THE: E:NGINE:E:R­

\JOLUME 5 NUMBER 2 )UMMER 1975
 

~E~TURE)

8 OPO Reorganization/COL Carl P. Rudolph 

12 Getting The Gas Out/CPT William T. Maddox 

14 The Itschner Award/CPT Richard B. Polin 

16 All In The Family/COL Charles E. Edgar III 

20 OERs/LTC Leslie H. Savage 

22 Mobility and the Contemporary U ET/Robert W. Harrington 

26 Chapel of Hope/PFC Barbara L. Long 

28 The Military Engineer and the Future/GEN Bruce C. Clark 

30 NCOES/SFC William D. Johnson 

34 Interservice Training for Equipment Operators/ 

CPT Robert A. For 

35 Measures of Effectiveness/Mark G. Pel I 

38 New Tools for Old Tasks/MAJ William H. Sprinsky 

41 Army Training Goes Modern/Stanley Georges 

42 1000 Good Books/CPT Stephen P. Meyer 

DEPARTMENT) 

1 Chief's Briefs/History 

2 Pipeline/News Items 

4 Engineer Potpourri/Engineer Branch 

32 Helping Hands/LTC Howard J. Guba 

44 Bridging the Gap/Career Notes 
St ephen H. Long, last Chief of th e Corps of Topographical 

Engineers, was born December 30, 1784 in Hopkin ton, New Hampshire. 

App ointed a second lieutenant in the Corps of Engineers in 1814, 

Long ta ught math ematics at West Point for two yea r s. In 1816 he was 

ferred to the top ographical engineer s with t he brevet rank of 

and remained with this branch for the r est of his career . 

In 1817 Long conducte d extensive explorations in th e Northwest. 

Commanding the exp edition to the Rocky Mountains in 1819-1920, he 

discovered the peak which bears his name. Colonel Long was t hen 

assigned to explor e th e northern boundry of th e United States, which 

he fixed at t he 49th parallel at Pembina (now in N. Dakota), in 1823. 

In 1827 he help ed select th e route of the Baltimore and Ohio 

Railroad and became its Chief of Surveys and a member of its Board of 

E ngineers. The expertise developed by this experi ence enabled Long 

to aut hor t he first 'Railroad Manual' in 1829. 

Colonel Long in 1836 obtained patents on his method of br acing and 

count er br acing wooden bridges, an area in which he became inter ested 

through his railroad work. Many early railroad bridges were 

constructed according to his specifications. 

Long for yea rs was chief engineer for the improvement of western 

rivers. with headquarters at Louisville and later at St. Louis in 1858. 

On Sept emb er 9, 1861 Colonel Long became Chief of t he Corp s of 

Topographi cal En gineers. Upon merger of the two corps on March 3, 

1863, he became the senior officer to t he Chief Engineer, Corps of 

Engineers. He re tired the sam e year. 

Stephen H. Long died at Alton, Illinois on September 4, 1864. 

John M. Dervan 

Asst. Curator, US A rm y Engineer Museum 

:UniteclSfates Army .. ... LEngil"leei School ·» · ForfBelvoir,Virgini.a:.. 

· ri :BG .JamesA.' Johnson. 

Assistant :Commanda~t 
 . BG ~}"'cK.RoperJr. .
 

·Editors· ..... . . . . 

· L· ~. Edgar 'lIt 

. LTC Arthur-E. Will iams . 

. . . . 

Editorial Board
 

BG James A .Johnson
 

. BG H, ·M cK. Roper Jr. 

.coi, Charles. E.' Edgar III 

COL.JohriC. Chand ler . 

COL ·James ·M. ·Neil . . 

COL Huqh.C. Robinson .. 

LTCArthurE. .Wi Iliams 

CSM Adriano C.Benini 

Dr. C.O...c;ray . 

Production Manager 

JohriW. Savage Jr. . . . . _. ' . . 

Production Assistants 

SP4 K. Gupta:-' . . .. 

. PFCPatricia Stachowiak 

Mr. William' W. Behring . . . . . 

The Efig ee,:, is an au thorized QUl1rfcrly pub licati on of .trre U.S.. Arm y · Eng lri e.V Schoo l. It . is 

pubt ished to pr ovlde fa ctu al ';d In-depth infor m e. 

t ion of interest to"'al l En g i.heer un ,jts. , A r t icles. 

PhotQ9r ap h;',and ar f work of genera l .e r~s i';"ay be 

· ·subm i tl ed for consider a tion to :, Editor. The Engi. 

.nee r; USA Eng j"neer :SChOOI, Fort. Belvo ir, V irg in ia 

22060.' vre ws a nd op in ions ex pr essed"here in 3~e not 

·n e"ces·sar i ly those Of the Depar tmenr of the .Ar m y . 

u seoi funds. tor pr .inttng of this pu b l i ca t ion hes been 

approved by .Headquar ter s. DeDil riment of 'he 

Ar my. Janu ar y 1. 1974. . . 

Eng eer M,,'lJaIine Te lephon e : (703) : 6&4.2'838. ­

.. Autovon : ·354-2838 . . ' . 

ABOUT THE COVER' 

Captain ·V . Kauff~anJs .. painting depicts the twin roles 

performed by' Engineer Corps 

personnel: they undertake all 

the activities commonly assoclatediwlth soldiering, 'and 

as combat eng ineers, both dur­

· ing war and..peace, they engage ina whole range of enql­

' neei-ing activities . requiring 

sk llls, preclslontand selflessness. 
·PIPELINE.PIR
 

RECREATION 

OPPORTUN ITI ES 

DETAILED IN 

CORPS PHAMPHLETS 

Outdoor enthusiasts can now 

avail themselves of free Director ies of Recreation Opportunities at US Army Corps of 

Engineers Projects. 

Six directories covering the 

continental USA are available: 

New England, Northeast, Midwes t, West, Southwest and 

Southeast. 

Each contains a detailed 

map and lists the various outdoor facilities. 

For your copy write to: 

Public Affairs Office 

Office of Chief Engineers 

Washington D. C. 20314 

NONRESIDENT 

COURSE DETAILED 

Engineer Officers who have 

graduated from their branch 

advanced courses are encouraged to apply for enrollment in the Command and 

General Staff College non-resident program. 

The course closely parallels 

2 

the resident program and is 

designed to prepare officers 

for duty as commanders and 

general staff officers. 

A course description is available in DA Pamphlet 350-10. 

This can be obtained by writing, The Commandant, Command and General Staff College, ATTN: DN RI, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas 66027. 

ENGINEER OFFICERS 

AND WARRANT 

OFFICERS 

DIRECTORY 

AVAILABLE 

The Directory of Corps of 

Eng inee rs Officers and Warrant Officers (1975 Edition) is 

available for purchase at the 

USAES. Ma il order requests 

shou ld be sent to: USAES 

Periodica l Publications Fund, 

Office of the Secretary, 

USAES, Fort Belvoir, VA 22060. 

Cost is $2.25 per copy (covers 

handling and mailing costs). 

Make checks payable to: 

USAES Periodical Publications 

Fund. 

FAR EAST DISTRICT, 

CORPS OF ENGINEERS 

SEEKS ASSISTANCE 

Information is being compiled 

for a history of the Far East 

District, Corps of Eng ineers, 

1957 to 1975. If anyone has 

genera I information, anecdotes, photographs, newspaper 

clippings, brochures, maps, or 

the like concerning the District, please contact Earle 

Whitmore, Historian, Far East 

District, Corps of Engineers, 

APO San Francisco 96301. Any 

temporary loans, such as news 

clippings, photographs, or 

maps, would be duplicated and 

returned immediately. 

THE DMA APPROVED 

DEFINITION 

OF MC & G 

If Ma pping, chart ing, and 

geodesy (MC&G) comprises 

the collection, transformation, 

generation, dissemination, and 

storing of geodetic, geomagnetic, gravimetric, aeronautical, topographic, hydrographic, cultural, and toponymic 

data . These data may be used 

for military planning, training, 

and operations including aeronautical, nautica l, and land 

naVigation, as well as for 

weapon orientation and tar get 

positioning. The data may . 

presented in the form of to 

graphic, planimetric, relief, or 

thematic maps and graphics ; 

nautical and aeronautical 

charts and publications; and in 

simulated, photographic, dig ital, or computerized formats." 

" M C& G does not include the 

evaluation of topographic, 

hydrographic, or aeronautical 

features for their effect on 

military operations or intelligence." 

STATUS OF FAMECE 

The Validation Phase In 

Processing Rev iew (I PR) for 

the Family of Military Eng ineer Construction Equipment 

(FAMECE) was held at the 

USAES 31 Oct - 1 Nov '74. The 

IPR concluded that the results 

of the competitive prototyping 

effort, to incl ude Deve,_ 

menta I Testing/Operatio 

Testing demonstrated the Mil ­

tary worth of FAMECE and 
'J INE. PIPELINE.
 

recommended that the program enter Full Scale Development (FSD). The recommendation was approved 

by Deputy Chief of Staff for 

Research, Development and 

Acquisition when it approved 

the IPR minutes on 16 Dec. '74. 

Subsequent to this action an 

announcement was made by 

the Source Selection Authority 

of the contractor selected for 

FSD and a contract was 

awarded to the Clark Equipment Company on 24 Dec. '74. 

Clark Equipment Company 

will build two additional prototypes (dumper and loader 

modules) for del ivery in early 

1976. The entire family (17 

complete vehicles - 2 of each 

vehicle plus an extra dumper 

hlcle) is scheduled for deJry in the fall of 1977 for 

csting in 1977 and 1978. The 

family is scheduled for fielding 

in 1980. 

