Point. 

Swift resigned from the Army on Novembe r 12, 181 8, and became 

the Civilian Surveyor for the Port of New Yo rk. In I R23, he founded 

the first New Yo rk Ph ilharmoni c Society, and during these years served 

as Chief Engineer for various ra ilroads. He is cred ited with laying the 

"T" rails. F rom 1829 to 184 5 he was the Supe rintendent of the 

t La kes H arb or Improvement s. 

t

General Swift died on Jul y 23, 1865 at Ge neva, New York. e 

U.S. Army Eng inee r School 

Fort Belvoir, Virginia 

Commandant 

MG Robert R. Ploger 

Assistant Commandant 

BG Richard L. Harris 

Deputy Assistant 

Commandant 

COL Charles A. McLeod 

Secretary 

LTC Robert L. Crosby 

Editor 

Robert G. McClintic 

Art Director 

John W. Savage, Jr. 

The Eng lne er is an outhoriJed quarte rly publica t ion of the u.s. Army Engineer School. It i, 

published to prov ide fadual and in-depth Infermalio" of interest to all Engineer un its . Art icle5 , 

photographs and art work of general inte rest 

may be c; ubmitt ed for considoration to : Editor, 

The Engineer , USA Engineer School, Fort B"etvoir, 

Virginia 22060. Views e nd op in ions oxpre ssed 

herein are not netessa rily those of th e Deportment of 'he Army . Use of funds fo r printing of 

this. publication has be en pro vid ed by Head. 

quart.rs. D'l'arlment of the Army. July 11. 1969 . 

Subscript ions to THE ENGI NEER mago'tin e are 

cvctlcbte th rough th e Super int endent of Documents, U. S. Government Printing Office , Wash· 

ing ta n. D.C. 20402. Annual rates or. 2.50 for 

moiling to a domestic or APO address Qnd 53.25 

fo r maiHng to a foretgn adcLreu . Indiv idual 

copies of the magazine are $ 1.00 eac h. Cheeks 

should b e mode payabfe to the Superintendent 

of Documents . 

ABOUT THE COVER 

Art Director John W. Savage, 

Jr., paints a panorama of engineer heritage. This work of art 

vividly points up rcmdem highlights of engineering accomplishments that are further detailed beginning on page 8. 
NEW CRYOGENIC 

REFRIGERATOR 

TESTED BY MERDC 

The U.S . Army Mobility Equipment Research and Development 

Center , Fort Belvoir, Virginia, has 

successfully tested a new cryogenic 

refrigerator fea tur ing a miniature 

turbine-alternator no larger than a 

pair of flashlight batteries. 

Successfully tested to 58 degrees 

Kelvin, or minus 355 degrees Fahrenheit , this new c ryogenic refrigerato r is the forerunner of a larger 

unit being developed with th e capabilities of temperatures of five degrees Kelvin o r 45 0 degrees F ah ­

rcnheir, T he refrigerator is being 

develop ed to pro vide rel iabl e cooling of superconductors in electric 

power eq uipment. While at low 

temperature super con du ctors can 

carry very large electric currents 

witho ut the Joule heating which is 

a major problem in pow er machinery. For some high power applicatio ns the cryogenic approach results in ove rall size reduction compar ed to conven tionally cooled electric mach inery. 

T he refrigerator unit consists of 

a co mpact heat exchanger, a compressor, and the minia ture turbinealternator whi ch features helium 

gas bearings. These bearings permit the turbine-alternator's 18­

gram rotor to spin at 180,000 rpm 

at cryogenic temperatures. The 

bearings also promise long turbine 

life since they hav e no rubbing parts 

during operation. 

HISTORY SERIES 

TELL ABOUT WWII 

CONSTRUCTION 

From barracks buildings to the 

at omi c bomb facilities, the story of 

milit ary con struction in World War 

II is told for the first time in the 

Corps of En gine ers: Construction 

in the United States, the 71 st volum e in th e "United States Army in 

World War II" history series. 

In World War II the Army Corps 

of Enginee rs superintended the 

largest con struction program in the 

nati on 's histor y, providing the hom e 

base for an Army that grew to 

more than 8-million men and wornen. 

A vast horncfront construction 

effort by the Army was the bedrock 

for mobilizat ion and combat in 

World War II. 

Started by the Quartermaster 

Corps and carried to completion by 

the Army Corps of Engineers, this 

building program embraced more 

than 27,000 projects and cost 

$ I 5.3-billion, roughly $59-billion 

in 1970 prices. 

Among its major features were 

camps and cantonments to house 

5.3-million troops; plants to massproduce explosives, ammunition, 

tanks, and planes; hospitals providing nearly half a million beds; 

a hug e network of ports and depots; 

improvements to principal wat 

ways and flood protection for Vl 

indu stries; bomber bases which en: 

tailed a whole new technology; the 

mammoth pentagon building; and 

facilities for the epoc hal Manhattan 

project. 

Corps management told all perso nnel : Reduce to bare essentials. 

Substitute! Improvise! Co mb the 

country for materi als! Get the job 

done with the means at hand. Militar y engineers knew the language 

well. On e of them said : "The very 

basis of military enginee ring is the 

abi lity to mak e out with the means 

ava ilable ." Construction wa s the 

first major industry to attain lar gesca le defense and war production 

in World War IT. 

Other aspe cts of the domestic 

contribution of the Army Engineers 

in the war have been covered in the 

first volume of a subseries to be 

published : Troops and Equipme 

and a second told the story of 

Engineer effort overseas in the war 

2 
CHINESE TUNNEL 

PUT TO GOOD USE 

IN SOUTH KOREA 

Th ey call it the Chinese tunnel. 

And that is as good a name as an y 

because the Ch inese have used the 

13-foot mountain opening along 

the Cho rwon Valley route between 

Camp Casey and Unchon. 

But so hav e the No rth Koreans, 

the South Koreans, the American s, 

and most of the United Nations 

forces that fought in the are a durin g 

the Korean War. Th e Jap anese 

used it, too, right after they built it. 

Fo r the occupying Japanese, It 

was either a matter of up the mountain or 200 feet down the river 

bank to a river which was a flood ­

ed torrent during the monsoonor strai ght throu gh the rock. 

So, 12 month s and much chiseling later-Banzai! A tunn el. That 

was 41 yea rs ago. Since then the 

tunnel has seen a lot of use. 

Route 3 to Unchon is a Sunday 

afternoon bree ze for th ose who like 

it. It is bumpy. It is pav ed and it is 

R oute 3 that takes you through 

the tunnel. 

Th e crude excavation is no engineering marvel- too short to be 

ventila ted and too isolated for 

lights. But the couri er makin g his 

app ointed rounds can be grat eful 

for a torturous grind avoidedChinese Tunnel, J ap anese, or whatever you tag it, Maybe the U . S. 

Army E nginee rs will find a way to 

improve it. 

416TH SLATES 

NEW MAINTENANCE 

FOR CAMP McCOY 

Despite havin g units of three reserv e engineer batt alions taking 

the ir AIT's and per form ing other 

norm al trainin g functions, five bat ­

talion s under the 4 16th E ngineer 

Co mmand of Chicago, 111. , will perform over $30 0-thousand of preplann ed maint enance at Camp MeCoy, Wiscon sin this year. 

T his maintenan ce will include 

rep air s to bridges and roads; training sites includin g tank ranges ; and 

renovation of seve ral wooden buildmgs. 

Over 50,00 0 ton s of rock will 

be blasted and cru shed for roads 

and parklot s while 4,000 ton s of 

asphalt will be placed over existing park ing lots and sidewalks. 

During the two past years annual 

training period s, reserv e engineers 

of the 41 6th have developed a recreati on site nam ed Squaw La ke Recreation A rea. 

It is an area where reservists 

may bring outdoor camping vehicles and equipment so that their 

families may spend their AIT's with 

them. 

Th is area will co ntinue to be improved because this year a 20 0 

foot earth dam will be constructed 

as well as a swimming beach to 

make it more attractive for family 

recreation , 

NOVEL IDEA COULD 

MAKE MINEFIELDS 

SAFE FOR TROOPS 

Formed-in-place plasti c "s tep ­

ing sto nes" soon may be used to 

vide a safe path thr ough mineIds. 

Th e "stepping stones," or pad s, 

are formed by foam ed plastic sprayed on the gro und ahea d of an operator carrying a port able backpack 

unit. 

The special plastic forms and 

hard ens almost instantl y to cover 

an ar ea larger th an a mine. Th is 

distributes the pr essure exe rted by 

the foot fall and lower s it below the 

mine's actua tion point to allow the 

operator to cro ss the minefield 

safely as he sprays the path ahead . 

The port able pack, which weighs 

60 pound s, carries enough pla stic 

to create 30 to 35 "sto nes." Thi s is 

eno ugh to pr ovide a safe path 

thr ough a minefield 100 feet lon g. 

Th e polyureth ane foam " stones" 

are 17 inches in diam eter and four 

inches thick . 

Th e expe rime nta l min efield bridg­

'ng con cept was develop ed by the 

S. Army Mob ility Equipme nt 

esearch and Developm ent Cente r. 

Fo rt Belv oir, V irgini a. 

against Japan . 

A final volum e still in preparation will relate the activ ities of engineers in the Mediterranean area 

and Europe in the war aga inst Ital y 

and Germ any. 
s -

A FRIEND INDEED 

Sir/I have been quite i mpressed by the quality of 

your professional magazine 

a s a forum for new ideas. I 

make a po int to read the engineer thoroughly for the 

perspective and insight it 

provide s to an infantryman 

advising a Reserve Engine er 

Construction Battalion. 

JOHN G. WILCOX 

MAJOR, IN 

UNI T ADVI SOR 

244TH ENGR BN 

ROCKY MOUNTAI NARSENAL 

DENVER, COLORADO 

ESSAYSONS , PRESS ON 

AND SO ON 

I cong rat ul a t e Captain 

Georg e W. Gipe for his f in e 

contri butions to the Wi nter 

1973 i ssue of the engineer. 

However, with tongu e in 

chee k, I sugg est the following: 

The picture s of Captain 

Gipe on pa ges 6 and 7 indicate that he is being worked 

too hard and that he i s not 

get ting enough vigorous 

phys i cal training and perhaps , du e to the job t ensi on s , he i s eating too 

much. 

I was taught that the Eng i n ee r motto was derived 

from French, not Latin. Inde ed We bs t er 's Unabri dged 

Dictionary indicate s t hat 

' essay' and ' assay ' (b oth of 

which mean to put to t est or 

to try ) are derived from the 

French 'e s sayer' and tr.e 

Old French 'essay.' I a lso 

thought that our Cor ps was 

patt erned by a nd af t er the 

French who helped us in our 

first f i ght for freedom. 

Perhaps we should give our 

basic course students a few 

more minutes on the Corps' 

h i s t or y , buttons and motto. 

'Essayons;' 'Press On;' 

'Keep Pushing ;' persistence 

and determination a l one a r e 

omnipotent! 

J. M. KIL GOUR 

LTC, CE 

WE APOLOGIZE 

SirlI would be grateful i f 

you would make kno wn to your 

readers my disa t isfaction 

with t h e way in whi ch you 

repre sent ed the "Brit i sh 

view of camouflag e" in yo ur 

Wi nt er 1973 i s sue. Whe n your 

st a ff member dis cusse d t he 

subject with me, I st ipulated that I should have to approve the wording us ed in 

the a r t i cle and I wa s subs equent Ly shown a draft, which 

I appr ov ed . I am su r pr i s ed 

to f ind that the fina l published articl e bore a bsolutely no si mi l ar i t y to t he 

draft I had s e en. There were 

23 s entences i n the final a r ­

ticle and not one of these 

appear ed in the same form 

in t he dr aft submi t ted to 

me f or a ppr oval. I n fa ct, 

only one s en t ence was even 

recognizabl e. 

I t shoul d be ma de cl ea r to 

all yo ur rea ders t hat t he 

published art icle doe s not 

r eflect t he v i ews of my Army, nor of mys elf , particul arly with r ega r d to United 

State s Army policies. As for 

a l l the nons ens e about 

"bumper st i ckers. II "the politics of i nte r na tiona l a l ­

liances," "wa st i ng time ," 

and II playing wi t h camouf lage , " I can only sugg e st 

that the se idea s reflect a 

j our na l i st i c view of milit ary affairs for which I for 

one do not share. The power 

of the printed word, taken 

out of cont ex t, to twist 

meaning is well known, but 

the putting of words int a 

one ' s mouth, ev en by innuendo, i s quit e another matter. 

R. B. HI LL 

MAJOR, RE 

Major Hill/In reference to the ar­

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ticle 'Fou r Oth er Faces of Cam ouflage' in which your thoughts on the 

British version of that subject appeared , the engineer staff can 

only say that it made a mistak e. It 

is and has been the clear intent of 

this publication to 'tell it like it is.' 

We try not to take anyone with expertise in these technical fields out 

oj contex t. As this article was not 

intended to be questions and answ~r in the strict sense, the writer 

was able to have some journalistic 

license. This, of course, in the 

journalistic trade is called interperative reporting-his interpretation 

oj yo ur thinking on the subject, In 

this case, I was led to believe that 

your views on camouflage had been 

cleared by you. Obviously, such 

was not the case. Now that the r. , 

ord is straight, please accep t 

apology. It will not happen aga 

the editor 

4 
. S. ARMY REORGANIZATION
 

The most far-r eaching reorganization of the U. S. 

Army since 1962 has considerably strengthened the 

role of the military engine er in the structure of the 

Senior Servic e. 

A move by the U. S. Army last January to streamline its comm and structure for the first time in 11 years 

with a reorganization responsible primarily of elements within the Continental Unit ed State s resulted 

in some maj or and pointed changes for the Corps of 

Engineers. 

The changes chiefly involve CONUS elements that 

are responsible for the readiness of deployable units; 

he operation of the training establishment; the develment of concepts, techniques, and materiel for land 

mbat and logistics support. 

Basically, the reorg anization redistributes responsibilities, rationalizes existing missions, and concentrates 

on the more efficient production of the basic outputs 

of the CONUS ba se-trained personn el and units, effective weapons and equipment, and modern techniques 

and organizations for empl oyment. 

The reorganization also was designed to improve 

readiness training, the mat eriel and equipment acquisition process, the quality and responsiveness of management, and better support for the soldier in an era 

of limited personnel and a shrinking budget. The reorganization will be implemented in phases throughout 

this calendar year. 