CHANGE TO EOAC 

The recent change in lengths 

of the Engineer Officer Ad ­

vanced Course (EOAC) will be 

implemented at the USAES 

with class reporting in September 1975. The EOAC will be 26 

weeks in length, a reduction 

from 32 weeks. The changes to 

accomplish this reduction are 

elimination of all electives and 

reduction of some technical 

aspects of engineering and 

some corresponding increases 

of military engineering. The 

course purpose remains the 

same: "To prepare engineer 

officers to be technically, tactiy and administratively 

rpetent : Company Commanders and Battalion Staff 

Officers (including a refresher 

at Platoon Level). Emphasis 

is placed on the management 

of training at the squad, platoon and company level." The 

26 week course is presently 

being systems engineered and 

in-resident EOAC students are 

assisting in this effort to provide the field input as to what 

tasks should be included in 

resident training. The overall 

objective is to qualify the 

graduate as a military engineer to meet primary speciality under OPMS. 

CR ELL Test New
 

Concrete Application
 

Savings in highway construction costs throughout the country are being sought through a 

long term study being conducted at the U. S. Army Cold 

Regions Research and Engineering Laboratory (CRREL). 

A test road section was constructed in 1971 to compare 

standard construction techniques utilizing a granular 

base course between the road 

subgrade and the asphaltic 

concrete surface, with one in 

which a thick asphaltic concrete (ABC) pavement is applied directly to the subgrade. 

This latter method eliminates 

the cost of the granular base 

course, usually gravel and 

sand. 

The road section, located adjacent to the CRR EL facility, 

leads to the Hanover town 

gravel pits and is subject to 

heavy truck traffic, particularly during the frost melting 

period. This is the most critical time to the year for proper 

performance of roadways. 

In the study, which is expected to run for ten years, 

measurements are made of 

pavement strength, degree of 

frost heave, and depth of frost 

penetration in the roadway. In 

addition to normal traffic, the 

pavements are subjected to 

repeated loads simulating 

added traffic to study the 

structural response of the roadway. The testing is conducted 

when the pavement section is 

frozen, thawing, and completely thawed. 

Results to date indicate that 

there is a greater than normal 

degree of frost heaving in the 

section without the base 

course. However, the heaving 

tends to be at a uniform rate, 

leaving a relatively smooth 

pavement surface. The roadway returns to near normal 

after the spring thaw. 

The uniformity of the subgrade is the key factor for the 

development of uniform heaving. In construction the subgrade was prepared by scraping, blending, and recompacting 18 inches of the native silty 

subgrade soil. 

In the spring, the subgrade 

beneath the ABC section was 

found to have a high water 

content. The water cannot 

easily drain through the fine 

grained silt and results in a 

reduction in the pavement's 

load carrying ability. 

Seeking to solve this drainage problem, a related study is 

being conducted in which a 

tough, porous fabric, overlain 

with a layer of porous asphalt, 

is placed below the asphaltic 

concrete wearing surface to 

provide proper drainage. Preliminary results from this 

study are supporting the feasibility of this concept. 

3 
Engineer Personnel Managers in OPD - Reorganization of OPD has taken place. Listed below 

are the players, their organization and their telephone numbers. The "P" is still in Personnel and 

Profession. 

Colonels Division : (DAPC-OPC-AE) 

Engineer Assignments, LTC Thomas Sands, 325-7871 

LTC Division: (DAPC-OPL-AS) 

Engineer Assignments, LTC Henry Covington, 325-0423 

Majors Division: (DAPC-OPM·AS) 

Engineer Assignments, MAJ Ted G. Stroup, 325-8107 

Combat Support Army Division: (DAPC-OPF-EN) 

Division Chief COL Carl P. Rodolph 325-0628 

Engineer Branch Chief LTC Charles E. Eastburn 325-7434 

CPT Assignments MAJ James E. Corbin 325-0650 

LT Assignments CPT Mi Iton Hunter 325-0651 

Professional Development MAJ Martin Suydam 325-7426 

Warrant Officer Division: (DAPC·OPW·WU) 

Engineer Assignments CW4 Jean L. Derby 325-7837 

(For Autovon dial 221 and the las t four digits)
 

The mailing address remains the same: 200 Stovall Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22332
 

OPMS - Alternate specialty designations have now been made for all Eng ineer officers Wie rl 

greater than seven years of active commission service. The spectrum of specialties that ;I' 

compatible with being an Engineer are extremely broad. Table 1 shows the percentage of Eng ineer 

officers by grade designated into various alternate specialties . The table is reflective of the diversity 

of the Army's requirement in alternate specialist for engineer officers beyond the eighth year of 

service. As you would expect, the heaviest concentrations are in specialties oriented on the applied 

physical sciences and analytical techniques. However, there are large requirements in other areas 

for officers with engineer skills and aptitudes. Since alternate specialty designations are based on 

the size of the specialty requirements at higher grades, you can see that there are indeed multiple 

path routes to success. 

ALTERNATE SPECIALTY DESIGNATIONS 

PERCENT BY GRADE 

ALTERNATE SPECIALTY LTC % MAJ % CPT7YRS % 

In fantr y 11 

Armor 12 

Fi eld Artillery 13 

A ir Def Artillery 14 

Cmbr Com m -El ec 25 

F ixed Tel ecomm Sys t 26 

Comm -E lec Engr'g 27 

Audi o-Vi s Instr T ech 28 1 

La w Enfor cement 31 1 1 

T act /Strat Intell 35 2 2 5 

Counterintell /H UMI NT 36 1 

Cryptolog y 37 1 

Personnel Mgmt 41 8 6 

Personnel Admin 42 1 1 

Club Mgmt 43 

Finance 44 

•

1

4 
Com pt roll e r 45 3 3 3
 

Info rmat ion 46 1 1 1
 

Ed uca ti on 47 9 10 7
 

Fore ig n Ar e a 48 11 9 9
 

OR/ SA 49 4 8 9
 

R&D 51 22 23 20
 

Atom ic Ene r g y 52 8 5 6
 

ADP S3 2 3 3
 

Ops & Fo r ce Dev 54 13 10 11
 

Av n Mat Mg m t 71 1 1 1
 

Com m -E lec Ma t Mgmt 72
 

Mis sile Ma t Mgmt 73
 

Chemi ca l 74
 

Mun itions Mat Mgmt 75
 

Ar ma men t Mat Mgmt 76
 

Ta nk / Gro un d Mo b Ma t Mgt 77
 

POL Mg mt 81
 

Food Mg mt 82
 

Gen Trp Spt Mat Mg m t 83
 

Tr affic Mgmt 86
 

Ma r & Te r m Opns 87 1 1
 

Hw y & Rai l Opns 88 1 1
 

Ma int Mgmt 91 3 S 5
 

Sup ply Mgmt 92 6 5 4
 

Log Svcs Mgmt 93 1 1 1
 

Transporta t ion Mgmt 95 1
 

r ocureme n t 97 5 5 4
 

Log is t ics 98
 T A BLE 1. 

Stability .. . Expect 36 months on station except for short tour areas. If you have questions 

concerning the date when you will be next available for reassignment, contact your assignment 

officer. The name of the game is stay put and do a professiona I job. 

GRADUATE SCHOOL NOTES: 

Graduate School Opportunities in FY 76. We antic ipate the fol lowing graduate school input 

during FY 76 in support of Army requ irements : 

FUNDED GRADUATE TRAINING PARTIALLY FUNDED TRAINING 

AE R B 31 Deg r ee Compl e t ion Program Bootstr ap 16 

USMA Inst r uc tor Tr a in ing 20 Advance Degre e P rog ram for ROT C Inst ru ctor Duty 19 

USM A/Rotc Top 5% 20 Cooperati ve Degree Prog ra m 5 

TOTAL - 111 

Fully Funded Advanced Degree Training (AR 621-1, Chapter 4). This is t he principal program 

for obtaining a graduate degree and provides t he primary means to train officers at t he masters 

lovel. Application is made by forward ing DA Form 1618·R. An officer's application is automatically 

ider ed each time-he becomes available for reassignment. The primary zone for consideration 

school ing is 5 to 14 years service. An outstanding overall record of performance is necessary to 

be a contender for selection . For planning, the FY 76 in put will be in these disciplines: 22 Civil 

Engineers, 1 Geodetic Science, 1 Topography/Photogrammetry, 1 Foreign Area Studies, 1 

5 
Procurement/Logistics Management, 1 ADPS Engineering, 1 Nuclear Physics, 1 ADPS Business, 2 

ORSA Engineering . 

CALENDAR 

School Input Application Due Selections Announced 

Jan 76 1 J UI 75 15 Aug 75 

Jun 76 1 Nov 75 15 Jan 76 

Sep 76 1 Feb 76 15 Mar 76 

Advanced Degree Program for ROTC Instructor Duty (AR 621-101). ROTC inputs preceded by
 

graduate training are being programmed ahead as far as the summer of 1978. Quotas will permit 19
 

Engineers to enter graduate school in FY 76 with a follow-on ROTC assignment.
 

Degree Completion Program (Bootstrap) for Graduate Degree (AR 621-1, CH 8). Th inking about 

beginning a masters degree off-duty with a goal of obtaining a " bootst r ap" to finish degree 

requirements? Good plan, but be sure that the academic discipline is one which we can support. All 

new participants after July 1975 must study in an academic discipl ine for wh ich an AERB position 

exists and serve in a follow-on utijization assignment. f !' 

GRADUATE: CIVIL SCHOOL ACADEMIC DISCIPLINES. Regardless of progra . ~

Army sponsored graduate tra ining is restricted to those disciplines in which the Army Educationa 

Requirements Board has validated requirements and a "shortage" of qualified officers exists. 