Under the reorganization, the Continental Army 

Command, the Combat Developments Command, and 

the Third United States Army, were eliminated; the 

Forces Command (FORSCOM), a single field headquarters to supervise the unit training and combat 

readiness of all Army units within the United States to 

include the Army Reserve and Nati onal Guard, has 

been created ; the Training and Doctrine Command 

(T RADOC ) , a single field headquarters to direct all 

",,!, on

individual tra ining, education and development of ormateriel requirements and doctrine, has 

en created ; and the Army Materiel Command 

CAMC ) continues its mission of providing materiel and 

support services for the U.S. Army. 

The most significant impact of the Army reshuffle 

on the Corps structure is in the reestablishment of a 

Staff Engineer in the grade of 0-6 (colonel) and a section with a strength of between 70 and 80 military and 

civilian personnel at each of the two new commandsFORSCOM and TRADOC. Under this program, the 

Staff Engineer will report directly to the commanding 

generals of the two commands on engineer matters. 

This means that this is the first time since the reorganization of the Army in 1962 the Corps has been represented by a Staff Engineer in a major field headquarters in the Continental United States. Before 1962, 

CONARC had a Staff Engineer. The 1962 reorganization resulted in engineer functi ons being fragmented 

among the general staff elements of CONARC. 

The return to the concept of having a staff engineer as a special staff officer at a major field headquarters in the Continental United States is in concert 

with the current organizational programs that exist in 

U. S. Army, Europe; U. S. Army, Pacific; the Eighth 

United States Army, Kore a, and other maj or commands. 

Under the new reorganization, the Staff Engineers 

will be the principal advisors to the commanding generals of both FORSCOM and TRADOC on engineering matters. Th ey have staff responsibility for supervision of engineer functions throughout the command ; 

developing concepts, plans and policies for engineer 

support, and providing for integrating and coordinating engine er matters by assisting other members of the 

staffs of the two commands in actions that have engineer implications. 

Other key moves under the reorganization that will 

affect the engineers are­

• The Combat Developm ents Command Engineer 

Agency becomes part of the Engineer School and 

comes under the guidance of the Deputy Commandant 

for Combat and Tr aining Development. 

• The 62B Mechanics Course reloc ates from Fort 

Belvoir, Virginia, to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 

5 
• The Chemical Corps functions are being consolidated and , under this action, doctrine, training, materiel requirements, and organizational responsibilities 

for smoke and flame operations are being tr ansferred 

to the Corps of Engineers. 

• The Mobility Equipment Command in S1. Louis 

is being converted into the Troop Support Command, 

and dedicated primarily to improving the personal 

equipment and environment of the individual soldier. 

Initially, Natick Laboratories and other personnel 

equipment related activities will be assigned to this 

command. Later, responsibilities for materi el handling 

equipment, construction equipment, and industrial engineering will be transferred to the T ank Aut omotive 

Command in Detroit, Michigan. 

The new F orces Command is moving into the old 

Third Army facilities at Fort McPh erson, Georgia. Its 

mission is straight-forward-s-combat readin ess. The 

FORSCOM will command all operational divisions and 

STRA F units in the Continental Unit ed States, Troops 

under FORSCOM-about 225 ,000 ac tive Army and 

660 ,000 in Reserve units- will represent about 60 percent of the total Army stren gth. About 37,000 civilians 

also will be employed by the FORSCOM. 

Although active install ations under FORSCOM will 

report directly to FORSCOM headqu arters, the commander, FORSCOM will use three Continental U. S. 

Armies (CONUSA) headquarters-First U. S. Army 

at Fort Mead e, Mar yland , Fifth U. S. Army at Fort 

Sam Houston, Te xas, and the Sixth U. S. Army at Th e 

Presidio of San Francisco--to help him comma nd and 

supervise the Reserve comp onents. These Army head ­

quarters will command the Army Reserve units assigned to their control and supervise the training and 

readiness of the Army Nati onal Guard in their areas. 

Since the mission has been tigh tened for the CONUSA, the size of the headquarters has been reduced 

considerably. Through the reduction in the size of the 

CONUSA's, personnel resources will be freed for use in 

establishing nine Army Readiness Regions (AAR ) to 

serve as extensions of the CONUSA and to provide 

dyn amic, on-the-spot assistance to the Reserve components. 

The ARRs are small , active Army elements with 

functional specia list and br anch assistance teams and 

selected unit advisors. Most battalion-level advisors 

are being withdrawn from single Reserve unit dedi cation and placed into support teams to capitalize on 

their branch and function al expertise. 

There will be few major structural changes in the 

Reserves, but several training brigades of the Army 

Reserve train ing divisions will be converted to maneuver training commands to increase the current Maneuver Are a Commands' capability to help units in 

their planning and execution of command post execises, field training exercises, and Army training t 

Thus, the management of Army readiness has b 

improved by­

• Dedicating a single comm and to its readin ess 

functions for active and Reserve components. 

• Removing a command element between the Department of the Army and the major active Army 

force s. 

• Dedicating the CONUSA and their regional extensions to the readine ss of the Reserve components. 

The other new comm and , Training and Doctrine 

Command , is being headquartered at Fort Monr oe, 

Virgini a. It will man age all individual scho oling and 

training, the development of combat organi zations, better ways to use them, and the Army Reserve Officer 

Training Corps program, 

The TRA DOC will have a strength of about 180 ,­

000 military or 22 percent of the active strength of the 

active Army force. Th e new comm and also wiII employ 

about 49,000 civilians. TRADOC will merge the previously separated CDC agencies with the service 

schools. This remo ves the organizational barri er between the experience found in service school faculties 

and student bodies and the organization charged with 

distilling that experience into new combat developme t 

products such as doct rinal literature, TOEs and cq 

ment requ irements. 

As a result, militar y education wil1 be improved and 

the oppo rtunity for fresh input to the combat development process will increase. With basic and individu al 

training and the service schoo ls all under the same 

comm and as the combat developments process, a closed loop between teaching and doctrinal development 

will emerge. 

The service schools will be responsible for the 

analysis and development of the basic organizational 

building blocks of the Army , the Tables of Organization and Equipment, through the brigade level. They 

will produce field manuals and public ation s, and develop and examine proposals for new equipment and 

support requirements. 

To provide a mid-m an agement assist to the Commander, TRADOC in coordin ating the combat developments effort, three new function al cente rs will be 

created. T hese functi onal centers will be the Armywide focal points for the design and development of 

doctrine , organization, materiel requiremen ts and functional systems. They will use the build ing block s developed by the schools and develop organizatio nal and 

support concepts through the corps level. 

The Combined Arms Cen ter will be located at 

Leavenwor th, Kansas, the Logistics Center at 

Lee, Virginia , and the Administration and Personne 

6 
Center at Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana . These cenalso will be charged with the responsibility for 

culum and instructional consistency of the schools 

eir functional areas to insure early integration of 

doctrine into service school instruction. 

As a change to the current system, TRADOC will 

manage the Army ROTC program through four regional activities, each commanded by a brigadier general. These ROTC regional activities will be located 

at the sites of the ROTC summer camps-Fort Bragg, 

North Carolina; Fort Riley, Kansas; Fort Knox, Kentucky; and Fort Lewis, Washington. In recognition of 

the ROTC as the source of 65 percent of its second 

lieutenants, the Army has placed ' great emphasis on 

insuring the continuation of a viable training program. 

, Thus, the management of individual training and 

combat developments will be improved by­

• Combining the responsibility for the production 

of creative combat developments outputs with the 

training and education functions of the service schools 

whose in structors and students teach , learn, and maintain a continuous enriching dialogue about organization, techniques of employment and materiel requirements. 

• Providing dedicated management of Reserve Officer Training Corps. 

'ith the creation of FORSCOM and TRADOC, 

ole of the installation commander has been incr ...ased in importance. In both of these new major 

commands, the installation commander will have a direct line to the major command without intervening 

headquarters layers. 

In the new organizational concept, the installation 

commander has both training and readiness responsibilities to both FORSCOM and TRADOC for units 

of those he adquarters assigned to his post. In carrying out these responsibilities, he optimizes the resources provided by both commands. Assignment as either 

a FORSCOM Or TRADOC post is governed by the 

size of the largest activity on the po st, 

The new organizational changes also recognize the 

prominence of the installation commanders in area 

support activity on a geographical basis . This means 

that area boundaries based on population density, state 

or regional boundaries have been drawn to give the 

installation commanders increased area support functions for Reserve component, ROTC, public information or other functions. 

There are other ways where the installation commander will benefit from certain aspects of the current reorganization not involving FORSCOM or 

DOC. For example, the reorganization of club 

tgement at Department of the Army will allow the 

illation commander to call on a DA agency specializing in this function for technical assistance while 

retaining command of the clubs and messes on his 

post. 

The end result is that the installation commander 

becomes the dominant figure in the accomplishment of 

FORSCOM and TRADOC missions, and is the central figure in the accomplishment of Army policies on 

a geographical area basis. 

The key action involving the Army support structure is the organization realignment of the Army Materiel Command. It will continue as the Army's major 

command concerned with the design, development, procurement, distribution, and support of modern, reliable combat and support materiel for U. S. forces. 

The organizational changes within AMC will improve 

its capability to do this. Actions include­

• The Armaments Command at Rock Island, Illinois , will pull together activities now widely dispersed 

at Dover, New Jersey ; Joliet, Il1inois; Edgewood, Maryland ; and Rock Island into on e command. This action 

consolidates the Munitions Command and the Weapons Command-the guns and bullets people. 

• The consolidation at Fort Monmouth, New Jersey, of the splintered Electronics Command, presently 

headquartered at both Philadelphia and Fort Monmouth, will clear up the management problems cau sed 

by the geographical separation of several important 

functions. 

• The Army Depot System will be realigned to reflect managerial improvements and reduction of the 

workload. Overhead and sup port functions at the depots will be consolidated, and specialization and concentration of dep ot maintenance and supply assignments will occur. 

Department of the Army headquarters, as well as 

its major commands in the Continental United States, 

also is affected by the re organization , Most importantlv, DA will reduce its involvement in the day-to-day 

operations of the maj or commands and restrict itself 

to planning and integrating broad programs, developing policies, arranging priorities, allocating resources. 

pulling together the activities of TRADOC, FORSCOM, and AMC, insuring controls for ta sking new 

missions, and providing for disciplined association of 

resources with new missions. 

It is anticipated that this reorganization will permit 

a significant shift of personnel from headquarters and 

logistics support functions to combat and combat support activities. 

While the current Army structure proved to be excellent in support of the war in Vietnam, the streamlining will enable the new organization to refocus and 

more easily handle its normal peacetime war-deterrent 

role . e 

7 
Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C. Lussier, Jr. 

With the constantly accelerating pace of technology 

and the ever-rapid tempo of military operations, today 's military engineer has littl e oppor tunity to become 

acquainted with the rich heritage th at history has endowed his profession. The feats and accom plishments 

of renowned military engineers of the past, not only advanced military arts , but also laid the found ation for 

and gave the impetus to all later engineering disciples. 

The birth of civilization, now recognized as ocurring 

independently in several wide spread areas of the world, 

has been characteri zed by advances in arts and cr afts , 

urbanization, religion, specification, and , regretably, 

warfare. From its earliest days, the art and science of 

engineering has been tied intimately to the waging of 

wars. As prehistoric villages grew in size and wealth, 

protection from marauding tribes becam e necessary. 

To answer this problem, walls surrounding entire cities 

were constructed . 

These are among the earliest significant engineered 

structures that have survived to this day. 

Archaeologists generally agree that between battles, 

the ancient soldier spent his time at con structive pursuits-building history's first structure s. Recent evidence suggests that military men of ancient Sumeria 

who first dr ained the marshes of the lower Euphrates 

and con structed dams, dike s, and a network of canals 

were responsible for completing man's first irrigation 

system. Although all early civilizations have been 

characterized by warfare, the ancient Assyrians emphasized this aspect more than others. 

The Assyrians are credited with the invention of the 

first wheeled vehicle, the war chariot, with 

they conquered the entire Ne ar East as well as 

The battering ram, scaling ladders, siege towers, 

ponton bridges were among other developments of the 

Assyrians, and it was during the reign of Tiglathpileser-I 

in the 11th century B. C. that military engineering as a 

distinct discipline was born. Fortifications such as walls 

and defensive towers were emphasized , but the se early 

soldiers also planned and laid out parks and plantations 

for the use of the citizens; shrines and temples were 

also among their early achievements. 

whic 

This engineering versatility, both in military and 

civil works, continued during the dominance of the 

Persian empire in the 5th century B. C. 

Although more famous for her philosophers, artists, 

and theological scientists, Greece also provided us with 

several military engineers of renown. 

Dinocrates, ma ster architect, planner, and builder of 

the historic city of Alex andria, was the field engineer 

to Alexander the Gre at. 

The earliest evidence of the use of engineering specifications results from the work of Philon, another military engineer of the 4th century B. C. 

His writt en outline of the general dimensions, wall 

thicknesses, and window sizes of a naval arsenal at 

Piraeus is the equivalent of four page of today's speCifications, The great mathematician and inventor At: 

medes, put his considerable talents to use as mili 

engineer for his native city, Syracuse, where in 214 

8 
B. C. he constructed numerous ingenious devices for 

the defense of that city against Marcellus. His efforts 

enabled the city to stave off the superior Roman force 

for over two years. 

Just as Alexander's army spread Greek culture 

from Europe and the Mediterranean to Africa and India , so too, Roman legions subsequently carried Imperial civilization to the far corners of the then known 

world . 

The importance of rapid communication was quickly recognized by these early empires, and road networks were originally constructed for the primary purpose of moving legions from one frontier to the other. 

From the writings of Vitruvius, one of the most 

famous engineers of the era , we know that schooling 

in military and civil engineering subjects was required 

in the training of the well-rounded engineer of the day. 

Pliny the Elder, better known for his monum ental 37­

volume "Natural History," was a naval engineer of 

some repute, arising to the command of the vast Roman 

naval base at Miscnum in the Bay of Naples, where he 

perished in the calamitous eruption of Mount Vesuvius 

i 79 A. D. To these and other great Roman engirs, we owe our gratitude for the invention of pozana-type cement, used extensively in structures of 

this age. 

Meanwhile, Roman field engineers accompanied 

Caesar's legions, building structures throughout the 

empire, many of which remain to this day as testimonials to their talent and ingenuity . 

Caesar's famous bridge over the Rhin e near what is 

now Bonn, was a historic achievement of the military 

engineer, Mamurra. Without power or machinery, he 

supervi sed the construction of a 1,300-foot, pile bent , 

timber bridge that was completed in less than 10 days. 

Many of us can commiserate with Mamurra, for only 

18 days later, he was directed to destroy his bridge for 

tactical reasons. 

It was shortly after this period that the precursor to 

the term "engineer" was first used. In 200 A. D. Tertullian, latin historian and writer, referred to an early 

military siege device, a battering ram, as an "ingeniurn," 

an invention or product of ingenuity. 