Currently, for Engineer officers these disciplines are as listed below: 

BUSINESS: 

BAL ORSA Analysist
 

BAM Comptrollership
 

BAN ADPS Business
 

BBF Logistics Management
 

B B P Procurement
 

ENGINEERING: 

CCX Civil Engineering
 

CF X Aeronautical Engineering
 

CLX Nuclear Effects Engineering
 

CEX Chemical Eng ineering
 

CSX Engineering Physics
 

CUC ORSA Engineering
 

CUA ADPS Engineering
 

PHYSICAL SCIENCE : 

DEX Geodetic Science
 

DE D Topography & Photogrammetry
 

DLX Physics
 

OLD Nuclear Physics
 

SOCIAL SCIENCE: 

E BX Foreign Area Studies 

6 
UNDERGRADUATE SCHOOL NOTES: 

Degree Completion Program ( Bootst r ap) (AR 621-1 , Ch 8). The current est imate is that 40
 

Engineers will intiate undergraduate training under th is program during FY 76. The maximum
 

period of training that can be supported is 18 months. Our objective is to support those officers w ith
 

outstanding performance r ecor ds in obtaining a bachelors degree in d isciplines that the Army can
 

where graduate level shortages ex ist get preferential consideration. See the discipl ines previously
 

listed.
 

use. These disciplines are too numerous to list, but undergraduate education directed in the areas
 

CALENDAR 

School Input Application Due Selections Announced 

J an 76 Jul 75	 Aug 75 

Jan J un 76 Dec 75	 76 

sec Ma r 76	 Apr 76
 76 

ADVANCED COURSE CLASSES SCHEDULED 

Engineer Officer Advanced Course (EOAC) classes beginning after 1 July 1975 wi ll be reduced 

n course length from 32 weeks to 26 weeks. Three Advanced Course classes are sched uled for FY 76. 

EOAC 1 - 76 28 Sept 75 20 Apr 76
 

2 ·76
 

3 - 76 6 Jun 76 14 Dec 76
 

8 Feb 76 12 Aug 76
 

The FY 76 schedule for the 12 week long Engineer Officer Basic Course (EOBC) classes is as 

follows: 

EOBC	 1 - 76 10 Jul 75 3 Oct 75
 

2 - 76 26 Aug 75 21 Nov 75
 

7 - 76 12 May 76 6 Aug 76
 

3 - 76 20 Oct 75 30 Jan 76
 

4 - 76 8 Jan 76 2 Apr 76
 

5 - 76 5 Feb 76 30 Apr 76
 

6 - 76 8 Apr 76 2 Jul 76
 

Engineer Noncommissioned Officer Adva nced (ENCOA) and Basic (ENeOS) courses are programed in accordance w ith career management fields. 

4 ENeOA course and 20 ENCOB courses are scheduled for FY 76. Details and dates of courses 

ar e ava ilable in USAES Pam 350-1, or contact 

ief, Resident Training Management Division
 

nited States Army Eng ineer School
 

ATTN: Operations Branch
 

Fort Belvoir, Va 22060
 

7 
On 19 May 1975, the Officer Personnel Directorate, U.S. Army Military Personnel Center, 

Department of th e Army, was reorganized and the 

traditional "branch concept" of personnel management, as we once knew it, was eliminated. This is 

th e most evolutionary change in officer career 

management since the inauguration of the Officer 

Personnel Act of 1947. Essentially, the reorganization permits the "streamlining" of OPD for 

optimum professional development and utilization 

under the Officer Personnel Management System 

(OPMS) as promulgated by the Chief of Staff, 

Army in March 1973. Although the OPD internal 

reorganization has been completed, assignments 

will not fully be made by primary and secondary 

specialties until January 1976. As a matter of 

review, OPMS has three primary objectives for 

officer professional development: 

• To develop officers in the proper numbers 

and skills to meet Army requirements and maximize the individual officer's abilities, aptitudes and 

interests. 

• To assign officers based upon Army requirements and within capabilities in consonance with 

individual competence and desires. 

• To improve the overall motivation and professional satisfaction of the Officer Corps. 

Before launching into reorganizational changes, 

it is important to review the previous configuration of OPD. Figure 1 delineates the traditional 

OPD organization consisting of 14 separate 

branches, a Colonel's Division, and the functional 

chiefs (Professional Development and Plans, Distribution and Personnel Actions). Historically, 

branches primarily have been concerned in making 

assignments to meet Army requirements. Professional development, an equally important mission, was accomplished, by some branches, in a 

secondary fashion. Further, there was no central 

"clearing house" to insure that an officer selected 

for an assignment in a specific grade was in fact 

the best qualified member of a Special Career 

Program (SCP). For example, when OPD previously received a requirement for a lieutenant 

colonel qualified in Operations Research and 

Systems Analysis (ORSA), the requirement for fill 

was given to a branch having an available ORSA 

Colonel Carl P. Rodolph, Jr. 

qualified officer. There was no internal OPD 

mechanism to determine if the best qualified and 

available LTC from among all branches was placed 

against th e requirement. The single OPD excep ­

tion was in the Colonel's Division, created in 1962, 

which receives all 0-6 requirements and assigns 

officers worldwide based upon a total review of 

individual qualifications and experience. The 

"success story" in the Colonel's Division was in 

many ways a precursor to the OPD reorganization. 

The Colonel's Division, retained as previously 

organized, is depicted in Figure 2. The 14 career 

branches have been replaced by 6 divisions which 

manage lieutenant colonels, majors, company 

grades and warrant officers. Three of the 7 

divisions are configured to handle the assignment 

and professional development of all company grade 

officers and are grouped as Combat Arms (Armor, 

Artillery, Infantry and Air Defense Artillery),

an 

Combat Support Arms (Engineer, Military Intel 

gence, Military Police and Signal) and Comb 

Service Support (Ordnance, Quartermaster 

Transportation). The three functional chiefs (Professional Development, Distribution and Resource 

Management) retained the bulk of their previous 

responsibilities, exclusive of some internal OPD 

alignments. 

The OPD reorganization is more than cosmetic 

and the impact upon officer professional development is far reaching. For example, by this fall, all 

field grade officers will be managed by specialty in 

the appropriate division commensurate with their 

grades. Under this personnel management concept, each division, like the Colonel's Division, will 

receive all requisitions and assign officers based 

upon primary or alternate specialty qualifications. 

To assist field grade divisions in the management 

of personnel, each division will have a number of 

multiple Specialty Management elements (assignment officers), a Professional Development 

Branch, Personnel Actions Branch and Personnel 

Support Branch. Specialty managers will have 

responsibility for the assignment of all officers in 

two or more specialties. For example, a lieutenant 

colonel, with Engineer as his primary speciaIJ-.' 

would direct requests for information to the En ;: 

neer Specialty Manager of the Lieutenant Colone . 

Division. However, if the engineer officer had an 

8 
OFFICER PERSONNEL DIRECTORATE 

D IRECTOR
 

DEPUTY 01 R EC TOR
 E X ECU T IV E OFFIC ER 

I 

ADMI N1STRAT IVE 

SER V ICE O F FICE I 

I I D E P UT Y FOR D EP UT Y FOR DE P UTY F OR P ROFESSIONAL OF F ICER PE RSON NEL AC T IONS D EV AN D PLAN S DI ST R I BU TI ON 

I 

COL ON E LS DI VI SION L OG I STI CS 01 VI SION

I 

Adjutant Ge neral
 

Branch
 

I 

A ir Def ens e
 

Art iller y Bra nc h
 

I I 

Field Arti llery Finance Branch Branc h 

A rmor Br anc h 

I Av ia tion Warrant 

Officer Br an ch 

I 

En g ineer Bran ch 

Infa nt r y Branch 

I 

M ili tary Intell ig ence 

Br an ch 

I 

M ii itary Pol ic e 

Branc!> 

Sig na l Branch 

F Igu re ' 

NEW ORGANIZATION 

01 RE CTOR 

D EP 

I 

CHI EF CH IEF 

PROFE SS10NAL OFF ICER

DEV E L O PM E NT DI ST R I B U T IO N 

I 

COLONE L S
 

DI V I SI O N
 

L T CS
 

D IV ISION
 

I
 

CO GO CO 

D IR 

CH I E F 

RE SOURC E 

MANAGEM E NT 

I 

E X E CUTI VE 

O F F ICE R 

M AJORS 

D IVI SIO N 

I 

CO GD 

CA DI V 

G D 

I 

WO 

CSA DIV CSSA DI V D IV IS ION

F ig ure 

9 
alternate specialty of Operations and Force Development, he would make contact with th e 

lieutenant colonel managing Foreign Area Officer 

(F AO) and Operations and Force Deve lopment 

sp ecialty assignments. The Lieutenant Colonel's 

Division organizational structure is illustrated in 

Figure 3. By now it should be obvious that each 

Ar my officer must "check into the net" with two 

assignment officers, primary and altern ate, to 

r eceive information and professional dev elopm ent 

guidance . 

As a matter of interest, one of th e perennial 

OPD pr oblems has been the dichotomy be tw een 

the assignment officer, who is faced with the 

inescapable fact of getting a qualifi ed individual on 

station within accep table time limits, and the 

profession al development officer, who primarily is 

concerned with the indi vidual dev elopment of an 

officer today to meet an Army r equirement in t he 

fu ture . All too frequ ently, the professional developme nt must be t emp orarily deferred to meet 

an immediate high prior ity officer requirement. 

This accommodation is most pronounced during 

periods of conflict . However. proper balance in 

assignme nts/ professional developmen t must, and 

will, be kept in the proper perspective in the new 

OPD or ganization. 

LTC 

PO 

I I 

IN ( II ) ARMOR ( 12) 

I I 

At th e beginning of this article. the demise of 

th e traditional "branch concept" was men tioned. 

In a pr actical sense, branch association has been 

r eplaced with sp ecialty for field grade officer 

However, as a r esult of organizational identity a 

pride, DA decided to preserve the current branch 

concept for company grade officers. Therefore, 

CA, CSA, and CSS Divisions - each head ed by a 

colonel - will r etain the current structure in the 

assignm ent br anches. For example, th e CSA 

Division will consist of a total of 7 br anches: 

En gineer, Military In telligence, Military Police, 

Sig nal, Professional Development, Personnel Action s, and Personnel Support. 

Figure 4 illustrates the Warrant Officer Division - a totally new and centr alized management 

organization for warrant officers. Previously, 

aviation warrant officers were managed by a 

single OPD eleme nt , whil e the remainder were 

handl ed by their r espective career branches. The 

consolidation of warrant officer man agement and 

professional development was inevitable because 

of t he dupl icator y efforts in Warrant Officer 

Aviation Branch and other career branches. Warr an t officers now have a central point of contact 

concerning car eer management. 

Th e Officer Personnel Directorate is quite 

DIV 

CH IEF 

BR SP T 

FA ( 13) 

BR 

I 1

E N (21) A DA (] 4) A E (52) 

I I
 

INTEL S P EC 

(35-37) 

C-E S P E C 

(25-28) 

LAW EN (31
 

ED UC (47)
 

FAa (48)
 

OPNS & FD (54 )
 

LOG SP EC 

01 -97) 

I 

F I, INFO, CaMP 

(44, 46, 45) 

I 

O RSA, R&D. A DP PE RS S P E C 

(49, 51. 53) W -43) 

F Igure 3 

10 
WARRANT OFFICER
 

DIVISION - OPW
 

WARR ANT OFFICER
 

DIVISION - OPW
 

I 

I 

. thused with the new organization and anticit es the assignment officer playing even a 

'greater future role in the assignment and professional development responsibilities for Army 

officers. The Assignment and Professional Development officer will coordinate freely with 

counterparts of other OPD Divisions and functional chiefs to insure optimum career development. Additionally, specialty monitors located at 

the functional chief lev el will be responsible for 

"or chestrating" th e efforts of Division Professional 

Development officers. The specialty monitors also 

act as the point of contact for agencies, external to 

OPD, coordinating plans and policies regarding 

OPMS specialt ies. 

There is some genuine concern of Engineer 

officer s who have become accustomed to specializ ed career development treatment by Engineer 

Branch in the past. The question most frequently 

asked is: "Will the "P" in personnel be lost in the 

new or ganizational maze?" Th e answer is no! In 

reality, OPMS is nothing more than a formalization 

of an informal management procedure that has 

been practiced in the Corps of Engineers for years. 

Each officer will continue to ha ve a "resident OPD 

xpert" who is vitally interested in the individual, 

assignment, and the officer's professional 

velopment. As General Abrams, our former 

Chief of Staff, Army, so aptly stated in his 

indorsing comments of DA Pamphlet 600-3, "OffiFUNCTIONAL BRANCHES 

PROFESSIONAL PROFESSIONAL PERSONNEL PERSONNEL 

DEVELOPMENT DEVELOPMENT A CTIONS SUPPORT COORDINATOR 

PROFESSIONAL MANAGERS/ A SSIGNMENT OFFICERS 

GR APHI CS A N D INVESTIGATION COMMUNICATIONS SE R V I CES 

A DMI N IS T RAT IO N INTELLIGEN CE ELECTRON I CS SUPPLY 

I I 

MEeHAN ICAL & WEAPON S AND MARINE UTILITIES 

AVIATION 

MAINTENANCE 

I 

I 

Figure 4 

cer Professional Development and Utilization", 

March 1974, "... how well you do in the Army 

depends not on our system of management but 

ra ther on your individual eff orts and dedication to 

service. " 

Colonel Carl P. Rodolph, Jr., is Chief of the 

Combat Supp ort Arms Di vision, Officer Personnel 

Dire ctorate, Military Personnel Center, Department of Army. He was pre viously the Chief of 

Engineer Branch, OPD, MILPERCEN. Sin ce being commissioned in 1952. he has served in a 

variety of command and staff assignments to 

include construc tion units in Europe; Vicksburg 

Engineer District; HQ. 8th US Army, Korea; tours 

with both A CSI and ACSFOR on the Army staff; 

and a pr evious tour in the Engineer Branch, OPD. 

Colonel Rodolpli's - Vietnam tours include assignments as engineer, 173d Airborne Brigade (Separate), CDR, 577th Engine er Battalion (Construetum) and CDR, 326th Engineer Battalion, JOist 

Airb orne Division (Airmobile). He recently served 

as CDR, U.S. Army Engine er School Brigade, Fort 

Belvoir. Colonel Rodolph is a graduate of the 

Engineer OA C, th e Command and General Staff 

College and the National War College. His civilian 

education includes degrees in Industrial Manag ement, Civil Engineering and International Relations. Colonel Rodolph is a registered professional 

engineer. 

11 
The Henry Larcom Abbot Award
 

•

Ing 0 

T
 

as 

Out 

CPT William T. Maddox 

During th e fall of 1971, an excavation for an 

autobahn in terchange near Aschaffen burg, 

Germany, produced soil that smelled like gasolin e. 

Further investigation reveal ed that most of th e 

surrounding land was also polluted. The German 

Waterway's Commission began a systematic 

search for the source whi ch led them to a US 

Army Class III Point located on the edge of the 

city. At appr oximat ely th e sam e time, a br ewery 

one mile fr om th e Class III Point discove r ed the 

presence of hydrocarbons in its well water. 

Excavations in the area adjacent to the Class III 

Point indicated that all land north of the Class III 

Point was saturated with fuel. Army personnel 

began to dig test holes within th e confines of the 

Class III Point. As a result, it was discovered t hat 

an underground pipe, previously a fill stand for 

tankers, had been leaking into the ground. This 

pipe had been capped off above the ground after 

an accid ent had damaged th e re mainder of th e fill 

st and. It as surmised that th e pipe had been 

leaking since th e accident. Test s taken in the area 

showed th at th e fuel was passing through th e soil 

into th e natural underground water system and 

being carried downstream t o th e wells of th e 

brewery. A large amount of th e pollutant was also 

being absorbed into the soil on the north or 

downstream side of the Class III Point. 

To provide an immediate solution, earthmoving 

equipment was used to remove all of the topsoil in 

the open field north of the Class III Point. Large 

open ditches were dug to a depth below th e 

natural water table in order to allow the pollutant 

to "surface" with the water that filled the ditches. 

This polluted water was then pumped out of the 

ditches by 5000 gallon fuel tankers and dumped in 

a place chosen by the German authorities. This 

system failed due to the fact th at a large quantity 

of water had to be pumped from the ditches in 

Th e pol luta nt flows on t he surface of the water until it is 

stopped by th e polyethylene fi lm . It is then trapped by 

the g r ave l and flows into t he perforated pipe. 

-EXISTING SEWER (G E RMAN) 

........COMMERCIA L POL SEP ARATOR
 

( Pla ced in underground concrete box) 

Pollutant pumped from POL 

by Facility En g in eer 

Tota l length of drain - 350 

All pi pe has a .5° slope 

towards separator 

I EXISTING 

I 

ord er to r emove a small amount of pollutant. 

Since this method was tim e consuming and did not 

produce a lastin g solution, it was abandoned afl _ 

four months. 'I 

In March, 1972, US Army Engineer Comma 

Europe, called on the 293rd Engineer Battalion 

(Const ), t o install a more efficient and longer 

lasting system. As designed by ENGCOM and the 

Facility Engineer, Aschaffenburg, the plan called 

for the installation of a POL separator and Fren ch 

Drain. The French Drain was to be installed as 

shown in Figures I and II . With this drain 

instal1ed on th e "downstream" side of the Class III 

Point, it wa s hoped that all of the pollution would 

be "s kimmed" from the surface of the natural 

water. 

In order to be effect ive, th e French Drain had 

t o be installed below the natural water table, and 

at a level wh er e it would intercept the pollutant 

during both wet and dry seasons. A survey of the 

level of th e water table indicated that th e 

fluctuation was not more than two feet at any 

time. It was also determined that th e water table 

was presently at a high poin t du e to the spring 

snow and r ain. 

Working below the water ta ble presented 

many construction problems for the engineers. 

The problem of how to place the concrete pads for 

the five manholes was solved by digging su 

holes adjacent to the work ar ea whi ch carried 

wat er away . Th e soil was the n compacted and t t 

pads plac ed . These sumps were continuously 

12 
TYPICAL CROSS SECT ION OF A FRE NCH DRAI N 

CLASS III POI NT 

-x) LOCATION OF LEAK 

)L separato 0/

::://

WATER FLOW 

o 

Polyethy lene 

Fi lm IGMANHOLE 

JG DRAIN (G E RM A N) 

pumped by using a submer sible sump pump. 

Due to th e pr evious attemp t to solve th e 

problem, there were areas where t he French 

rain had to be placed in exis tin g ditches which 

ere full of polluted water and mud. By insta lling 

he POL separator first and working back from it. 

th e polluted water in th e open ditches could be 

pumped into th e pip e. This allowed the pollutant 

to be collected by the separator. Earthmoving 

equipment was used to remove th e three feet of 

mud in the bottom. Dry fill was then brought in 

and compact ed to provide a bas e for the French 

Dr ain. As each se ction was completed, the water 

from another section was pumped into t he pipe 

and the process repeated. 