The word "engin" came into use in later years applying strictly to engines of war, and the "ingeniator" 

was one who devised, built, and operated these devices. 

During the Dark ages, the two most noteworthy 

developments in engineering structures were the forticastle and the Gothic cathedral. 

\t first this may seem incongruous, yet during this 

period, most educated men were churchmen, and the 

employment of ecclesiastics as military engineers was 

not uncommon. Perhaps the most famous of these 

was Gundulfus, Bishop of Rochester and military engineer to William Rufus . Gundulfus, not only reconstructed the cath edral of St. Andrew in Rochester, adding bastions as part of the city's defenses, but also, in 

1078, constructed the White Tower, the magnificent 

inner keek of the Tower of London. 

The Domesday Survey in 1086 lists one "Waldivus 

ingeniator" as owner of nine baronial mansions, undoubtedly compensation for services as chief engineer 

to William the Conqueror. 

Ailnoth, another early military engineer, was the 

chief surveyor of Westminster and builder of Windsor 

Castle in 1174 . It was also in England at this time that 

the official in charge of the maintenance of works of 

defense and the operation of engines of war was entitled "attilator," a term then synonymous with engineer and most probably the origin of "artillery." 

The Renaissance witnessed the rapid development 

of military engineering as a distinct profession. The invention of the cannon quickly made the feudal castle 

obsolete, and new techniques of fortification and siegecraft were developed . Italian military engineers were 

in the vanguard of the innovators. Valturius is credited 

with authoring the first printed engineering book, "De 

Re Militate" , in 1473, and Francesco de Marchi 

(1504-1577) was one of sever al to devise and publish 

work s on fortified bastions. His contemporary, Niccolo 

Tartaglia, authored treatise s on fortification and gunnery , and although his calculati ons were later proved 

inaccurate, his new techniques earned for him the title, 

"Father of Ballistics." The beginnings of canal building in Europe has also been attributed to the Italian 

military engineers. Thirteenth century Milan was the 

site of the first large canal, reputedly an extension of 

a castle moat ; and an engineer of that period invented 

the hydraulic lock , a most significant step in the history 

of transportation. 

Bridges building was not neglected by fortification 

engineers of the day. The famous Ponte Vecchilo, spanning the Arno at Florence, Italy, was originally a bridge 

fortr ess, and is still noted for the daring flatness of its 

arches and the slenderness of its piers. 

Perhap the greatest military engineer of any age 

more noted as a scientist, painter, sculptor, andthinker, 

was Leonardo da Vinci. Creator of the Mona Lisa (La 

Gioconda), da Vinci began service as military engineer 

for Ludivico, Duke of Milan , in 1483 , a relationship 

that was to last for 16 years . Some excerpts from his 

famous resume to the Duke displayed his wide knowl9 
edge of field engineering: "I can construct bridges, 

very light and strong capable of easy transportation, 

and with them pursue or on occasion flee from the 

enemy . . . I have means by tunnels and secret and 

tortuous passages . . . to reach certain and designated 

points .. ." for the purpose of mining . "I will make 

covered wagons secure and indestructable, which, entering with their artillery among the enemy , will break 

up the largest body of armed men. " Leonardo also 

served for two years as military engineer to the infamous Caesar Borgia, during which time he devised and 

constructed a mobile siege tower for the assault on 

Ceri in 1503. His voluminous drawings and notes reveal many catapults, armored vehicules, and flying 

machines; and they also contain one of the earliest detailed sketches of a tru ss bridge. These reflect an extraordinary, fertile and inventive, mech anical mind that 

anticipated many later developments. 

Military engineering continued its advancement in 

England through the Feud al ages. The notorius Henry 

VIIT, being extremely fearful of invasion, lent special 

emphasis to the development of coastal defenses. In 

1513, he appointed a "Master Tr enchermastcr" who 

later became the "Master of the Ordanance," responsible for a11 defen sive fortifications. 

In 1747 , the king's engineers initiated a military survey of Scotland which became the foundation for the 

Ordnance Survey . This activity remains under the control of Royal Engineer officers to this day . 

Then British military engineers pioneered in the development of large masonary dams in the 19th century. 

In India, Colonel Sir Arthur Thomas Cotton and Colonel Sir Probly Thomas Cautley undertook monumental 

irrigation projects. On the Ganges and Indus Rivers, 

and in the Madras area, Poena, Bhatgarh, Tnasa, and 

Peryar dams rapidly set successive height and length 

records during the last 20 years of the century. 

Their efforts in creating a modern version of an ancient art helped India lead the world in irrigated acreage of the time. Royal engineers continued their predominance in the big dam field with the construction 

of the original Aswan dam on the Nile in 1902. 

Meanwhile, in the 17th and 18th centuries, France 

went forward to become the outstanding nation of 

Europe and leader in the development of modern military engineering. This was the age that gave us Sebatian 

Le Pretre Vauban, who must be included among the 

greatest engineers of all time, military or civil. 

He began his military career in 1651 at the age of 

17 and in five years had become "engineer-in-ordinary" 

to Louis XIV. For 55 years he was involved in studying, planning, and directing the construction of fortifications, and his unfailing siege techniques gained for 

him the title of "the man who captures cities." Voltaire, 

not noted for his compliments, called him "First of 

engineers and first of citizens ." 

Among Le Pretre Vaubari's many feats of construction was the fortified harbor at Dunkirk, still of interest to all harbor engineers. But his greatest contribution to the engineering profession was his proposal in 

1672 that the engineers of the army should become an 

organi zed special branch of the service. The corps' 

Imperiale du Genie, history's first organized engineering body , was to carry engineering in France to new 

levels of achievements. 

Promoted to Marshal of France in 1703, Vauban 

shortly thereafter began a study of abuses in the administration of the king's tax. He was impressed with 

the plight of the peasants and disturbed at the burden 

of their taxes and the exemptions of the upper classes. 

His work, published in 1707, remarkably foreshadowed the principles of the French Revolution and was 

promptly banned by order of the king. 

Heartbroken, Vauban died a few days after pu . ~\

» 

., 

I 

I

., 

I 

10 
cation of the order. In 1702, a member of the Corps 

du Genie, Alain M. Mallet, in addition to writing a 

famous book on fortification s (Le Travaux de Mars, 

1671 ), first combined a telescopic sight with a level 

bubble to produce the form of instrument we know as 

a dumpy level. 

Another great French military engineer was CharlesAugustin de Coulomb, usually recalled for his electrical experiments. His engineering works may still be 

seen in the outstanding fortress of Martinique. 

Coulomb received special recognition in 1776 for 

his resolution of the classical problem of the resistence 

of a beam , and he laid the foundation for the common theory of flexure still used in the design of beams 

and girders. 

Military engineers have had a significant role in both 

milit ary and civil functions of the United Stat es government since its founding. Washington's experience' 

with engineers during the revoluti on led him, as President, to establish an engineer school at West Point in 

5. 

o hen under Jefferson, the present Corps of Engineers 

. nd the U. S. Military Academy at West Point were 

established in 1802. Until the Civil War, West Point 

was part of the Engineer Department, and for many 

years it was the sale source of academically trained 

engineers in the country. 

The Academy 's impa ct during one of the nation 's 

most critical growth periods ( 1820-1870) cannot be 

understated. West Point graduates actively taught in 

fledgling scientific institutions, compiling technical texts 

for use in other schoo ls as well. This influence may be 

seen dramatically from an inspection of the roll of 

West Point's first 65 years. Among graduates of this 

period were 26 college Or university presidents, 23 

principles of academies of other schools, and 85 professors and teachers. 

During the same period, milit ary engineers were 

playing a vital role in the exploration and mapping of 

our expandi ng country. The planning and the surveying 

of internal improvements such as roads, canals, railroads, and river and harbor work s were also among 

their early projects. These engineering activities implemented the work of the War Department and other 

federal agencies and materi ally aided the growth of 

state and private enterpri ses. 

The list of great U. S. Military engineers is too long 

for inclusion her e, but their accomplishment in the fields 

of science and engineering will live as testimonial to 

their greatness. The Washington Monument , the Pan ama Canal , the great Pacific railroad surveys, the myri ad 

river and harb or and fl ood control works, and the Manhattan project, where our nation entered the atomic age, 

were all managed and directed by militar y engineers. 

Yet the tasks are not complete. 

Our predecessors have but laid the foundation on 

which we must continue to build. As militar y engineers, 

we have unique capabilities to respond to emergencies, 

whether they be war or in peace, and we must continually look to the future. Lessons of yesterday should 

help pave tomorro w's road ; reflections on the achievements of our predecessors hopefull y will inspire even 

greater accomplishmen ts in years to come. e 

Lieutenant Colonel Clifford C. Lussier, I r., is presently assigned /0 the A rmor and Engin eer Board at 

Fort Kn ox , Kentucky. He holds a Bachelor's Degree 

in Managem ent and Economics and is a graduat e of 

the Engineer Officer Candidate School and the Officer 

Advanced Course at Fort Bel voir, V irginia. Th e colonel has served with engineer construction battalions 

in CONUS, Europe, and on group staffs during two 

tours in the Republic of Vi etnam. 

11 
APPRENTICE TRAINING FOR ENGINEER SOLDIERS
 

U 10 RCOGNITI N 

Colonel W. R. Hylander, Jr.
 

and
 

Major Kenneth D. Jobe
 

hat is "union recognition"? Why should it be of Winterest to you? 

If you are an engineer soldier with construction experience, it is a plan to help you document your skill, 

so it will bring a better job and higher pay when you 

return to civilian life. 

If you are an engineer leader, it means some of 

your men will be seeking to upgr ade their skills through 

on-the-job training and cross-training. They also will 

want you to certify their training and experience in 

their "log books" . 

If you are a recruiter-and this includes a lot of engineer leaders these days, particularly in the Reserves 

and National Guard-you now have an added incentive 

to offer the young man you are trying to enlist or to 

recogmn on from that union and to start a pilot program ; then to expand into other skills and into an 

Official Army-wide program. 

After comparing all engineer enlisted MOSs with 

related civilian job classifications and union affiliations, we selected MOS 62B, Engineer Equipment Repairman, for the pilot effort. It matches very closely 

the civilian trade of Heavy Duty Repairman, affiliated 

with the International Union of Operating Engineers 

(JUOE) . It had the added advantage of being taught 

at Fort Belvoir. Informal discussions at Department of 

the Army and Department of Defense level and with 

the US Department of Labor disclosed that no 

else was doing anything along the lines of union r 

ognition, and also that none would object to our 

on 

re-up for another hitch . 

At this point, we ask you to read the letter in the 

box on the opposite page. That letter promises the 

recognition we are talking about. The Associated General Contractors of America, Inc. (AGC) have provided a similar letter acknowledging their chapters and 

branches will recognize and give consideration to the 

experience reflected in the "log book." 

To win the benefits of this recognition, however, the 

Army has to do its part. This article describes how the 

Army's part affects you, as well as how union recognition got started, where it now stands, and where it is 

headed. 

As the US Army began to think about the challenge of recruiting an all-volunteer force, The Engineer School started to look into union recognition. We 

talked to the British, who have had a similar program 

for more than a decade. Brigadi er S. E. M. Goodall, 

OBE, MC, Commandant of the Royal School of Military Engineering at Chatham, told us: "Within the 

British Army, only the Royal Engineers consistently 

meet their recruiting objective s, and only because of 

their trade union apprenticeship program." A statement like that was enough to set us to work in earnest. 

OUf plan was to pick out one engineer skill; to win 

velopment of a pilot program. So we called the IUOE; 

we met and talked, and we learned about some problems. 

The first problem was local autonomy. Unlike Great 

Britain, local U. S. unions have wide latitude in accepting new members. The national or international 

headquarters publish standards for apprenticeship, but 

it's up to the local how the standards are applied . The 

IUOE cannot, as an example, guarantee that every exserviceman who meets its standard for Heavy Duty 

Repairman will be automatically accepted into any 

local in the country. It is fact of life that we have to 

live with, but it is not insurmountable. 

The second problem was the lack of a mi1itary work 

record meaningful to a union or to a contractor. A 

discharge certificate will only show that the Army 

called this man an "Engineer Equipment Repairman" 

and perhaps that he finished some course in it at a 

place named United States Army Engineer School. 

Did he change oil and fix flats, or did he rebuild transmissions? Did he really work at it for two and one-half 

years, or did he spend much of his time pulling guard 

or playing on the football team? Apprentices in 

union-sponsored app renticeship program must co 

pile a record of thousands of hours of training and e 

12 
./ 

THE ASSOCIATID GENERAL CONTRACTORS OF AMIIUCA# INC. 

IgS7 STREET. N. W. WASHINGTON . 0 . C . 20006' EXECUTIVE: 3-2040 

January 4, 1973 

TO: All Soldiers in Construction 

You are receiving valuable training a nd work experience as heavy 

construction equipment operators and as repairman. The skills that you 

are acquiring in the service can lead to a satisfying and well-paying 

career in the construction industry after you are discharged. 

A completed and properly authenticated log book of your training 

and your work in the Corps of Engineers w ill provide a record of your 

ability if you should de c ide to work in construction after you leave the 

Service. All Chapters and Branches of the Associated General Contractors 

of America and the Joint Appr enticeship Committees with which they are 

a ffi li a t e d w ill re cognize and gi v e con side r a ti on to your log book and t h e 

e x p eri e n c e it r efle cts should you de cide to e n t e r our indus t ry a ft e r you have 

completed your ser vice in the United States Army. 

/t {jE x e cutive

Very sinc erely, 

AMERICA PROGRESSES THROUGH CONSTRUCTION ~~
pericnce, all certified by a card-carrying union member. So we designed a soldier's log book, which we call 

an Apprentice Master Record . It contains sheets for 

recording his training and work history, with each sheet 

to be certified by the soldier's supervisor. This log 

book appeared to solve this problem, but it led right 

away into the next one . 

"I was in the Army, too, and I've seen MI pencils 

used on rifle targets. How can you keep guys from 

faking their records" No doubt about it-this union 

man had a good point. So the idea of a Central Registry was born. Quarterly, the soldier will summarize his 

hours worked, get it certified by his supervisor, and 

mail it to the Engineer School. There it will be maintained in a computerized Central Regi stry, and made 

available on request in order to verify the soldier's log 

book totals . 

One last hurdle remained. IUOE apprenticeship 

standards and guidelines are governed by a National 

Joint Apprenticeship Training Committee, made up of 

contractor and union representatives. Their approval 

of the Engineer School's union recognition program 

was required. In November] 972 the USAES program 

was presented to them at the IUOE's annual meeting 

in New Orleans, and approval was obtained. This approval, as can be seen from the lett er in the box with 

the article, covers all operating engin eer skills and not 

just Engineer Equipment Repairman-so we were one 

step further down the road toward union recognition. 

We've deliberately dwelled at some length on how 

the program got started, because it is important for 

engineer leaders and soldiers to understand why individual log books are needed, and why they need to be 

accurate and true. One phony log book can tarnish 

the future of everybody involv ed in the program. 

Here is how the program will work. Starting this 

spring, trainees in 62B and other operating engineer courses (see list in box) will get an orientation 

on union recognition and be invited to apply for enrollment. Individuals already holding one of these 

MaSs are also invited to enroll ; a letter is going out 

to unit commanders worldwide. Active Army and Reserve Components, giving details on how to do it. If 

you somehow miss getting the word, just write to the 

Secretary, US Army Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, 

VA 22060. 

Those who are enrolled will receive a log bookthe Apprentice Master Record. Each participant enters his hours worked and his training received, and 

weekly he gets a supervisor to sign the log for verification. Quarterly he sends a certified summary to The 

Engineer School. That's all there is to it. When the participant leaves the service, he has his log book as a 

record of his skill, and The Engineer School will co 

firm it on request from its Central Registry. 

The log book is an unofficial , individual record. 

is not a part of a soldier's 20 t" file. He keeps it-not 

the unit. The unit's only responsibility is to verify the 

soldier's entries. If he loses it, he's lost the master record; the USAES computer will be able to produce only 

his quarterly totals. He-and not the Army-is the 

loser. It's up to us, and to you as his leader, to insure 

that he understands this. 

Old timers that we've talked to, including noncommissioned officers and some warrant officers, have expressed the wish that such a program had been available when they started up the ladder years ago . We are 

sorry, too , that it wasn't, but at least they can pick it 

up now if they choose. We invite them to enroll also, 

and do document their past training and experience 

by affidavits from former commanders or associates. 

By way of encouragement, however, we can offer the 

advice that unions and industry are interested in getting experienced men, and that a military retiree in 

his forties isn't old by civilian standards. A good documented work history will help get you a job, but if 

you are good you can get a job anyway. Once you're 

on the job, it's your performance that counts. 

We regret, too, that union recognition is not y 

available outside the operating engineer skills listl 

in the box with this article. For carpenters, electricians, printers, and others, this involves negotiations 

and we will let you know via the engineer magazine 

and via letters from the Engineer School as soo n as 

we can . 

For those in Reserve and National Guard units, 

there is no reason why you cannot com bine the hours 

spent at your skill in the military service with tho se on 

your civilian job. Get a log book from USAES and record your military training and experience, and add it 

to that you are building up on your job. 

Now you should be aware where all this is headed. 

It is more than just another recruiting gimmick, and 

more than just another fringe benefit for the man who 

is leaving the service. Since the day s of World War II, 

the Arm y's individual training plans have been designed primarily for rapid mobilization of a draftee 

Army. "Teach him the minimum he needs to survive 

and to perform, and ship him overseas. Let his future 

commander worry about the rest." Rather quickly, the 

Army's training environment and its training philosophy are changing. We need to attract and to retain 

career soldiers. In the Corps of Engineers, we need to 

have a highly skilled base of con struction skills, act' 

and reserve, able to undertake limited wartime a 

peacetime missions as well as the job of mobilizing a 

14 
nscription Army for all-out general war. We need 

o tr ain mech anics to become future maint enance supervisors, and grader operators who can run any piece 

of equipm ent on the job. Over the years, the construction trade unions and civilian construction industry 

have developed an apprenticeship training system that 

accomplishe s essenti ally the same goals : pro gressive 

career developm ent for the individual, and a capa bility 

for the industry to expand rapidly when the need arises. It is worth some study. 

Apprent iceship programs vary widely, but all invalve several things: 

• A per iod of ind entured , probationary service. 

• Training, under skilled supervi sion . 

• Experience, demonstrated and docum ented . 

• Standards, recognize d and applied. 

Civilian apprenticeship pro grams receive public recogn ition by being registered with a State apprenticeship agency, or with the Bureau of Apprenticeship and 

Training, U.S . Department of Labor. G rad uates get a 

certificate th at make them journey men; the certificates 

are issued by the Dep artment of Labor. 

If the Army registered its training program with the 

Department of Labor , and it was accepted as meetin g 

rational apprenticeship standards, the A rmy could 

I · \ rlify its own journ eym en . We would not need to depend on a loc al uni on 's or contractor's decision as to 

how much credit to grant for milit ary service. Informal 

discu ssions with lab or officials indicate that this is 

entirely possible. So our union recognition effort at 

Th e Engineer School is takin g a new tac k-aimed at 

registr ation of military training as a formal appre nticeship program. 

It appears that the Apprentice Ma ster Rec ord will 

take care of document ing a soldier's experience. He 

becomes indentured when he enlists, so that's no 

IUOE CLASSIFICATION ARMY MOS 

Universal Equipment Operator	 62F 

Grading and Paving Operator	 62E 

62K 

62L 

62M 

Plant Equipment Operator	 620 

62G 

62H 

problem. What does appear a problem , however, is 

establishing tr aining and experience requ irem ents that 

approximate industr y-wide standards. Fo r operatin g 

enginee r skills, the se are three-four yea rs of experience 

and about ] 44 hours of training p er yea r. We have 

done some prelim inary study here a t The Engineer 

School, again for 62B Engineer Equp ime nt Rep airman , 

and it ap pea rs that a military apprenti ceship program 

sho uld look like this: 

After fi nishing basic training, apprentices would 

take the 62B20 course at Fort Leonard Wood. Missouri . This nine-week course (3 60 hours) prepares 

him to perform organizational maintenance and repairs. He would then serve in a unit for about two and 

one-half years, compiling pe rh aps 4,000 hou rs of logbook time . If he then is considered to be qualified, he 

would return to Fort Leon ard Wood for the adva nced 

level 62B30 co urse . This is also a nine-week course. 

After another year of work at the 30 skill level, he 

woul d get his jou rney ma n's certi ficate. Hopefully, he 

would be interested in stayi ng on in the service and 

would re-enlist. Even if he chose to get out, the Army 

would ha ve benefited from having a better motivated 

and better skilled mechan ic for four years. 

For mo st ot her skills, an adva nced training course 

would not be essential. OIT in the unit may be adequ ate. 

There is a related program you sho uld also know 

ab out. The Army , Navy, Air Force, and Marine Corps 

are actively engaged in studying the con solidation of 

common training. An Interservice Training Review 

workshop was held at Fo rt Leon ard Wood in Februar y 

197 3, to identify common area s in training for constr uction skills. For the equipme nt operato r and engineer mechanic skills, we found commo nality by fallMOS TITLES 

Crane Operator 

Crawler Tractor Operator 

Grader Operator 

Wheeled Tractor Operator 

RT Forklift & Loader Operator 

Asphalt Equipment Operator 

Quarryman 

Concrete Paving Equipment Operator 

15 
I 

\
 

GENERAL PRESIDENT • DIsTRICT 7.8560 

* '" ) I 

* 

: 4ternational7inion of(Jperating 0ngineers * '125 SEVENTEENTH STREET NORTHWEST * WASHINGTON . D . C. 20036 

* AFFILIATED WITH THE A M E R I CA N FE O ER A"" O N OF LABOR ANO CONGRESS OF INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATIONS 

* * OFFICE O F 7~

* 

December 14, 1972 

To All Operating Engineers in uniform 

I wish to take this opportunity to welcome you into
 

the trade of Operating Engineer. Now that you have
 

acquired some skill as an Operating Engineer in the
 

Corps of Engineers, I would like to encourage you
 

to build on this skill to enhance your service career
 

and to assist you in getting a better job when you
 

return to civilian life.
 

Although you can expect to be tested whenever you
 

apply for membership or for acceptance into an
 

Apprenticeship Program in the Operating Engineers,
 

this log book, when completed and signed, is evidence
 

of all your training and work experience in the service
 

and will be recognized as such by our locals. I urge
 

you to keep this record up to date and look forward to
 

working with you on your return to civilian life.
 

Hunter P. Wharton '"I 

General President 

I 

h 
back upon the civilian requirements for these skills 

the ap prentic eship standards we've just been discussing. Workshop findings were reviewed at an Interservice Training Review meeting at Pen saco la, 

Flor ida in March , and The Engineer School is being 

tasked to develop a core cu rriculum for each of the 

ba sic oper ator skills. They are going to be designed 

to apprenticeship standards, and we believe the Army 

Engineers will lead the way in putting them into practice. 

In summary, un ion recognition is a reality for operating engineer skills, and participation is welcomed. 

See your commander, or write to Th e Engineer Scho ol. 

Simil ar recognition for other engineer skills is coming soon . And, further on, but within sight, is the prospect for the Army to be able to certify its own jou rneymen. 

We'll keep you informed as it develops. In the 

meanwhile, The Engineer School invit es your participati on and your comments. Send us your applications 

for en rollment in this pilot pr ogram , and send us your 

thou ghts about where we are headed. 

Back du ring World War II, Bill Mauldin said it 

all	 with his ca rtoons of an infan trym an telling an enaineer: "Yer luck y. Yer learnin' a tra de ." We think 

u	 enginee rs are lucky, too, and we're gaining for 

you some of that recognition. e 

Co lonel Walter R . Hylander, Ir., Deputy Commandant for Combat and Trainin g Development, at 

the Engineer School, has had tours with the 1st, 2nd, 

3rd, 138th , and 288th Engin eer Combat Battalions; 

the 487th A viation Engineer Battalion rUSA R), and 

at the Repu blic of Vietnam A rmed Forces Engineer 

School. He holds a mast er's degree in Civil Engine ering from M.I.T., and is a registered pro fessional engineer in New Y ork and Q Fel/ow, American Society of 

Civil Engineers. 

Major Kenneth D . l obe is Chie f of the Individual 

Train ing Bran ch, Train ing Programs Division, Department of Doctrine and Training Development at the Engineer Schoo l. He has served with various Construction and Maintenance units both in the Continental 

Unted States and ove rseas and with the Engineer 

Branch, Office of Personn el Operations, DA . The major is a registered professional engineer in the Commo nwealth of Virginia. He holds a BS in Geology, a 

BS in Civil Engineering, and is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Advanced Course and the Command 

and General Staff College. 

IN P LER 

A simpl e solution has been suggested and accepted 

to an old problem that faces an yone attempting to 

extract a stuck ponton connection pin from light tactica l rafts (LTR). The solution is an ea sily fabricated 

sliding hammer pin puller made from readily available 

co mponents. If a unit is faced with this problem , the 

unit shop or support section should fabricate one or 

more of these pin pullers. 

The bill of ma teri als con sists of the following items­

• 1 ponton connecting pin. 

•	 I railroad tr ack maul head ( 10 lb ) . 

(a similar 10 lb head from other hammers can be 

substituted ) 

•	 2 Section s of five links of 0.375 inch chain. 

•	 One foo t and one six inch sectio n of 0.5 inch 

diameter mild steel hot or cold rolled rod ( cold 

rolled pr eferable). 

The pin pull er is easily fabricatedWeld a 0.25 inch or heavier fillet bead on the rod 

end of the pin head for rein forcement. Weld the short 

0.5 inch rod perpendicular to the top of the pin head. 

Weld the other 0.5 inch rod perpendicular to the end 

of the first rod forming a T; slide hammer head onto 

the pin . Cut the end of the pin off .at top of the taper. 

Weld two link s of one ch ain to the end of the pin. 

Tum the pin 180 degre es and weld two links of the 

other section of the chain to the pin being careful that 

the free link s of chain extend equally bey ond the pin 

end. 

Removal of stuck pins requires two men to get the 

job done. 

Attach the chains of the puller to the horns on the 

pin to be pull ed . On e ma n holds the tool in line with 

the pin and a second man grabs the hammer head and 

slams it up against the puller head. A few blows in 

this manner and the most stubbo rn pin is easily removed. 

This information will be included in the next revision 

to TM 5-210, Military Floating Bridge Equipment.e 

17 
The Henry Larcom Abbot Award
 

HOW LANCASTER, PA. GO
 

o one in this Pennsylvani a Dutch community thought Ntwice when it started to rain during the middle of 

June , 1972. The people of Lanc aster, Pennsylvania, 

along with their Amish and Menn onite neighbors, continued their lives as usual and watched as the nourishing water fell from the heavens. No one realized that 

this rain would continue for days resulting in the 

worst natural disaster in the history of the East Coast. 

Tropical Storm Agnes had demonstrated her might and 

left behind a tom and wrecked community. 

Lancaster is a medium sized city located about 70 

miles east of Philadelphia. It is the capital of a county 

with the same name and was once the capital of the 

United States for one day in 1777 . It has one major 

stream , the Conestoga Creek, that flows from north 

to south passing through the east side of the city. 

During the early morn ing hours of Jun e 21, 1972, 

the single day that most of the damage occurred in this 

area, the rising and rampaging waters of the Conestoga 

Creek "washed-out" a span of the Engleside Bridge. 

This bridge is south of Lancaster on the city's major 

southern artery, United States Route 222. The traffic 

volume of this route is estimated by the Pennsylvania 

Department of Transportation as being 5,000 vehicles 

per day. This number increases considerably during the 

summer because of the large number of tourists tbat 

visit the Pennsylvania Farm Museum which recalls the 

19th-century life down on the farm. 

A Corps of Engineers Area Office of the Baltimore 

Engine er District was established for this flood-damaged area on June 26, 1972 to provide relief of the 

havoc caused by Tropical Storm Agnes. Personnel for 

this office consisted of Army En gineer officers and 

Corps civilians assigned on temporary duty from locations throughout the United States. Representatives 

from this office conducted a reconnaissance of the 

Engleside Bridge on the first day of operations and 

immediately commenced removal of the damaged portion of the bridge from the stream bed to eliminate I 

possibility of further damming of the creek. " 

The Baltimore Engineer District, after coordination 

with the Pennsylvania Department of Transportation, 

directed on July 1, 1972 that a Bailey Bridge be in18 
TS BAILEY
 

stalled at the Engleside site to restor e the vital Route 

222. The pa rts required for the bridge were released 

by the Army Mat eriel Command in $1. Louis, Missouri, and shipment commenced on July 1, 1972 from 

the New Cumberland Army Depot located about 20 

miles north of Lancaster. All bridge parts were at the 

site by Jul y 3, 1972 allowing construction to start the 

next day. j After the receipt of the order to install a Bailey 

. Brid ge, the Engineer Area Office requested that project 

proposals be submitted by three General Contracting 

Firms in the immediate vicinity. Th e low bidder was 

the J. M. Brenner Company from Lancaster and a contract was awarded on July 2, 1972. Since the contractor had no prior experience with the Bailey Bridge, a 

bridge specialist from the 902nd Float Bridge Comp any 

of Fort Belvoir, Virginia, and 14 construction engineers from the 76th Engineer Battalion of Fort Meade, 

Maryland , were obtained to provide technical assistnee for the dur ation of the project. 