The usual spring r ains caused some delay in 

th e completion of the project, but this was kept at 

a minimum by only compacting th e ditch in an area 

that could be complet ed and backfilled by the end 

of the working day. Th e duration of the project 

was 37 calendar da ys which was commended by 

the representatives of t he city and th e German 

Government. 

The system began t o work immediately. A 

lar ge amount of fuel was separated from th e water 

being pumped into the pipe during t he construction phase. As sections were completed. water 

began to now in the pipe continuously. After the 

last pip e was in pla ce. a steady r ate of now 

veloped and th e separator had approximately 

'fee gallons of fuel in it per day. This fuel was 

pumped from th e separator by th e Facility Engineer on a daily basis. 

Watllr Flow 

Sm al l Grav el 

1 Meter 

Perforated Concrete Pip e 

Since it was impossible to determine the 

amount of pollutant in the ground. only broad 

estimates of th e time r equired to remove the 

pollutant could be made. It was estimated that th e 

major portion of the pollutant would be removed 

in th e first year, with the remainder being 

removed in two or three year s. Designed to 

operate indefinitely, the system will provide a 

lasting barrier should another spill or leak occur. 

These estimates were acceptable to the German 

Government. 

Th e use of Army Engineers to solve this 

problem allowed th e US Army to overcome a 

situation that caused a great deal of bad publicity 

and hard feelings with our host nation. A civilian 

contract for this sys tem would hav e been more 

costly and th e tim e of completion would have been 

delayed considerably. As a result of their outstanding work. 1st Platoon of C Company. 293rd 

Engineer Battalion, received an Engineer Command Outstanding Construction Award. 

Captain William T. Madd ox is curre ntly A ssistant Divisional. Engineer, 1st Enqr Bn, 1st Inf 

Div, Ft. Riley, Kansas. He holds a BS degree in 

enginee ring mechanics from the Univ. of Wisconsin and is a graduate of the Engineer Officer Advanced Co urse . His assignments include, Construction Plat oon Leader. C Company, 

293d Enqr Bn, Baumholder, Germany; Adjutant, 

293d Engr Bn; Aide-de-Camp, ADC-B 8th Inf Div, 

Baumh older, Germany; and Chief of Work Co ordination, Facilitie s Engineer, Frankfurt, Germany. 

13 
DISPLAYING THE ITSCHER 

AWARDS presented to them by 

Lieutenant General William C. 

Gribble Jr. are from left: Capt. 

Quinn D . Cloward, Commander, 

Co D, 1457th Engr Bn (CBT), 

Utah National Guard; Capt. 

David E . Spaulding, Command, 

er, Co D, 802d Engr Bn , 2d Engr 

Group, 8th US Army, Korea; 

and Capt . Glenn L . Ca'mpbell . 

Commander, Co S, 456th Engr 

an (CBT), 99th ARCOM, 1st US 

Army (Pennsylvania ) . 

CPT Richard B. Polin 

The Army National Guard winner was ComI' 

pany D, 1457th Engr Bn, Utah National Guar 

The two runners up were: Company B, 724th En . 

Bn (CBT), Wisconsin Army National Guard; and 

Company B, I092d Engr Bn (CBT), West Virginia 

Army National Guard. 

The Army Reserve winner was Company B, 

458th Engr Bn (CBT), 1st US Army (Pennsylvania). Runnersup were: Company C. 397th Engr 

Bn (CBT), 385th Engr Gp, 416th Engr Command, 

5th US Army (Wisconsin); and Company D, 820th 

Engr En (CBT), 124th ARCOM, 6th US Army 

(California). 

Although the designation of a single winner 

from a field of highly qualified finalists is a difficult 

chore at best, the Itschner Award Selection 

Committee would like to see more units compete 

for this award. The key to turning out a winner, 

in addition to having the qualifying credentials, is 

to adequately document the unit's activities over 

the course of a given calendar year. A company 

information specialist, armed with pen and camera, 

in conjunction with the various levels of local 

military and civilian news media, can go a long 

way toward enhancing the attractiveness of an 

already worthy endeavor. c-; 

It is true that some units, by virtue of the' ) 

location or circumstances, have an ad van tag , 

when it comes to the performance of tasks which 

The Emerson C. Itschner Award is awarded by 

the Society of American Military Engineers 

(SAME) to the engineer company which best 

symbolizes the character, mission and performance 

of the Corps of Engineers. The award, presented 

annually at the Engineer Dinner at Ft. Belvoir, is 

named in honor of LTG Emerson C. ltschner, a 

former Chief of Engineers and past president of 

the society. 

One of the aims of the award is to promote 

leadership in junior officers and to foster "espirit" 

in company sized engineer units. For the purposes 

of the competition, company sized units include all 

engineer numbered and lettered or headquarters 

companies, separate or belonging to a battalion, 

brigade, group or larger organization, and activated under a TOE/TDA. In the past, the award 

was limited to active duty units. In 1974, the 

competition was expanded, providing separate 

awards for both National Guard and Reserve 

units. 

The winner, active Army, for calendar year 

1974 was Company D, 802d Engr Bn, 2d Engr Gp, 

8th US Army, Korea. The three runnersup were: 

503d Engr Co (LE), 7th Engr Bde, VIII Corps, 

Europe; Company A, 92d Engr Bn, US Army 

Forces Command, Ft. Stewart, Georgia; and 

Company A, 4th Bn (Specialist), 4th Advanced 

Individual Training Bde (Engr), Ft. Leonard 

Wood, Missouri. 

14 
are apt to mak e the headlines. Nevertheless, it is 

equally tr ue that an outstanding unit will perform 

assigned missions in a most commendable 

anner at all tim es. General Bru ce C. Clarke 

. s 

USA Ret ) once sa id, "The best unit in an 

organization is always the one which is excellent 

or best in all things." The description can be 

applied to any sized unit and strongly suggests 

th at th e measure of excellence is dependen t 

neith er on amplit ude nor on pr ominence. 

The awa rd selection committee has recently 

submitted to SAME a proposed ent ry format to 

be used by next year 's cont estan ts. Although a 

new form at has not been finalized, the following 

information can be used as a guide in prepari ng 

next year's entry. 

Th e necessary infor mation should be bound in a 

simple three ring folder or loose leaf notebook, and 

be compatible with the evaluation criteria discusse d in th e ensuing par agraphs. 

Th e unit should prov ide a statement outlin ing 

its command mission. Th is is not to be confused 

with t he ge neral mission, as stated in TOE. Following this, mission accomplishments should be 

documen ted . Specifically, comba t su pport tasks, 

constructi on tasks, and trainin g and inspection 

r esults should be highlighted. Combat support, 

he cr ux of a combat engineer 's miss ion, normally 

nsists of enginee r support of FTX s and ot her 

ajor exe rcises, to include the testing of supported units. Construction oriented combat support - the fabrication or maintenance of tactical 

facilities, is closely akin to constr uctio n support, 

which is simply th e performance of engineer 

pr ojects in ge ner al. In either case, these pr ovide 

an excellen t opportunity for engineer units to 

improve th eir "es pir it de corps" while pr oducing a 

t an gible mean s by which t heir enginee r skills can 

be r ealized and appreciat ed by supported units. 

Training conducted should be listed by ty pe ­

demolitions, river crossings, quarry operations, 

and so forth . MOS qualification progr ams should 

be discussed where ap plicable , wit h a listing of 

what the unit is doin g to maintain high skill levels 

(i.e. nigh t training, schools, etc.). Details of 

ad ven ture training - a specific form of dynamic 

training, to includ e acti vities as r apeJling, ori en ­

teering, cross country and surv ival exercises, 

should be discussed , as well as ATT/ ORTT 

resul ts, and any other innovations in training or 

managemen t. Information such as r esults of 

inspection, sho uld be well documented . 

Types of pr ofessional Ar my pr ogr ams being 

pport ed should be listed. Considered along 

iese lines are: professionalism, Army life and 

enlistme nts . 

•	 Professionalism: The unit should iden tify 

its educational development program, to 

include GED tests passed, high school diplomas r eceived , an d college cour ses und erta ken. Add itionally, officer and NCO deve lopme nt programs should be outlined. 

•	 Army life: The selection committee will be 

examining those accompl ish ed actions whi ch 

cont ri bute towar d bett ering the unit 's living 

conditions . For example, efforts t o improve 

EM living conditions, development of mutu al 

tr ust within the comma nd, and the effectiveness of ongoing progr ams such as hum an 

r elations, eq ual opportunity, drug/ alcohol 

abuse, and crime preven tion. 

•	 Enlistm en ts should be categorized as either 

first term or car eer reenlistments. 

Another area of condsid eration is welfare of t he 

command. Here the unit should discuss its safet y 

and accide nt prevention progr am, to include the 

number of r eportable military accidents and miles 

driven, t he number of r eportable personal injuries , 

and the status of t he Occupational Safety Health 

Act pr ogr am. Additionally , the AWOL and CourtMartial r ates will be analyzed in order to help 

det ermine the maintenance of good order and 

dis cipline within t he organization. 

Th e selection committee will also review the 

unit's contribut ions to the image of the Corps of 

Enginee rs . Community relations pro grams, especially wit h r espect to improving the environment ; domestic action pr ogr ams; and any other 

uniq ue cont ributio ns, such as recommendation s for 

changes to doctrine, will be conside re d. 

Two bro ad and significant areas of concern are: 

cont r ibutions to Army goals and unit affiliati ons 

(i.e. Ar my National Guard, Reser ve, Allied , etc.), 

and the major commander' s evaluation. 