The bridge installed consisted of a 180 foot long 

riple-Double Bailey Bridge. Constru ction started on 

July 4, 1972 and completion was rea lized on July 6, 

1972. Th e bridge was inspected and accepted by the 

Pennsylvania Department of Transportation the folCaptain George C. Richardson 

lowing day. They limited the capacity of the bridge to 

five tons because of the problems of controlling the 

heavy trucks which norm ally use Route 222. Truck 

drivers have a tendency to disregard bridge classifications and this particular Bailey Bridge will not carry 

a truck heavier than 16 tons. 

Coop eration between the U. S. Army , state and city 

governm ents, and the contractor and his crew was exceptional making this operation very successful. The 

damaged bridge was replaced in a relatively short period of time causing the least amount of inconvenience 

to the peopl e of Lancaster City. The bridge is expected 

to be used for about two years until it is replaced by 

a perm anent structure. 

If you should ever be in the Lancaster area, you will 

be amused by the horse -drawn buggies carrying the 

Amish men with their bon neted womenfolk at their 

side crossing a tactical military bridge in a modem 

American city. e 

Captain George C. Richardson is a recent graduate 

of the Engineer Officer Advanced Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia . He was recently presented the Henry 

Larcom A bbot A ward for ex cellence in writing based 

on his presentation of "How Lan caster, Pa. Got Its 

Bailey." 

19 
Distinctive in design, long in existence and exclusively 

identified with the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers, 

THE ESSAYONS BUTTON reflects long-standing 

pride in the military engineering profession, despite 

some conjecture as to the origination of the heraldic 

devices embodied on its surface. 

First definitely known to have been worn during the 

War of 1812, the button has been a mark of distinction 

to Army engineers since its adoption. Two former 

Chiefs of Engineers generally are credited with its 

inception, although some mystery remains as to which 

of them designed the insignia. 

Colonel Jonathan Wiliams, the sixth Chief of Engineers and the first Superintendent of the U. S. Military 

Academy at West Point, and Major General Alexander 

Macomb, the ninth Chief of Engineers, are considered 

to be the most likely designers of THE ESSAYON 

BUTTON. 

History records that while serving as Superintendent 

of the U. S. Military Academy in 1807, Colonel 

Williams began to plan and construct fortifications in 

New York Harbor to preclude possible invasion by any 

of the great powers then engaged in the Napoleonic 

struggle in Europe. 

Macomb, then a captain serving under Colonel 

Williams, rendered a map of the harbor at the latter's 

direction. That rendition carries Macomb's name as 

delineator. It is interesting to note that the legend and 

signature section of the map contains the surmounting 

Eagle, the Water Bastion, the Rising Sun with Rays, 

and the motto "Essayons"-all of which are reflected 

in the THE ESSA YONS BUTTON design . 

The Macomb rendition included a round fort to the 

right with flag on top, which is believed to represent 

the "stone tower" then under construction-now known 

as "Castle Williams.': Also reflected in' the map was 

a frigate entering the space between the two protecting 

fortifications. 

A prima facie case might thus well be made that 

young Captain Macomb was the enterprising American 

Engineer officer who symbolized the work of the Corps 

on-going at that time. 

Yet, it could have been his Chief, Colonel Willia 

who furnished the idea for the decorative effect 

taining the principal elements of the design on the 

button, and that Macomb was directed to apply the 

Colonel's own ideas in decorating the 1807 map. Such 

a conclusion is a logical one, for it is known that soon 

after becoming Chief Engineer and Superintendent of 

the Academy, Colonel Williams was permitted a free 

hand in designing his own special uniform for the 

officers of the new Corps of Engineers. This he did. It 

is quite conceivable that he may have designed the 

button for that uniform before 1807, and whether 

Macomb merely used a Williams design for an already 

existing ESSA YONS BUTTON to decorate his map of 

1807 is open to question. Existence of this map provided an earlier date, however, than the War of 1812 

for the actual use of the design now found on the 

button. 

co 

The year 1814 was selected as the date the button 

was first known to be used because the button was 

actually seen on a uniform at that time by an identified 

individual. General George D. Ramsey, writing about 

his cadet experiences at the Point during 1814-1820, 

stated: "Captain Partridge (Acting Superintendent from 

1808-1817) was never known to be without uniform 

ESSA '-"lo...

. . . His was that of the Corps of Engineers with 

embroidered collar and cuffs and the 

BUTTON... ." e 

20 
Lieutenant Colonel Hector Wood
 

Major Ronald L. Lane
 

T he introduction of the C-5 aircraft into the Military 

Airlift Command (MAC ) fleet has vastly increa sed 

the deployment capability of the United States Armed 

Forces, particularly its Corps of Engineers. Logistics 

concepts of engineer planners in the past have depended upon surface movements to meet the bulk of 

even emergency transportation requ irements . Now 

economical air movement of outsize items of engineer 

equipment and massive volumes of construction cargo 

is made possible by the giant C-5 transport. 

The Army Materiel Command (MAC ) conducted a 

test and evaluation for 22 months of the characteristics, capabilities and limiations of the C-5 aircr aft in 

the air logistics role and its relationship to the Army 

logistics system. It was completed last December. Headquarters, Continental Army Command (CONARC) 

as also participated in a study effort to determine the 

ipact of the C-5 system on joint air movement opertions and to determine the suitability of doctrin e, organization, materiel and procedures for employment 

of the C-5 in a joint air movement role. 

Dep artment of the Army directed both of these study 

efforts which are managed by the US Army C-5 Evaluation Group under operational control of the Combat 

Developments Command. Army participation in the 

C-5 evaluation effort was at the invitation of the Air 

Force to ensure that the Army is capable of fully utilizing the increased airlift capability of the C-5 system. 

The AMC and CONARC efforts have already modified old or developed new deployment policies and procedures and air logistics concepts. Final results should 

present an Army awareness of MAC airlift capabilities never before achieved by the green suiters, 

What does the C-5 aircr aft offer the Corps of Engineers? How can engineers take advantage of this 

giant flying machine? It's still early to pred ict the ultimate C-5 capability for the Corps but some completed 

tests and actual C-5 missions flown indicate tremendous possibilities for engineer missions worldwide. 

Consider its size. In Corps parlance, the C-5 is BIG! 

Its cargo compartment measures 121 feet in length, 19 

eet wide, 13 1h. feet high, enough space for eight of 

rt Belvoir's bowling alleys. Its cargo deck is longer 

Jan the Wright brothers' first flight. The cargo compartment can carry six standard Greyhound buses or 

90 staff cars, or, properly parked, 128 Austin Healey 

Sprites--enough to eliminate half the parking problems of the Engineer School's Humphrey Hall at Fort 

Belvoir, Virginia, when three advance courses are in 

session. 

Physically, the C-5 practically covers a football field: 

247.8 feet long with a wing span of 222.8 feet. Its tail 

stands six stories up at 65.1 feet, almost twice as high 

as the jump towers in airborne training. Its fuel capacity of 49,000 gallons would furnish sufficient fuel 

to run an average car more than 60 years. 

When a C-5 pilot says, "Fill'er up!" he's talking 6 Y2 

rail tankers of fuel. Each of the four 8F-39 turbofan engines, with rated thrust at 41,100 pounds each, is large 

enough to garage a VW. Their power and high-lift devices enable the aircraft to take off within 7.500 feet 

when fully loaded and land within 4,000 feet. Under 

rated capacity the C-5 can lift more than 60 tons from 

Travis to Vietnam with one refueling stop or 75 tons 

from Dover to England non-stop. It can airdrop 100 

tons of cargo on a single pass over a drop zone. 

In design, the C-5 has some notable advances of interest to engineers . Its 28-whee1-high flotation landing 

gear spreads the weight pressure sufficiently to allow 

sustained operation On unimproved airfields. The 

wheels can be deflated while the plane is in mid-air in 

anticipation of unimproved airfield landings . The C-5 

can "kneel" forward, aft or both ends to truckbed 

height and the visor nose and aft doors '-when open expose the full width and height of the cargo compartment 

for rapid loading and off-loading. Full width ramps on 

both ends of,the C-5 allow double row loading or unloading activities. 

The C-5 provides the US Army with an aircraft 

capable of deploying engineer combat Or construction 

equipment and personnel to any contingency area in 

the world . During tests to date , a wide range of equipment has been carried on the C-5, varying from the 

M151A1 jeep to a 75-ton per hour rock crushing unit. 

Multiple shipments of three CH-47 helicopters to Vietnam from New Cumberland Army Depot, Pennsylvania, have practically made that a routine operation. 

Recently, one of the engineer construction battalion's 

workhorses, the model 290 tractor with scraper, was 

successfully test loaded on a C-5 by the CONARC 

21 
..............--~- ... 

--------­

These four pholos give one a graphic view of
 

Evaluation Group. Significantly, only the C-5 is capable 

of transporting some equipment by air. 

The C-5 is predominantly used for deployment and 

logistics support in rear areas. If tonnage requirements 

justify it and the risks for this $54 million aircraft are 

acceptable, the C-5 could be employed directly to forward combat areas. It is designed to operate in such 

areas where austere cargo handling facilities are the 

rule rather than the exception. In May of 1972, five 

M48 tanks were airlifted into the Vietnam combat zone 

on three C-5s in a ten-hour mission . This is putting 

the critically needed Army equipment at the scene of 

the action in a big way. 

In addition to the eng ineer battalion 's equ ipment, 

the C-5 can also transport its operators and construction or combat engineers in the upper level troop compartment. Up to 73 troops can fly in comfort in the 

regular upholstered, reclining airliner type seats, arriving at their dest ination ready to accomplish the assigned mission immediately upon landing. A galley and 

all the conveniences of a commercial flight a re available to non -drinkers and anti-movie buffs. For emergency movement requirements, a palletized seat kit 

can be installed in the cargo compartment and an additional 267 pa ssengers can be air transported. For 

passengers preferring unorthodox delivery, the C-5 is 

fully capable of par atroop drops, putting the airborne 

operator into the drop zone with his equipment. An 

airborne engineer battalion could be delivered to a remote location by C-5 , execute its drop, and within a 

few days prepare an airstrip capabl e of taking C-5 

landings. The event of this happening is improbable because of the exrernely high value of the aircra ft, but 

it is conceivable. 

The Military Airlift Command has five air tr ansportable loading docks (AT LD ) which can be positioned in forward areas, for example newly prepared, 

engineer constructed airstrips, to mechanically load 

and unload palletized cargo directly from the aircraft. 

The ATLD can be extended to a 296 feet length, is 

63 feet wide and has an adjustable height of from 48 

to 57 inches. It has a cap acity equal to three C-5 loads , 

The use of an ATLD in conjunction with the ability of 

the C-5 to operate from unpaved airfields would permit 

delivery of Army cargo and equipment much closer to 

the objective area where permanent facilities would 

not be available. 

How will the C-5 impact upon engineer operations? 

Perhaps a little "crystal ball gazing" is appropriate at 

this point. It's a well known fact that the logistics problems associated with the deployment of an engineer 

unit are colossal. Troops and their equipment hav e 

seldom been depl oyed together, especially by air. Resupply of newly deployed troops has historically been 

less than adequate. To help reduce this problem vast 

quantities of engineer equipment, repair parts and 

con struction supplies are stockpiled in strategic contingency are as around the world. Tremendous main­

, 

tenance requirements are necessary to keep this equi 

ment and supplies ever ready for emergency use . No 

and even more so when the C-5 squadrons are filled, 

the Corps of Engineers has the capability to air transport engineer combat or construction battalions with 

their own equipment anywhere in the world they are 

needed. The necessity for pre-positioning equipment 

and supplies overseas dimini shes with the delivery of 

each new C-5 . Personnel-wise this could mean less 

engineers requ ired overseas to maintain stock s. 

While the Corps has always strived to insure that its 

battalions have excellent equipment, they must do so 

within the confines of a stringent budget. The ability 

to reduce supply inventories because of the rapid movement capability of th e C-5 would allow quantity considerations to be applied to further im provements in 

qu ality of engineer equipment and supplies. The Corps 

of Engineers would also assist in reducing the much talked about " gold-flow" by reducing overseas stockpiles 

and relying more up on the C-5 for rapid deployment. 

The real estate rental payments, military personnel 

spending, local national payrolls and "mysterious disappearance" of supplies could all be reduced through 

reliance upon aeri al delivery. 

As of July 1972, 62 of the scheduled 8 1 C-5 s had 

been delivered to MAC. These aircraft have had t 

unique obligation of satisfactory ope rational perfom 

ance while still in a test ing stage of development . Its 

recognition as the world's large st military cargo aircraft ha s maintained a public spotlight on every one of 

its successes and failures. F atigue and reliability problems have accompanied the development of practically 

every civilian as well as militar y aircraft. The Air F orce 

is severely testing the C-5 to find and fix its problems 

and make the C-5 perform its intended mission well. 

To use our Navy counterpart, the SEABEES' motto, 

"The C-5 Can Do," And the Corps of Engineers capabilities worldwide have been substantially increased as a 

result of having this cargo superbird in the MAC fleet. 

Lieutenant Colonel He ctor Wood is the former Chief, 

C-5 Evaluation Branch at A MC's Air Lo gistics Systems Officer, Washington, D. C. A veteran of the Vietnam war, he is a graduate of Texas Te chnological College, the Basic and Career Engin eer Courses, and the 

Command and General Sta ff College. 

Major Ronald L. Lan e is a former syst em s analy st 

of the C-5 Evaluation Bran ch. A veteran of the Vi etnam war, hi: is a graduate of the U. S. Military Academy, the En gineer Officers Career Course, and has 

Masters Degrees in civil engineering from the Univer 

sity o f Missouri, and business administration fr 

George Washin gton University . 

24 
T

he U. S. Army has taken a giant step forward with 

the establishment of the new senior level school 

for noncommissioned officers. The school for future 

Sergeants Major is a prestigious first for our NCO 's. 

As the Army War College is for officers, this school will 

be the capstone of professional educational development for the "noncom ." 

The Sergeant Majors A cademy open ed its doors to 

100 students (92 Active Army and eight U. S. Army 

Reservists and National Guardsmen) at Fort Bliss, 

Texas for the first time this past January . And now a 

Sergeant Majors Academy Selection Board has convened to select 400 students for the next class that begins July 2nd and finishes in January of 1974. There 

will be 384 Active Army NCO's and 16 Reservists and 

Nationalguardsmen in the second class. 

Selection for this senior course is competitive and 

tough. To be eligible, "noncoms" must be in grade 

-8, have between 15 and 23 years of service, and 

sess a current EES of 100 or better. The course is 

weeks in duration, therefore involving a permanent 

TAINING 

TOMO ROW'S 

LEADERS 

TODAY 

Captain Robert R. Froude 

change of station. Married students are being encouraged to bring their families . 

Rather than being aimed toward particular Army 

specialties, the senior school is purely branch immaterial and broad in scope. It covers [unctions and operations of various national government agencies, the 

other services in a joint role, and major Army headquarters and commands. And it goes without saying 

that there will be plenty of Engineer NCO 's taking the 

course. the editor 

The majority of yesterday's and many of today's 

noncommissioned officers have been placed in the untenable position of living up to a reputation that reports them as being the "backbone of the Army." And, 

indeed, they are that. However, in order to support this 

reputation the NCO has been reduced to relaying solelyon the rather questionable "experience factor" or, 

if you will, "on-the-job training." The foundation was 

at best shaky in the past. But today the subtilities of 

modern leadership and the complexity of equipment 

25 
have completely destroyed the myth that an effective 

manager of people and projects can rely on experience 

only. 

The skills of today's NCO must be updated, his 

methods must be refined and his approach enlightened, 

if he is to continue to play an effective role as the 

"backbone of the Army." The dynamic NCO of today 

must blend up-to-date concepts acquired through formal education with his time-honored experience. Tomorrow's NCO must become familiar with his trade 

early in his career and periodically, he must update the 

fundamental knowledge of his skills . 

In an effort to provide the necessary formal system 

of education for its front line supervisors, the Department of the Army and the Continental Army Command 

developed the Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) . Specifically, in July of 1970, the U . S. 

Army Engineer School instituted a pilot programNCOES. After several changes in curriculum, the 

ENCOES as it exists today was implemented in February and March of 1972. (see Winter 1972 issues of 

the engineer) The importance of this system in the career development of the NCO and the professionalism of 

the Engineer Corps demands that some discussion be 

devoted to a consideration of the objectives of ENCOES, those for whom the course is designed, the concepts 

of instruction, and finally the methods of performance 

testing. 

Recognizing the Army's need for a more effective 

leadership, the Engineer School at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, has developed a program of study that seeks to­

• Enhance the leadership capabilities of the senior 

NCO (E-6-E-8), and to give impetuous and direction 

to the potential leadership qualities of junior NCO's 

(E-4-E-5) . 

• Place emphasis on increasing the level of technical 

skill of the Engineer NCO through development in one 

of several major skill areas. In the case of the young 

soldier, a "hands on" approach toward practical training is stressed. The advanced course attempts to marry 

the more complex concepts of Army engineering with 

the senior NCO's wealth of practical experience. 

• Instill in the NCO a spirit of self-confidence and 

motivation. The ENCOES system also provides the 

soldier an opportunity to plan a career path throu, 

three progressive levels of formal instruction-s-basi 

advanced, and senior NCO training. 

Each 12 week Engineer Noncommissioned Officer 

Basic Course (ENCOB) is made up of approximately 

60 students. There were 10 classes programmed for 

Fiscal Year 1973. But the number of classes will be 

increased to 13 in Fiscal Year 1974. Students entering 

the course are, to a large extent, E-4's or E-5's who 

have demonstrated leadership potential, and who are 

able to meet the entrance requirements established by 

the school. However, of the 304 students attending 

the past seven basic courses 54 have been admitted 

directly out of Advanced Infantry Training. More than 

half of all students selected for ENCOB come from 

and return to their parent Continental United States 

units. Up to a maximum of 25 percent of the total student input is provided by the overseas commands. These 

students attend the course in conjunction with a permanent change of station move back to the Continental 

United States. 

The Engineer Noncommissioned Officer Advanced 

Course accepts students in the grades of E-6 and E- 7. 

This student input is generated by means of central 

selection by the Department of the Army, and is 

generally of equal distribution between those cornir 

from a parent unit and returning to the same unit, ai 

those attending the course enroute during a permanent 

26 
ange of station. Three classes are being cycled 

through the course in Fiscal Year 1973. The classes 

will be increased to four in Fiscal Year 1974. 

A Department of the Army Noncommissioned Officer Education System Selection Board met April 

30, 1973 at the Adjutant General Personnel Center, 

Fort Benjamin Harrison, Indiana, to select outstanding 

E-6's and E- 7's for attendance at the 19 Army service 

school s in Fiscal Year 1974. A total of 5,400 soldiers 

are expected to be tapped to attend the various career 

management courses such as ENGINEER during the 

next 12 months. 

The student, whether basic or advanced, is the focal 

point of the course. All are given diagnostic tests early 

in the first week of the course. These tests and a screening of the individual's record cause students of like 

ability to be assigned to a carefully selected member 

of the faculty. The faculty advisor monitors the student's progress, provides council and when necessary 

-remedial instruction . In addition to providing eve­

[ling study halls, the Engineer School has recently opened 

an Individual Learning Center. This center consists of 

video tapes and programmed texts designed to supplement and reinforce class room instruction. 

Both the basic and advanced courses have a duran of 12 weeks, and are divided into four phases . 

Both make use of the tracking mehod. 

Although the level of instruction differs, the course 

content for ENCOB Phas e I and ENCOA Phase I is 

similar. Each course stresses basic leadership and management princ iples; supply, maintenance, and administrative procedures; and finally emphasis is directed toward individual development. In general these subjects 

are common military subjects that are essential to career development. 

The common phase Or Phase I which lasts just slightly over five weeks is followed by Phase II-a tracked 

phase. This portion of the course is devoted to the specific career areas within the Engineer Corps-Combat 

Engineering, Mechanical Maintenance, Construction 

and Utilities, and Topography. 

Phase III is oriented toward increasing an individual's skill in his particular Military Occupational Specialty . Major duty areas at the 40 skill level in the 

basic and at the 50 skill level in the advanced course 

are also developed in the phase. 

In the basic course, Phase IV provides the student 

with "hands on" training and practical exercises which 

rovide an opportunity to demonstrate acquired skills. 

ro the Engineering Stakes Problem each soldier 

Ids himself in direct competition with his peers . 

Phase IV for the advanced student is an interesting 

diversion. The student selects a practical work project, 

develops the problem, and pre sents a proposed solution. The exercise which lasts two to three days allows 

the student to apply his training to a real world problem. 

The instruction in both the ENCOB and ENCOA 

courses is further supplemented by an elaborate electives program. Th e program allows the student to select two courses from a High School Electives Program , 

Formal College Credit Program, or a group of Military Electives. 

Finally after 12 weeks of intensive study and demanding tests the graduate of the school returns to his 

unit with a better understanding of the Corps, of new 

techniques, and possessing the ability to impart these 

ideas to others. The young are aggressive leaders planning for the future. The seniors are experi enced soldiers-tempered through instruction-ready to help 

others do their thing better. e 

Captain Robert R. Froude is attending the Engineer 

Officer Advanced Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He 

was the commanding officer of the 5l0th Engineer 

Company (MDS) in Vietnam and also served with the 

79th Engineer Battalion (Construction) in Germany. 

The captain holds a BA in International Affairs from 

George Washington University. 

27 
THE DYNAMICS OF IMPROV
 

Uch has been said about quote-dynamic trainingMunquote since the establishment of the Engineer 

Dynamic Training Council in 1971. Comments have 

ranged from commendatory to condemnatory. By and 

large those comments which fell in the latter category 

were more than likely occasioned by a lack of appreciation for just what dynamic training really is all about. 

When discussing "dynamic training" we are talking 

essentially about imaginative training,-or better yet, 

training which is an impr ovement over previous training ways and means. The improvement results from 

the innov ation and the ingenuity of the trainer. That 

is the purpose of this article-to focus on some of the 

more noteworthy accomplishments in the Engineer 

area of improved training and to highlight USAES 

training objectives. 

Many of the training accomplishments recounted here 

grew out of council efforts while others derived from 

the initiative and imagination of staff, faculty and 

students at the Engineer School. 

This article represents the pervasiveness of the desire at the USAES to improve engineer training. The 

article was assembled with the assistance of representatives from every major department at the USAES. 

The Council, on behalf of the USAES , is certain that 

it would be beneficial to discuss some of the more 

progressive training achievements (read that improvements) which have occurred at the USAES since 1971, 

Additionally, for your plans , and hopeful1y your comments, the USAES wanted to give you a preview of 

training objectives , a training roadmap, if you will, of 

the direction in which the USAES is headed. 

What has been accomplished in the past 

eighteen months? Read on­

• Engineer Dynamic Training Survey-This survey 

provided the data needed for an assessment of engineer 

problems plaguing engineer units and resulted in the 

publishing of a report which should now be in the 

hands of most engineer units, both Reserve Component and Active Army. The USAES sincerely hopes 

that this effort will precipitate train ing changes for the 

Major Don W. Barber 

betterment of unit and individual training. Coverage 

has been given to the survey findings and recommendations in earlier issues of the engineer. 

• Army Training Program for Non-Divisional Combat Engineer Battalion (ATP 5-35T)-A new ATP 

was developed using a systems engineering approach 

for a non-divisional engineer combat battalion. This 

effort was a first of its kind for Corps of Engineer units 

and has since served as the principal model by CONARC for development of training programs Armywide. Coverage was given to this new concept in an 

earlier issue of the engineer. 

• Field Feedback System-In the past, the USAES 

has relied upon mailed questionnaires to graduates 

the principal source of feedback to determine if v. 

were training the tasks the engineer soldier most needed to perform his duties in TOE units . The responses 

to these questionnaires have often been sparse, occasionally unrepresentative, and usually provoked more 

questions than were or could have been answered. The 

goal of the newly developed Field Feedback System is 

to better determine what you in the field think 

we should be teaching or, in its broadest sense, what 

the training development needs of the Army's engineer 

soldier really are today . To accomplish this goal a 

Field Feedback Team has been formed and launched 

visits to engineer units in March 73, visiting selected 

units in USAREUR first with follow-on visits to Continental United States units during Calendar Year 

1973. Data will be gathered by the Field Feedback 

Team through a combination of questionnaires and 

personal interviews with members 'of eaeh unit. This 

information will then be used to develop : resident 

training taught in service schools and training centers; 

MOS tests; the basis for MODB surveys; the framework for preparation of new technical manuals and 

nonresident correspondence courses; the basis for new 

Army Training Programs (ATP 's) and Army Training Tests (ATT' s) ; Augmentation to Army Subjep 

an: 

Schedules (soldier's tasks not taught in schools tll 

can best be taught by unit Or self training); and 

28 
ED TRAINING AT THE USAES
 

outline for a "One Stop MOS Study Guide. " In the 

final analysis, field feedback will serve as the basis for 

the systems engineering of all training development. 

• Expanded Reserve Component Support Program-Reserve component engineer training support 

by the USAES was formalized and centralized in the 

Department of Non-Resident Instruction, in the summer of 1972. The program which is designed to increase the level of USAES participation in and support 

of reserve comp onent engineer training is just becoming fully operationa l. Action under the program was 

taken as the program definition evolved and many 

nits have already reaped its benefits. As formulated 

e program is comprised of four subprograms emracing over 20 major activities aimed at improv ing 

the quantit y and more importantly the quality of engineer training for the Reserve Components. The subprograms-resident assistance, nonresident assistance , 

field assistance and liaison--center around the identification of a myriad of existing assets which are being 

and will be uniquely applied to reserve component 

training assistance. To date some of the more salient 

activities have been the institution of mobile training 

teams in selected subjects, the presentation of special 

non-POI, or more precisely tailored POI, instruction 

and perhaps most importantly the establishment of a 

clearing home for inform ation on training resources 

and means within DNRI. ­

• Informal Training Literature-A series of informal training literature was developed in concert with 

the Comb at Arms Training Board for map reading titled 

"Don't Get Lost," Camouflage and Field Fortifications 

titled "Don't Get Hit, " and Mines and Boobytraps 

titled "Don't Get Blown Up. " These publications are 

written in a style oriented toward the individual soldier and should be available to fi eld units in the near 

futu re. 

• Trade Union Recognition-A program designed 

obtain trade union recognition of Army acquired 

.uning and experience was developed for one skill. 

uller coverage is given to this effort elsewhere in this 

Spring 1973 issue of the engineer. 

• Camouflage and Mine-Countermine TrainingNew concepts for training camouflage and mine-countermine specialists were developed which, if accepted 

by the Army's training establishment, will ultimately 

lead to the reorganization of the combat engineer 

squads. 

• Company Comm ander's Preparatory Course-A 

correspondence course was designed to prepare a junior 

officer for company command by providing specialized 

training in selected administrative/managerial subjects. 

Fuller coverage of this course will be accorded in the 

engineer magazine and Engineer Newsletter. 

• Engineer Skill Training Program (ESTP )-A 

program was developed to train soldier craftsmen in 

hard skills through the combined application of corres- . 

pondence cours e study and both technical and practical 

training with the Facility Engineer. AR 35-8 , TrainingEngineer Skill Training Program, has been published 

and distributed to further inform unit organizations 

and installations about this program. 

• Engineer Commander's Update Packets-A 

package of selected topics was prepared for new battalion commanders. The packet includes DA policies 

and writings on managerial and administrative techniques, social problems, and other items of interest to 

a battalion commander. 

• EOAC Home Study Program-An Active Army 

oriented program was developed for completing the 

Advance Course by correspondence. This pilot program places the officer in a permissive TDY status for 

three months at his home sta tion to compl ete the 

course. CON ARC approval is pending. 

• Self-Grading of Correspondence Courses-This 

procedure was established for two reasons-to improv e 

administration of correspondence courses by reducing processing time and more importantly, to offer 

the student a first step in self-pacing his study efforts. 

Under this concept correspondence course enrollees 

grade their own lessons, with only the final exam graded by USAES . 

29 
• Programmed Text Format-Virtually all texts 

supporting correspondence courses for both new and 

revised subcourses are being prepared in programmed 

text format. This is another step toward the full selfpacing of courses. 

• ENCOA Dynamic Training-A special block of 

instruction titled "Operation Dynamic Training" was 

developed for training the En gineer Noncommissioned 

Officers Advanced Course. This practical exercise 

places the student in a realistic training environment, 

with imposed constraints of facilities, time, and other 

resources, in which the student is required to produce 

a training program using ATP 5-35T. This exercise 

permits the student to apply dynamic training concepts 

and create dynamic training situations. 

• ENCOA Special Student Task-This unique, innovative training situation provides each ENCOA student 

with an interesting, chall enging and individu al mission 

assignment. Having chosen a task from a list of approximately 40 assignments or having created his own assignment, each student perform s research, pre sents :J. 

briefing of his findings and observations, and submits 

a written after-action report. 