Finally, it should be emp hasized t hat proper 

document ation of t hese , and an y other report able 

activities t hroughout the year, can go a long way 

toward meriting serious conside ration for the 

Itschner Awa r d. While it is true that actions 

speak louder than words, it must be remem ber ed 

t hat the pr epond er a nce of outstanding engineer 

units around th e worl d only se rves to increase the 

difficulty of choosi ng "the best." The annual 

presentation of this coveted award provides a 

means of r evitalizing the competition and r enewing t he challenge. How does your unit stand 

agai nst t he ot hers? You can find out in 1975. 

Captain Richard. B. Polin is presen tly en rolled 

in a graduate program at George Was hington 

University. He earned a BSCE degree from 

Lafayette College and is a graduate of the 

Engineer Officer Advanced Cours e, 1-75. He has 

served previoulsly with 12th Engr Bn, Germany 

and US Army Engineer District , Far East, Korea. 

15 
..--­

We have all, from time to time, received a 

letter advising of a new assignment. It frequently 

concluded with the often repeated phrase: You will 

find this assignment to be both challenging and 

rewarding. 

It is true sometimes the job lives upto its 

billing, while on other occasions, it does not pan 

out quite the way in which it was anticipated. 

What follows is my attempt to share with you an 

insight into an assignment which falls into the 

former category. Specifically, my purpose is to 

tell you about the challenging and rewarding 

assignment to the United States Army Engineer 

School (USAES); what is going on here; what it 

means to you, the Corps and the Army and to urge 

you to seek duty here at the "Home of the 

Engineers." 

Before discussing assignment to the USAES, 

one cannot talk about the Engineer School without 

considering the rest of the Engineer team here at 

Fort Belvoir, all of whom contribute today toward 

making Colonel William Fairfax's former property, 

truly the "Home of the Engineers". The specifics 

of assignment to the Engineer Center are worthy 

of separate treatment and will no doubt be 

addressed in a subsequent issue of The Engineer. 

Suffice it to say now that the school and the center 

are equal partners -in the efforts here at Fort 

Belvoir to produce and train the best Engineer 

possible to meet the needs of the Army. 

Colonel Charles E. Edgar III 

The USAES's story really needs to be told to 

our Engineer community because if you were likl " 

me prior to my assignment here, your knowledg l11 

too, was limited and you basically had a "student 

view", That is, you attended the Engineer Officer 

Basic (EOBC) and Engineer Officer Advanced 

(EOAC) Courses. If this describes you, you are far 

from alone because I have found this true of most 

engineer officers. Alternatively, you might have 

had a previous assignment here on the staff and 

faculty. In either case, that experience is probably 

your perspective of USAES and that is where it 

ends. What's mor e, and which is not well known is 

tha~ the student or former instructor perspective 

is only the tip of the iceberg in the total of 

activities currently taking place at USAES. These 

activities are at the same time interesting, exciting and far-reaching. In many instances, they are 

also dynamic and always there is the challenge. 

The challenge , . . Your reaction at this point 

probably something like - "Oh really, at Belvoir, 

the Engineer School ... Why I remember ..." 

Yes, we all remember. However, we remember 

the way it was - not the way the USAES is today! 

The USAES mission assumed new proportions 

with the reorganization of the Department of the 

Army staff. The Directorate of Military Enginee' 

ing and Topography, Office of the Chief I 

Engineers, was eliminated and its functions distributed to other organizational elements of the 

16 
Department of the Army. Additionally, the Combat Development Command, with its Engineer 

gency, was deactivated. As a result, the USAES 

ssumed new and increased mission responsibilities. As such, the Engineer School is now the 

fountainhead of military engineering within the 

Army. This encompasses both formal professional 

development and skill progression training, as well 

as the responsibility for combat developments, to 

include concepts and materiel system development. Thus, the mission of USAES is not only to 

edu cate military engineers but also to develop the 

doctrine which guides our whole reason for 

being - namely support of the Army in the field. 

In order to accomplish our mission. we have a 

Deputy Commandant for Training and Education 

(DC/T&E), a Deputy Commandant for Combat and 

Training Developments (DC/ CTDj, a School Brigade to provide administrative support and control 

for the staff. faculty and students. plus the 

requisite administrative staff to provide comptroller, logistical, educational and liaison support. 

This organization is outlined in the chart below. 

From the chart, it will be noted that the 

Defense Mapping School (DMS) is under the 

operational control of th e Commandant. DMS. 

commanded by an Engineer officer and staffed 

(
 

COMMAND 

SPECiAl ASSISTANT
 

EDUCATIONAl ADVISOR
 

I I 

DIRECTORATE OF OFFICE OF MANAGEMENT EDUCA TlOMAL AND BUDGET TECHNOLOGY 

-----------_._---~ I I I 

SECRETARY OFFICE OF LOGISTICS 

I 

SCHOOL BRIGADE 

I 

DEFENSE 

MAPPING SCHOOL 

DEPUTY COMMANDANT DEPUTY COMMANDANT 

FOR COMBAT AND FOR 

TRAINING DEVELOPMENTS i TRAINING AND EDU CATION 

I I 

ORGANIZATION DOCTRINE AND TRAINING RESIDENT TRAINING OmRTMElH OF 

OIYISION DEVELOPMENT DIYISIOr: MANAGEMENT DIVISION ARMY WIDE 

TRAINING SUPPORT 

I I 

CONCEPTS AND MATERiEl SYSTEMS DEPARTMENT or DEPARTMENT OF 

STUDIES OIYISION DIVISION APPlIED ENGINEERING ENGINEERING SCIENCE 

I I 

UNITED STATES ARMY DEPARTMENT OF DEPARTMENT OF 

MECHANICAl AND MILITARY SCIENCE TECHNICAL EQUIPMENT ENGINEER SCHOOL 

17 
by all the military services, is an activity of the 

Defense Mapping Agency. It provides instruction 

to USAES students formerly taught by the old 

USAES Department of Topography. 

Despite the changes, the heart of our mission 

here at USAES remains to provide well trained 

and educated engineer soldiers. This can be 

divided into two major parts - the resident 

curriculum and Army Wide Training Support 

(AWTS). The DC/T&E provides 30 resident 

courses of instruction: 13 are professional development, 14 skill progression and 3 functional. 

The professional development courses are designed to prepare commissioned officers, warrant 

officers and noncommissioned officers to effectively perform the duties required in assignments of 

progressively greater responsibility, (e.g. EOBC , 

EOAC, ENCOB. ENCOA). 

Skill progression courses train military personnel in skills related to a specific MOS (e.g. Engineer Equipment Repair Te chnician, Soils Analyst 

and Power Pack Specialist). Functional courses 

complement both professional development and 

skill progression courses by enhancing the individual's effectiveness in selected areas (e.g. Atomic 

Demolition Munitions and Facilities Engineer). 

The magnitude of the resident curriculum is 

considerable: some 11,000 students were programed in FY 75 and 333 classes were required to 

satisfy the programed input. The second major 

part of the T&E mission, Army Wide Training 

Support, has key programs associated with it. 

many of which are Reserve and ROTC oriented. 

It is in the Department of Army Wide Training 

Support that nonresident instruction is conducted. 

Some 22,000 students representing the different 

branchs of the Armed Forces.Federal agencies and 

for eign nations were enrolled during FY 75, an 

increase of 7,000 over the previous FY. USAES 

mobile training teams frequently visit USAR 

schools, units, posts and ROTC units. General 

Officer Reserve Component seminars, commander's conferences and other programs are actively 

pursued under this mission here at USAES. 

Our Army Wide Training Support is dynamic and 

is recognized within the TRADOC community as 

materially contributing to total Army force readiness. The real significance of this statement 

comes home when one realizes that 70% of the 

engineer force structure is found in the Reserves. 

Forty Nine Engineer Battalions are in the active 

force while 101 are in the reserve. 

Th e Combat and Training Developments (CTD) 

mission has come a long way and ha s expanded 

much since its return to USAES. In fact , it is still 

growning as a result of a variety of initiatives. 

There is constant and continuous discussion and 

coordination between developer and instructor. 

Th e ideas of both are "key" in the total development and training products are improved as 

result of such discussion and exchange. 

Many and varied programs compr ise the CTD 

mission. The organizational development program 

has as its objective the ke eping of all engineer 

TO&E s curr ent, (some 90 in number) as well as 

developing new ones as r equ ired by new equipment, doctrine and concepts. The Material Developm ent Program concerns itself with new and 

improved engineer equipment and its operational 

test and evaluation. Training development deals 

with both indi vidu al and unit training. The former 

includes the development of MOS job descriptions 

and testing - key features in on going Enlisted 

Personnel Management System (EPMS) developmen t . Th e latter includes the determination of 

proc edures and techniques that serve to increase 

th e effectiveness of unit training. such as the 

Army Training Evaluation Progr am (ARTEP ) and 

Tr aining Extension Courses (TEC). The training 

literature of the USAES (we have proponency for 

some 195 publications), includes development and / 

or revision of FM's. TM's, TC s and "How to Fight" 

manuals and pamphlets. Significant recently wa s 

the TC public ation which detailed the concept for 

employment of the Engineer Combat Battalil 

(Heavy), portions of which were r eprinted in t 

Winter-Spring issue of The Engineer, This ba 

talion 's TO&E was also developed at USAES. The 

studies program encompasses in house and contract st udies and provides supporting input to the 

studies of other agencies insofar as engineer 

impa cts are concerned. These efforts covered a 

wide sp ectrum to include th e Scenario Oriented 

Recurring Evaluation System (SCORES), a key 

feature in th e TRADOC study community, to 

engineer cellular teams. 

The above outlines much of what is going on 

her e at USAES. What does it mean to you as an 

enginee r in the United States Army? What it 

means is simply this: What the En gineer Scnooi 

does, or fails to do, will affect you personally 

through out your career, the Corp s pr ofessionally 

in its ability and capability to support our Army 

and th e Army in its mission to defend the nation. 