• Engineer Stake s-This challenging, totally "handson" field practical exercise was designed for the Engineer Officer Basic Course (EOBC ) and Engineer 

Non-Commissioned Officer Basic Course students. It 

places the student in the role of a squad or plato on 

leader, as appropriate, and presents the student with 

a series of demanding and realistic missions which must 

be accomplished within alloted time constraints. The 

student is required to act both mentally and physically 

to successfully complete each mission. For example, 

the EOBC student is required to perform such tasks as: 

request and adjust artillery fire; land navigate across 

country; and inspect and determine corrections for 

when he gets to his home station, to interject more inlayout of road construction stakes, minefield layout, 

batterboards for buildings, and demolition charges. 

The non-commissioned officer student is required to 

perform such tasks as ESC on an item of equipment, 

land navigate across country, assemble rigging items 

to lift and move a load, and other rigging tasks, The 

student is in direct competition with his peers and can 

opt to take "bonus" stakes to improve his score. The 

engineer stakes problems provides the student with 

some sound dynamic training ideas which can be used, 

when he gets to his home station, to interject more interest in his unit training program. 

• Orienteering-Orienteering was introduced into 

the ENCOA and EOAC training programs. 

• EOAC Expedient Military Engineering Elective-­

This course was designed to stimul ate the imagination 

of and develop creativity in the Engineer Officer Ad­

.,.- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ..--­

vanced Course student. Creative thinking can be defined as the ability to take bits of knowledge and 

similate it into new patterns. New patterns evolve fro. 

divergent thinkin g, The course is based on the above 

premise and case studies-the case information is developed to a certain point and the student is then asked 

to solve the problem. No course of action is giventhe ingenuity of the student is used to devise new 

courses of action. This elective attempts to inculcate 

in the student the desire to solve problems rather than 

merely acqui escing to the problem s or accepting the 

first plau sible answer. 

• Engineer Operation s Officer Electi ve-A 45 hour 

elective cour se was designed to provide EOAC students with eight seminar subj ects encompassing the 

major functi ons that an Engineer Operations Officer 

may expect to encounter in combat or construction 

battalions. Students role playas leaders and are required to organize staff positions within their group 

to solve a variety of problems including task organization, movement of the unit, and training . 

• DeLong Flo ating Barge Instruction-To close a 

doctrinal gap in USAES instructi on, a DeLong "A" 

barge was brought to Fort Belvoir and appropriate 

courses of instruction incorporated for employment, 

siting, construction of related facilities required on 

shore, and operational problems. 

What are some of the future USAES Trai 

ing Objectives? Read on­

• Army Training Pro grams and Army Training 

Tests. New Army Training Programs and Army Training Tests will be developed using systems engineering 

for all types of engineer units, Priority of accomplishment includes: 

-Rework of ATP 5-351' . Non-divisional Engineer 

Comb at Battalion. 

-Construction Engineer Battalion. 

-Divisional Engin eer Battalions (Airborne, Armored Mech anized Infantry, Infantry, Air Cavalry, and 

TRICAP). 

-Engineer Companies, Separate Infantry Brigades 

(In fantry , Armored, and Airborne) . 

-Engineer Combat Support Compani es, Light 

Equ ipment , Panel Brid ge, Float Bridge, and Land 

Cle aring . 

-Engineer Command Units. 

- Engineer Combat Service Support Companies 

(Construction Support , Pipeline Constructi on Support 

and Construction Dump Tru ck, and Water Suppl y) . 

• Non-MOS Army Subject Schedules. New NonMOS ASubjScd's will be developed using systems engineering for mine-countermine, camouflage and fie 

fortifications, map reading , security of unit work ar 

and work site, assault phase of river crossing opera30 
ons, floating bridges, fixed bridge s, T/0 horizontal 

truction, explosives and demolitions, rigging, en­

.eer reconnaissance, and engineer power tools. 

• Trade Union Recognition-Implement union recognition with IUOE (International Union of Operating Engineers) and register with the Department of 

Labor. Extend union recognition to other engineer 

skills. 

• Engineer Literature-Redesign the family of engineer manuals for the soldier, commanders, and staffs. 

For example, under this concept a family of manuals 

may be written for camouflage and field fortifications; 

one oriented for the engineer soldier ; one oriented for 

battalion and company commanders; and a technical 

manual oriented for the battalion staff. A second goal 

"for literature is to develop separate handbooks for combat and constru ction engineers-a change to FM 5-34. 

• Engineer Dynamic Training Council-The council will continue to assess the engineer tra ining situation and publ ish annual rep orts based on information 

gathered by the Field Feedback Team. 

• How to Teach Team Training-A course of instruction for inclusion in officer and noncommissioned 

officer courses is to be developed on "How to Teach 

Team Training." 

•	 Field Feedback System-The Field Feedback 

m will be visiting USAREUR in March-April 1973 

make follow-on visits to CONUS Units in CY 

1973. Cyclic visits to selected engineer units worldwide will be performed in future years to continue to 

refine and update data needed for the systems engineering of all training devel opment. 

• Multi-Media Instructional Material-Future instructional materials, both resident and nonresident, 

will be developed to best capitalize on the latest trends 

in multi-media methods, i.e., sound-slide, video tape 

cassettes, time-lapse motion picture, lTV, and progr ammed tests. Pilot multi-media prog rams will be developed for ind ividual and unit training that can be 

used by units in the field. 

• Expanded Reserve Component Support Program-Major efforts will be focu sed on : continued presentation of special non-POI instruction, particularly 

in the area of staff training; establishment of scheduled 

special POI courses aimed at teaching teachers to instru ct in specific subjects; gre ater employment of mobile training teams; and extensive liaison with Reserve 

Component engineer units. 

• Computer Assisted Instruction. CAl can be defined as "a man-machine interaction in which most of 

the teaching functions are accomplished by use of the 

~~91 in direct support of a training situation." The 

nputer modes will be used for computations, logical 

problem solving, simulation and gaming, drill and practice and tutorial dialogue. For example, it is envisioned 

that CAl will be used for simulation and gaming in 

such areas as barrier planning, PERT and CPM, and 

tutorial dialogue to teach Advanced Instructor Training. 

• Revision of EOBC Curriculum-The EOBC will 

be changed to an MOS producing course of 12 weeks 

duration . Upon completion of systems engineering 

EOBC will include a common phase of instruction for 

all students plus a combat engineer tr ack producing a 

1331 MOS and a construction track producing a 1328 

MOS. It is envisioned that at some point during the 

first four weeks of instruction, the students will be 

designated for the combat or construction track based 

upon personal preference, educational background, and 

Army requirements. As a spin off of this curriculum 

change, the Engineer Construction Officer Course 

(ECOC) will not normally be available to immediate 

EOBC graduates, but probably will be offered on a 

cyclic basis as Army needs dictate. 

• MOS Subject Schedules---Continue to develop 

systems engineered MOS ASubjScd's with priority to 

mine-countermine and camouflage and field fortifications . 

• MOS Career Management Fields-The military 

personnel center ha s completed a study regarding an 

overhaul of tbe enlisted engineer MOS structure. The 

stud y findings and recommendations have been approved in concept for phased implementation as follows: 

Phase I, effective October 1973, will include: 

-Regrouping of current MOS into career management fields (CMF). 

-Interim retention of current MOS code for each 

MOS. 

-Improved format for MOS descriptions . 

- New and revised MOS manual. 

-Reduction of the number of additional skill identifiers. 

Ph ase II , effective 1 July 1976, will include: 

-Introduction of a new seven -to-nine digit MOS 

code. 

---Complete revision of MOS manual begun in 

Phase 1. 

The USAES will be making future input for the 

MOS manu al and for revision of specific engineer 

MOS's. The USAES has recommended that: 

-Four basic career management fields be established: 12 (combat engineering); 51 (construction engineering) ; 81 (topographic engineering and Map Reproduction) to parallel the three primary types of engineer units, combat, con struction, and topographic 

battalions; and 52 (Power Production) . 

- A single career management unit be established 

31 
in OPO in the interest of efficient and personalized 

personnel management of the engineer non-commissioned officer. 

-MaS 12C and 12D be combined into one MOS. 

MOS 12B be divided into two MOS's: 12B and 12S. 

12B (Combat Engineer ) be redefined to include expertise in camo uflage and field fortifications while 12S 

(Sapper) would be an expert in demoliti on and minecountermine warfare . 

--Certain low density MaS's be converted into additionaLskills for higher density MOS's, e.g., Sawyer 

(57D) would become an additional skill for a Carpenter (5 1B) . These skills would be identified by an 

Addition al Skill Identifier (AS!). 

• Training Extension Course, Phase II (TEC II )­

The USAES is pro viding assistance to combat arms 

schools in developing high quality , self-pa ced, audiovisual training exten sion courses to assist in obtaining 

and maintaining MOS proficiency for lIB, l l C, lID, 

11E, 13B, 13E, 16P, and 16R. These training extension courses will provide : small unit comm anders with 

ready access to audio-visual instruction and instructor 

guides specifically designed to assist the commander 

in providing MOS training to small group s; and the 

individual soldiers and small unit commanders with an 

improved method of determining training deficiencies 

in MOS proficiency subjects. The sponsoring agency, 

the Combat Arms Training Board (CATB ) , plans to 

extend this program including engineer MOS's. The 

USAES in concert with the CATB is investigating the 

feasibility of initiati ng the development of certain engineer training extensio n courses in FY74. 

Th e preceding litany of training accompl ishments 

and objectives reflects the kinds of training improvements necessary to the revitalization of training for the 

new All Volunteer Army. Today's better educ ated and 

more socially conscious soldier deserves training techniques commensurate with his aptitude and interest 

levels. The pretechnological platform, podium, pointer, 

and poop syndr ome is no longer viable in the training 

environment of the Modem Army. In recognition 

. 

today 's requirements, the USAES has dedicated 

of its time and effort toward meeting current and 

ture training needs. 

We hope this up-d ate has provided an insight into 

what has happened in the recent past and into the 

general direction training is taking at the USAES. Earlier we implicitly solicited your comments on what 

would follow. Let us now make that request explicit. 

Please share with us and the rest of the Army your 

ideas, concepts, and opinions regarding training improvements. e 

Major Don W . Barber is the Chief oj the Unit 

Training Branch for the Deputy Com mandant of Combat and Training Developm ent at the Engineer Schoo l, 

Fort Belvoir, Vir ginia, and is a member of the Dynamic Training Council. Since entering the Af1~ in 

1962 and receivin g an R A commission, he has served 

in a number oj engineer assignments including Spe cial 

Assistant to the Com mandant of the USA ES, Lieutenants Assignment Officer jor the Engine er Branch, the 

U. S. Na vl Sup port Force for 16 months in Antarctica 

on the ice, Construction Staff Officer in Vi etnam, and 

with the 27 th Engineer Battalion . He has attended the 

Engineer Officer Basic Course, and the Airborne and 

Ranger courses. The major also attended Grad' 

School at the University of Tennessee in 1966 and 

Command and General Staff College in 1970-1971, 

32 
518TH
 

NAMED OUTSTANDING
 

E GINEER
 

CaMPA 

T he Society of American Military Engineers has 

named the 518th En gineer Company, U. S, Army 

Forces Southern Command, For t Kobbe, Canal Zone, 

winner of the Itschner Award for 1972. 

Given annu ally by the Society, the awa rd is presented to the Army Corps of En gineers unit it selects 

as the most outstanding during the year. The Itschner 

Award is named after the former Chief of Engin eers 

and past president of the Society, Lieutenant General 

Emerson C. Itschner. 

;r he 518th Engineer Comp any (Combat) is a sepe unit in the 193rd Inf antry Brigade without the 

.> L1 ppor t of an engineer battalion. It not only supported 

the 193rd but also was the sole engineer company supporting a theater army . 

La ck of a parent engineer battalion did not handicap the 5 18th in 1972. Its leaders developed dynamic 

training, education pro grams, and devised realistic exercises and tests of the company's engineering skill. 

The company maintained an excellent readiness posture 

all year and when an earthquake almost destroyed 

Managua, Nicaragua, it was fully prepared and ready 

to lend a helping hand , 

The 518th performed with distinction at Managua. 

The unit 's efforts contributed to containing fires that 

swept portions of the ruined city and provided cleared 

road s for immediate emergency use and subsequent 

clearing and reconstruction activity. 

When the comp any arrived at Managua Last December more than 50 percent of the entire city had 

been destro yed by the 30 second quake. 

The 518th swiftly went into action because prevailing winds were thr eatening to spread fire that was raging through out the centr al part of the city. Bulldozers 

were used around-the-clock to clear a 12 block square 

break to segregate the city bet ween sections that 

: considered destroyed and tho se considered salvc>vable. This action provided access road s for fire fighting equipment and also controlled furth er destruction. 

Y OF 1972 

When the fires were und er control, 518th engineers 

began clearing mor e than 4,000 meters of city streets 

and , in many instances, entire city blocks. Their dozers 

stockpiled so much debris th at the scooploader and 

dump truck drivers were able to remove an average of 

293 loads daily. 

Personnel of the 518th also launched a construction effort simultan eously with the clearing operations. 

With the help of local citizens, the engineers built a 

mess hall, latrines, shower faciliti es, dug a sump and 

erected tents for two refugee camps. Th e first camp 

was called La Ciudad de Esperanza (City of Hope) 

. by refugees. Later, when the emergency diminished, the 

5 18th turned to community action-type projects. 

Th e true quality of the 518th Engineer Company 

was reflected in its outstanding performance at Managua. The re action speed, professional and efficient 

work effort, and willingness to work long hours at 

arduous tasks, mad e a tremendous psychological as 

well as engineering impact upon relief operations in 

general and on the people of Nicaragua in particular. 

The unit was praised by the U. S. Ambassador to 

Nicaragua, the Ho norable Turner B. Shelton, the 

U. S. State Dep artm ent , form er Secretary of Defense, 

Melvin R. Laird , and the Nicaraguan government for 

its work at Managua. 

Ab ility to get a job done with excellent results in a 

tense and demanding situation, combined with matchless esprit, mad e the 518th deserving of the highest 

recognition and this coveted award . 

The Itschner Award Selection Committee also named two other companies to receive honorable mention 

for their fi ne engineering performances during Calendar 

Year 1972, These commendations as runnerup units 

for the Its chner Award went to Company B, 79th 

Engineer Battalion (Co nstruction) , 24th Engineer 

Group (Construction ) , U. S. Army Engineer Command , Europe, and Company D, 44th Engineer Battalion, 2nd Engineer Group, Eighth United States 

Arm y, Korea. e 

33 
Colonel Edward R. Ardery 

The draft is ended, but the Army continues strong. 

However, we have to attract the number and right 

kind of personnel and sell them on the Army. Through 

the Unit of Choice program (AR 601-210) and Station of Choice, unit commanders have the opportunity 

to influence the kind of soldiers that will make up their 

units . Each unit has its own unique situation and the 

approach will have to vary to fit this situation. Let's 

take a look at one unit's successful program. 

The 931st Engineer Group (Combat) , commanded 

by Colonel James M . Thompson at Fort Benning, 

Georgia, is made up of a smorgasbord of different type 

units; the 43d Engineer Battalion (Construction); the 

67th Maintenance Battalion (includes a Maintenance 

Company, Ammunition Company, and two Transportation Companies) ; and, the Provisional Battalion (includes 586th Engineer Company (Float Bridge), a 

Personnel Services Company, two MP Companies, and 

several detachments; Public Information, Finance, Replacement, and MP) , and a Fire Fighting Detachment. 

The unit was designated as a Unit of Choice in 

May of 1972 and was authorized to recruit some 1,100 

soldiers in some 91 different MOS . By the middle of 

September, the group had reached its revised goal of 

1,045. Practically all are now on board, although 

some have not yet completed Advanced Individual 

Training. The rnid-January percentage of assigned personnel to authorized strength and the percentage of 

soldiers who are volunteers for the major units of the 

group include-43rd Engineer Battalion (Construction), 99 percent on hand, 88 percent volunteers; 67th 

Maintenance Battalion, 120 percent on hand, 93 percent volunteers; Provincial Battalion, 130 percent on 

hand, 85 percent volunteers; 586th Engineer Company (FB), 122 percent on hand, 96 percent volunteers. 

The profile of the Unit of Choice soldier in the 

931st is very interesting. He is­

• Young-l 8 to 20 years old. 

• From the South-reflecting the recruiting area 

(Florida, South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama). 

• Approximately 29 percent black . 

• Approximately 50 percent high school graduates. 

• Blessed with good basic and advanced individual 

training. 

• Well motivated. 

The well motivated characteristic is the most si 

cant. These soldiers are willing to learn. They want 

to be soldiers. Here are some of the factors that contributed to the succe ss of the recruiting effort­

• The 197th Infantry Brigade, also located at Fort 

Benning, was designated in February 1971 as a Unit 

of Choice and started a strong recruiting program that 

embraced the same recruiting area as was later allocated to the 931 st Group. The Brigade sent out recruiting teams and accomplished civic action projects 

through the engineer efforts of the assigned 72d Engineer Company (Combat). These teams also demonstrated some of their equipment to the prospective 

recruits and their families. For example, they have 

managed to put in operating order several old tanks 

that were used in World War II that aroused considerable interest. All of these efforts left a favorable 

reaction to further recruiting when it was the 931st' 

tum. 

• It appears that the rural character of the area in 

which they were recruiting may have contributed to 

the success. While not based on hard facts, it was the 

opinion of many that the small town young man was 

more attracted to the Army than his city counterpa 

• The nearness to home was also a factor
 

young recruit, after he finished up his initial train
 

was able to count on being in the immedate area where
 

34 
he could get back and forth to his home and at the 

e time his friends and relati ves could visit him 

out too much expense. 

• Another factor was the lack of raci al frict ion at 

Fort Benning. The strong race relations program at 

Benning undoubtedly helped in this respect. 

• Another significant factor was the appeal of the 

material type improvements of the Modern Volunteer 

Army . In the 93 1st Engineers, the most attractive feature was the five-d ay work week with guaranteed time 

off (cou pled with the close to hom e recruiting area , it 

meant passes home were possible over the weekend) . 

The second most popular feature was the freedom from 

Kitch en Police, and the third was the smaller two or 

three-man housing facilities. (The 43d Engineer Battalion had to pull itself up by its own bootstraps by 

divid ing large squad rooms throughout the post for all 

units into some 2,700 two- and thr ee-man rooms. 

• It was found that the 43d Engineer Batt alion had 

a big advantage by being able to offer some sort of 

vocational training in the many skills found in the battalion that would be of value upon completion of the 

prospect's Army service. Of the 91 MaS recru ited, the 

first to be filled were the mech anics jobs and the last 

two were for the 12 O(Pioncer ) and the 55 B (Ammunition Handler). The 93 1st has placed a strong em­

-sis on job satisfaction which appears to be the most 

')rtant single factor as to wheth er or not the recruit 

eels that the Army has lived up to its part of the bargain. The 931st has had to actively seek out situa tions 

wher e, for example, the electrici an gets electrical work 

and docs not spend his time as a carpenter. 

Some of the techniques used by the 93 1st in their 

actual recruiting include­

• Keeping close contact with the recru iters, including the local NCO who actually signs the man up and 

who can direct him either to your unit or elsewhere. 

This includes helping the recruiter out with programs 

like a basketb all team or demonstration, even though 

the action benefits the Army as a whole and not specifically the 931st. 

• Sending out representatives as canvassers who 

visit various areas and develop prospects with the recru iter. Th ese canvassers have reflected the best type 

of people in the unit. Th ree out of the 10 were black 

in the 931 st. They did have success in sending a young 

soldier back to his home to sign up his friends. In other 

cases, the canv assers were left for quit e a period of 

time to get to know the area and to be known by the 

local populace. 

• The engineer units also have a big advantage in 

. :'1g able to provide some benefits to the local activithrough civic action. This apparently opened the 

" vor to cooperation by local authorities. These proj ects 

where by the local peop le furnish the mate rials, gas, 

food and lodging have a bonus of being excellent training in providing the opportunity for a small unit to 

operate alone. 

• The 931st also sent out equipment displays that 

attracted a considerable amount of attention. In several 

cases, engineer boats from the bridge company provided safety patrols for regattas and float parties. 

Th is type of activity developed an atmosphere of good 

will in the recruiti ng area that mad e the recruiting 

easier. Techniques used by units other than those at 

Fort Benn ing which may be adapted to your part icular situation include-­

• Having a town provide a whole platoon that will 

stick together in the Unit of Choice. 

• Emphasizing the availability of further formal 

education both at high school and college. Some of 

the units were able to promise duty time daily for pursuance of these prog rams. 

• Ap pearances of the following type groups at public functions to include a soldiers chorus, drill teams, 

bands, rock bands, parachute dro ps, static displays, 

basketball teams, state fairs, high school activities, 

rock concerts, local pageants and festivals, domestic 

action projects, Army nights at games, and Arm y night 

on radio or television . 

• Emphasizing facilities that are available to the 

young soldier on post and in the loca l area such as 

dr ag rac ing, motor cycle enduro , scrambles and hill 

climbs, sport car rallies and gymkha nas, flying clubs, 

glider soaring clubs, skydiving clubs, sailing, fishing, 

hunting, skiing, camping, mountain climbing, swimming, and golf. 

Wha t are the conclusions to be drawn from the experience to date? First, the Volunteer is a reality. 

With all of the many attractions that the Army can 

pr ovide, qualified voluntee rs will enlist if properly approached. Fulfillment of the Army's part of the bargain in terms of job satisfaction and the lesser important promises is a must. Second , we can expect an 

Army made up of troopers who are well motivated 

and who will make fi ne soldiers if given the proper 

leadership and traini ng. e 

Colonel Edward R . A rdery, Special A ssistant for 

Training and Lo gistics, Directorate of Militar y Engineering and Topography, aCE, was recruited seve ral 

years ago. He holds a BS from the USMA and an MS 

for MIT. He served as an A rmo red Engineer in 

WWll, an Engineer Advisor in the Korean War, and 

in the US A rmy Engineer Construction Agency, Vietnam . He commanded three Engineer battalions, latest 

being the 78th Combat Battalion and the Tripl e Nickel 

Engineer Combat Group. The colonel was the designer 

of a proposed 80-/00t AVLB. 

35 
ENLISTED CIVIL SCHOOUNG 

GOES UNDER NEW MANAGEMENT 

DUE TO A RECENT REORGANIZAnON, the Enlisted Undergraduate Training and Degree Completion 

("Bootstrap") Programs are now being managed by the Education/Professional Development Division 

(DAPC-EPC-E) of the Assistant Directorate for Enlisted Career Management, Enlisted Personnel 

Directorate. These two programs remain unchanged by the creation of the new office. The Enlisted Undergraduate 

Training Program continues to consist of two years of college at Army expense. However, this program is 

restricted to four disciplines-ADPS, Business Administration, Engineering, and Law Enforcement. 

Soldiers interested in furthering their civilian education also should consider the "Bootstrap" program where 

opportunities are more numerous than in the fully funded Enlisted Undergraduate Training Program. For 

example, there are still some "Bootstrap" spaces left for Fiscal Year 1973. "Bootstrap" is for enlisted men and 

women who can complete their associate degree in six months Or their bachelor's or advanced degree in l8 

months or less. A letter of acceptance from an accredited school indicating the period of time to complete 

the requirements for a degree is necessary. Potential applicants should read AR 621-1 (Training of Military 

Personnel at Civilian Institutions) and talk with their education advisor before applying. Questions which 

cannot be answered by these sources may be addressed to HQ DA, Chief, Education/Professional Developmentj., 

Division, ATTN : DAPC-EPC-E, Washington, D. C. 20310. 

QUAUFfEO PERSONNEL 

NEEDED TO FILL 

DRILL SERGEANT SLOTS 

THE DRILL SERGEANT is the living image of the Army during the formative weeks when the trainee 

is transformed from civilian to soldier. The drill sergeant builds the foundation upon which the soldier will 

succeed or fail during the remander of his military life. The responsibilities are great! These responsibilities 

include developing leadership, motivation, morale, esprit de corps, and professionalism in the trainees in 

Army Training Centers. If a soldier can measure up, the challenge, responsibility, and the rewards of drill 

sergeant duties can be his for the asking. The Army needs drill sergeants! To qualify, a soldier must be a 

noncommissioned officer in the grade of E-5 through E- 7; be fluent in English; have a General Technical 

Aptitude Area (GT) score of 100 or higher (score may be waived to 90 depending on other qualifications); 

high school graduate or equivalent; score at least 300 on the Physical Combat Proficiency Test (PCPT); 

weight within the limits prescribed in Table I, App III, AR 40-501; maximum physical profile of 111221 ; 

good military bearing and leadership ability; no signs of emotional instability and no record of disciplinary 

action that would adversely affect an individual's ability to perform as a drill sergeant. Applications must 

be submitted prior to completion of a soldier's first year of current Continental United States assignment. 

All personnel serving in oversea commands should apply before or during the eighth month prior to their 

Date Eligible for Return from Overseas (DEROS). Applications will be forwarded from the installation 

directly to DA attention: DAPC-EPC-Cl. Approval of the application means attendance at one of the Drill 

Sergeant Schools-Ford Ord, California; Fort Knox, Kentucky; Fori Polk, Louisiana; Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri; Fort Dix, New Jersey, or Fort Jackson, South Carolina-for six weeks of special training. Those 

who successfully complete the course will be awarded the drill sergeant MOS-OOF and start receiving an extra 

$75 Special Duty Assignment Proficiency Pay per month while serving in an authorized position. In addition 

drill sergeants are issued supplemental uniforms that are laundered and cleaned free of charge. Individuals 

should submit their applications in accordance with Section XV, AR 614-200. A true copy of a soldier's 

DA Form 20 must accompany each application. 

36 
ENGINEER SCHOOL PROPOSES 

COMPANY COMMANDER PREPARATORY COURSE 

BY CORRESPONCE 

IN AN EFFORT TO BRIDGE the so-called "company level gap" in the Army Officer Engineer System , 

the Engineer School has recently proposed a Comp any Commander Prepar atory Course and has received 

Continental Army Command's blessing for the plan to administer this cours e by correspondence. The course 

is designed as an interim measure to assist both potential and active comp any commanders by furnishing 

them with instructional material in subject areas that are pertinent to the efficient discharge of their 

repsonsibilities. A total of 49 credit hours is included in the course to provide the company commander with 

a comprehensive knowledge of personnel man agement, military justice, comp any administration, supply, 

maintenance, intelligence fundamentals, training management, race relations, and drug abuse. Correspondence 

courses provide students with a highly flexible mode of study with the inherent advant age of working at their 

own speed whenever the opportunity presents itself. Unlike most other courses, the Company Commander 

Preparatory Course is comparatively short and can be completed in a few weeks during the officer's spare 

time. Interested personnel may enroll by submitting a com pleted DA Form 145 (Army Correspondence Course 

""-~ll me Application) through channels to the Commandant, USAES, Atten : DNRI, Fort Belvoir, 

Jnia 22060. 

A-XMY POLICY PROVIDES COMMAND 

CREDIT FOR TRAINING CENTER DUTY 

MANY LIEUTENANTS AND CAPTAINS erroneously believe that a training center assignment will not 

enhance their career pattern. This is not true. Department of the Army policy pertaining to command and 

comm and equivalen t duty is established by AR 624-100, in operating instructions for the Office of Personnel 

Operations, and in letters of instruction to Army Promotion Selection Board s. The policy provides that 

comma nd in training cente rs, posts, Army confinement facilities, hospitals, installation s, and similar organizations 

will be considered the same as other command duty . This policy is strictly adhered to by the Office of Personnel 

Operations in maintainin g statistics of officers with comm and experienc e. 

DA MAKES DECISIONS 

ON STABILIZATION PERIOD 

OF COMPASSIONATE REASSIGNMENTS 

THE MAXIMUM AUT HOR IZED STABILIZATION period for compassionat e reassignment is one year. 

Not all compassionate reassignments authorize this maximum period, and in a few cases, no stabilization 

is authorized. After approval at Headquarters, Department of the Army, the assignment instructions directing 

a compassionate reassignment will spec ify the period of st abilization, Commanders and custodians of Military 

Personnel Record Jacket (MPRJ ) should remember that the Assignment Eligibility and Availability (AEA) 

code "U " must be reported on DA Form 1-1 in accord ance with rules 35 and 36, table 5-3, AR 640 -2 (Qualification Records and Management Data Reporting) for approved stabilizations in conjunction with 

compassionate reassignments. Th e AEA code "U" remain s in effect until the specified stabilization period 

end s and then it is automaically withdrawn. If the individual's problem for compassionate reassignment is 

resolved prior to the end of his stabilization period, the custodian must immediate withdraw the AEA code 

. , and enter an appropriate AEA code. Individuals receiving permissive reassignments are not stabilized
 

their eligibility for reassignment, especially foreign service, does not change. They will be reported
 

lu he appropri ate AEA code during the permissive assignment period .
 
HAPPY AN rrVERSARY 

As the fledgling engineer 

magazine enters its third 

year of publication, its 

staffers would like to 

take "time out " to salute 

• 

the Corps when it celebrates 

its 198th birthday on 

June 16, 1973 .