Thus, aJJ of us have a stake in the USAES product 

wheth er the product is the graduate, a document 

or a piece of equipment. 

The challenge is here at USAES - both 

personnall y and professionally. What ever or 

wherever your interests may lie, whether you a, an officer or noncommissioned officer, what go 

on at the Engineer School affects you and if you 

wish to influence the action of th e Corps of 

18 
Engineer s and indeed certain aspects of the Army. 

you should fight to be assigned here. As an 

instructor you can personally put your stamp on 

'terally hundreds of resident students, both offi­ ( er and enlisted. This opportunity presents you 

with an ideal and meaningful way in which you can 

use both your own field experience plus any 

special academic education you may have received 

in any of the many disciplines pursued by Engineer officer and enlisted students. Personally, you 

can ex per ience the professional stimulation that 

comes from exposing your thoughts and ideas to 

the analysis and criticism of others. Furthermore, 

what better chance is there to get surfaced and 

possibly adopted than those set techniques you 

learned in "the school of hard knocks?" We 

esp ecially desire instructors who have not only the 

technical exper tise but also the practical exper ience of having led at the squad, platoon, company, 

battalion and group lev els. 

If your druthers lie mor e in the field of R&D, 

force planning, personnel management or writing 

fields. you can easily find a meaningful and 

productive home in CTD. Assignment here is 

exciting, difficult and demanding. The Family of 

Scatterable Mines (FASCAM). Ribbon Bridge, 

Fu el Air Explosive (FAE), Family of Milit ary 

Engineer Construction Equipment (FAMECE) and 

e Medium Girder Bridge (MGB) are some 

ampl es of CTD's involv ement in materiel systems development. The concept of employment 

and the basis of issue of these and other items 

reflect th e USAES imprint. The Corps of Engineers is proponent for some 32 officer and 63 

enlisted MOS s. Many of the latter are under 

consideration for consolidation und er EPMS. It is 

in this endeavor wh ere those who wish to plow 

new ground in personnel development and training 

will find their nitch. 

For those who seek the challenge of troop 

command. ser vice in the USAES Brigade provides 

a testing of all leadership qualities. The Brigade 

comprises three battalions, which includes command of both staff and faculty, officer and NCO 

students, as well as Advanced Individual Training 

(AIT) enlisted men and women . 

The impact of th e USAES instructor or de ­

veloper is far-reaching in every sense. This 

assignment is. in fact, a grave responsibility. Development for the future and teaching the principles of military engineer professionalism are 

tasks that cannot be taken lightly. If there is one 

sson our Army has learned tim e and time again 

the wars we hav e fought , it is that we owe our 

cccss to the professional education of our 

officers more th an to any other single factor. As 

our doctrine was evolved. it was thoroughly 

taught to our junior leaders. Our officer professional development courses have provided the 

proof of the pudding. As a result. a similar 

program is now in effect for our most outstanding 

noncommissioned officers (NCO). This expansion 

of a proven cycle must continue to be strengthened 

and improved. Experienced. mature instructors 

and developers are essential if we are to achieve 

success on the modern battlefield, which is ever 

increasingly complex and dynamic. It is a fact of 

life that the product of our officer and NCO 

professional development courses will influence 

the combat engineer support and. indeed the 

combat operations, of the Army for years to come. 

In today's smaller professional Army. we cannot 

afford to produce an inferior quality officer or 

NCO graduate. If war comes. we must win the 

first battle. 

Th e foregoing provides only a window to view 

just some of the_ ongoing activities here at 

USAES. A complete list would be too numerous 

to mention in this r eading. We here at the 

Engineer School encourage you to write or call us 

if you have questions about assignment to USAES. 

The challenge is here at Fort Belvoir. There is 

r esponsibility, room for individual initiatives, the 

opportunity to personally influence the future of 

th e Corps in both officer and enlisted ranks. as 

well as th e equipment we will use and th e doctrine 

we will follow in its employment. Lastly, there is 

th e reward: knowing you have contributed to 

making a better Corps of Engineers to support the 

Army in the field. No true Engineer can ask for 

more or do less. 

Colonel Charles E. Edgar, III is currently the 

Executive Officer, USAES and will become the 

Little Rock Distri ct Engineer in late July. Since 

being commissioned as a Distinguish ed Military 

Graduate from the Virginia Military Institute in 

1958, he has served in a varie t y of comm and and 

staff assignments to include th e 237th Engr Bn 

(Combat) in Germany; Battalion and Group Advisor duty in th e 6th Engr Gp (Cons t ), ARVN; Chief, 

Education S ection, Eng'!' Branch. OPD; Engineer 

Plans Officer, I Field Force Vietnam and as a staff 

officer in S trategy and Policy Branch. Plans 

Division, ODCSOPS, DA. Col Edgar commanded 

the 577th Engr En (Cons t) in Vietnam. He has 

served as an A rea Engineer, Louisville District 

and in OCE as th e E xecutiv e Officer. Civil Works 

and the Assistant Director, Civil Works, Lower 

Mississippi Valley Division. His civilian education 

include s Bachelor (VMJ) and Mas ters (Iowa State 

Unive rsit y) degree in Civil Engineering. He is a 

graduate of th e USAES. th e CGSCC and graduated with distinction fr om the Na val War College. 

Col Edgar is a Registered Professional Engineer. 

J9 
LTC Leslie 

If th e Chief of Staff, Army, knew every officer 

on active duty well enough to evaluate his/her 

manner of performance and potential, th ere would 

be little need for th e Officer Evaluation Report 

(OE R) syst em. Unfortuna tely, the size of our 

Army pr ecludes this and som e type of evalu ation 

syste m is therefore r equired to determine how 

well, or poorly in some instances, an officer is 

performing his job . Despite the Army's efforts to 

devise an optimum system , such a goal conti nues 

to elude us and the present OER (DA Form 67-7) 

is no except ion. How ever, it is extremely importa nt that personnel performance be evaluated 

objectively and that th e OER system be responsive to both career development and selection 

boards. Wh y is this important ? Th ere are two 

impor ta nt reasons: 

• Th e	 OER sy stem is desi gn ed to accur ately 

r eflect the manner of performance of sp ecified duties, over a r ated period, in a form 

readil y usable by Department of the Army 

20 

H. Savage 

(DA) select ion boards and career branch 

personnel. 

• Th e	 ent ire efficiency file is reviewed by 

branch personnel managers for all personnel 

actions. Although education (civilian and 

military), experience, availability for reassignment , and skills are important, the 

OER r emains th e most important single docu ­

men t in an officer 's official personnel records. 

Given the above frame of reference, the 

standard qu estion consistent ly asked is, "How can 

I influ enc e t he personnel syste m?" The answer is 

predicated upon how well a series of raters, 

indorsers, and reviewers evaluate your job perfor ma nce . In oth er word s, your OER should be a 

r eflection of your "total performance." If you are a 

rater or indorser, it is your r esponsibility to 

provide both DA and th e rated officer an accurat e 

ev aluation of both performance and futur e potential. Th e manner in which we und ertake thi 

objecti ve analysis helps determine th e tota l effectiveness of th e OER system. An applicable 
variation of the Golden Rule might well be: raters 

and indorsers should exert the same painstaking 

care in the completion of OERs on subordinates 

hat they would expect in the preparation of their ( 

own r eports. 

A review of the large number of OERs, 

received at MILPERCEN during the past year, 

reveals that this rule is frequently violated or 

ignored. The first principal weakness is found in 

th e narrative portions. Narratives ar e extremely 

important and provide the reader an insight as to 

special duties, professional attributes and overall 

degree of performance. In this r egard, two 

sections of DA Form 67-7, Part III (Description of 

Duties) and Part VII (Comments), ar e extrem ely 

important. Clearly, we cannot expect an Armor or 

Infantry colonel sitting on a promotion board to be 

familiar with the duties of a company commander 

of a light equipment company; or of a resident 

engineer of an Engineer District; or of any other 

unique Corps of Engineers job. Therefore, it is 

ess ential that the specific assigned duties be 

clearly delineated (Par t III provides for this) to 

includ e th e magnitude or lev el of responsibility. 

However, Part VII of the DA 67-7 Form, presents 

a real challenge since pr evious OERs (DA Forms 

67-5 and 67-6), had no sp ace restrictions th er eby 

permitting narratives to be exp anded on additional 

ages. Rater s enjoying an ease of facility with th e 

'Queen's English" were frequently able to transform average performance into something that 

would do justice to the General Officer Corps. 

This ability to ' articulate often resulted in a 

distorted image of an officer's ability and /or performance, and placed an additional reading burden 

on the tight of selection boards. 

By contrast, DA Form 67-7 restricts comments 

to the spa ce provided on the form. The rater and 

indorser, st ripped of the potential for substantial 

verbiage, must th erefore write concise, succinct 

statements describing an officer's manner of 

performance. Unfortunately, some rating officials 

have not matched the challenge, in that, they 

manage to utiliz e the space with less than 

substantive evaluations, and with inform ation of 

limited use to personnel managers and selection 

boards. For example, the following comments 

describ ed a lieutenant serving as 82 of a combat 

engineer battalion: "This officer performed a 

varie ty of tasks with conside ra ble skill and within 

specifie d parameters. He was always pleasant in 

my presence. He supporte d th e Equal Opportunity Program." Another comme nt described a 

aptain who commanded an engineer construction 

mpany. It read, "This offi cer demonstrated 

ompet ence and professional Judgement in accomplishing th e myriad of related and unrelated 

requirem ent s placed on his unit." Were t hese 

good narratives? Compare the two previous 

comments with that of an indorser who described 

one of his company commanders: "This officer is 

the m os t out standing company comm ander in th e 

g~oup which consists of nineteen en gineer compam eso He zs head and shoulders above his peers. 

His com pan y consis tently excelled in every project 

and mission assigne d to include several extensive 

periods of engineer support to an inf an tr y brigade 

operation." In a few succinct, but illustrative 

sentences, this indorser additionally described 

three spceifi c projects accomplished by the unit. 

Anyone reading this OER has a clear picture of 

the respective officer's performance and potential. 

The real challenge is to rate an officer whose 

performance has been average. Selection Board 

members must be abl e to determine the most 

deserving for promotion or selection for school. 

Accurate and comprehensive ratings can be more 

easil y accomplished if th e r ater is objective and 

mak es clear and concise observations. 

In summary, the success of any evaluation 

system depends on th e combined effor ts of the 

officer corps. How much time did you spend on a 

subor dinate's OER? How well did you really 

des cribe his manner of performance? Were you 

guilty of bein g vague and verbose, or did you 

write clear, simple statements telling what the 

officer did and how well he performed the assigned 

job? 

In conclusion, th er e is no document more 

important to a military officer than the OER. As 

such, it is th e keystone for career dev elopment, 

promotion , selection for schooling, separation, and 

other personnel activities, all of which greatly 

affect an individual's career. Bearing that in mind, 

each of us should give the same consid eration, 

time and th ought to t he writing of an OER as we 

would expect of those who prepare our report. 

The officer corps deserves noth ing less. 

Lieutenant Colonel Leslie H. Savage is Chief, 

Personnel Actions, Com bat Support Arms Division, Offi cer Personnel Directorate, US Army 

Military Pers onnel Center. He is a 1958 graduate 

of the Virginia jHilitar y Instit ute where he receioed a Bachelors Degree in Civil Engineering. 

He also earned a Masters Degree in Civil Engineering from th e University of Illino is. His 

militar y education includes th e Engineer Officer 

A dv anced Course, A rmy Com m and and General 

Staff College and the Bf.i,tish A rmy Staff College. 

He served thre e tour s in Vietnam to incluse 18 

months with the 65th Engineer Battalion, 25th 

Infantry Divis ion. Other assignments include th e 

168th Engine er Battalion, the 32d Army A ir 

Defense Comm and and Commander, 82d Enginner 

Battalion in German y. 

21 
I 

J 

\ 

MOBILITY
 

ANDTHECONTEMPORARY
 

UET
 

Robert W. 

The mobility doctrine has its foundation in th e 

principles of war. One of its salient doctrinal 

pr ecep ts is that combat support units should hav e 

mobilit y which equals th at of t he units they 

support. Thus, combat enginee r units must be 

suffi ciently mobile to provide combat support in 

th e ground gaining enviro nme nt of th e forward 

battle area. It is this pr ecep t which has provided 

the impetus for the developm ent of th e Univ ersal 

Engi neer Tr actor (UET). Th e UET, as it is 

commonly known in the "en gineer family," has 

Harrington 

been under developmen t for many yea rs . Th e 

current r equiremen t for the UET is stated in 

par agraph 636c(5) of t he Army's Catalog of 

Approved Requir em ents Documents. This r equirement is for an ar more d, amphibious , combat 

enginee r t ractor having the capabilities of dozing, 

rough grading , excavating, hauling and winching; 

capable of being air transpor table and assau_ 

airc raft landed ; and having high mobility. Th 

tracto r will be t he principal it em of ea rt hmovin 

equipment for divisional and corp s comb at 

22 
engineer units and will replace the crawler tractors in these units. Additionally, the UET will 

provide an increase in hauling capability and a 

scraper capability not presently organic. 

The development of the UET has spanned 

many years and under gone four generations of 

prototype evaluation. A search of the "archives" 

establishes 1958 as the year in which the engineer 

R&D community decided to embark on a program 

to develop a UET. Industry bids had been 

solicited earlier by the Mobility Equipment Re ­

search and Development Center, Ft. Belvoir, VA, 

(for merly Engineer Research and Development 

Laboratories) for the forerunner of the UET - a 

rubber-tired ballastable airborne tractor to fulfill 

the needs of airborne engineer units. Following 

this initial effort were feasibility studies, an 

industry proposal for a ballastable erawler 

scraper-dozer, prototype fabrication, and the 

eventual drafting of military characteristics which 

were to guide a materiel development program. 

The above efforts were followed by a frustratg period for the materiel developer. Within the 

my there were divergent views on what the 

ET should be. Innumerable reviews and assessments were made of the program, but no firm 

requirement or program was forthcoming. 

Although initial approval of the military specifications was obtained in 1960, revisions to the 

requirement were pending at all times during the 

development stage until the approval of the Qualitative Materiel Requirement (QMR) in 1965. Even 

though many of the changes were major, the basic 

tractor remained the same. For example, the 

tractor was orginally intended as an earthmover 

for use by airborne engineer units. The emphasis 

was then changed to that of a squad vehicle for use 

by other combat engineer units as well as airborne 

units. Subsequently, a requirement was added for 

armor protection for the operator and lateral 

protection for troops being transported in the bowl 

of the UET. However, the years went by without 

a UET. 

Why then has it taken so long? There are many 

reasons. It will be too lengthy to explore each of 

these adequately within the scope of this article. 

However, two observations are particularly germane. First, the differing opinions on the need, 

capabilities, utilization and technological approach 

to the UET meant that a firm requirement was not 

established until the initial development of the 

item was nearly complete. As previously stated, 

23 
the QMR was not approved until 1965. making it 

an after-the-fact occurrence rather than providing 

a coordinated guide for the dev elopm ent program. 

Secondly, and perhaps of gr eater importance, was 

the lack of a viable materiel dev elopm ent management pro gram to firmly establish user requirements, to clearly defin e these requirements to the 

developer and to industry, to provide for con24 

tinuous monitoring of hardware development and 

testing. and to institute the degree of management 

discipline necess ary for timely decision making. 

The present UET is intended to provid 

combat engineer units, especially those in supp 

of mech ani zed and armored units. with a versati 

ta ctical eart hmover possessing essentially the same 

mobility as vehicl es of the supported units. The 

UET is designed to travel light and work heavy in 

ke eping with mobility requirements. It features a 

front loading scraper bowl and a hydraulically 

operated apron with a positive load ej ector. The 

dozer blad e, which is integral to the scraper apron, 

is hinged and can be folded to increase th e angle of 

approach when th e tractor is used as a transporter. Th e engine and power train ar e in the r ear 

of th e tractor. The UET converts to an armored 

vehicle without attachments by closin g an armored 

hatch whi ch is normally stored behind the operator, who is th e only crew member. For general 

constr uction work, a windshield and canvas soft 

top can be installed. Dozing and scra ping are 

accomplished by raising and lowering the entire 

front of the tractor by means of the hydropneurnatic suspension system, rather than by independent operation of the blade and bowl. At the 

opt ion of th e operator, the suspension system of the 

UET can be quickly positioned for a smooth. fast, 

r esilient ride over uneven terrain, or made rigid 

and tiltahle for slow-speed maneuverable dozintexcavating. loading, pushing, or towing operati on ') 

Tree fellin g is accompli shed by raising th e 

apron, and consequently th e dozer, to obtain 

additional leverage. Although th e UET weighs 

only 32,000 pound s, its work capability for bulldozing operations can nearly be doubl ed by loading 

th e scr aper bowl with earth ballas t, thus increasing th e tractor's gross weight by approximately 

20.000 pound s. Moreover. the ope n bowl, fron t 

loading configuration is exceptionally well suited 

for self-loading, transporting and unloading of 

pall etized loads. barrier materials, or oth er items 

need ed to support combat operations . In addition 

to its ability to perform bulldozing and scrapin g 

functions. th e UE T can also function as a haul 

vehicl e capable of speeds up to 30 mph. This 

mobility enables th e UET to move individually and 

rapidly from job to job. on-road or cross-count ry, 

as well as move in convoy without the ne ed for 

truck-tractor and semi-trailer support. Th e UET 

has th e capability of crossing inland water ways by 

floatin g and propelling its elf with its tracks. This 

limited swim capability in calm water is equal t o 

that of the ar mored personn el carrier, M113. 

However, before amphibious oper ations. a 

must be installed on th e scraper apron; th 

r equires about 15 minu tes. With th e bul!doz 

blade, th e UET can pr epar e shore en tries and 

sea 
exits for other amphibious vehicles - for examp.1c. in the assualt phase of river crossing operations. It can also wad e and work in water too 

allow for swimming. Using its winch. th e UET 

n assist oth er vehicles in crossing obstacles and 

or recovery operations. 

Although it can be employed in airborne 

operations, th e UET is intended for use mostly, 

but not exclusively, by combat engineers in 

support of mechanized and armored units and will 

replace the crawler tractors as well as t heir 

transport vehicJe s in these units. 

Anot her potential use of the UET is "digging 

in" of field artillery for firing batteri es. In 1973, 

th e Field Artillery School informed the USAES 

tha t, in t heir opinion, ear thmoving equipment 

pres ently in t he inv entory did not possess t he 

mobility characteristics r equired to support artillery units in the fluid battlefield environments 

postulated for the future. As such, th ey expressed 

an interest in th e UET, and, in conjuctio n with the 

USAES, will monitor futur e testing to aid t hem in 

det ermining t he suita bility of the UET for field 

us e. 

Since late 1964, th e UET has und ergone ex te nsive enginee ring and se rv ice testing by the Army's 

Test and Evaluation Command (TECOM), Aberdeen Proving Grounds, MD., in whi ch military 

tility and function al performance were demonr ated. Test r eports concluded that the UET 

erfor med its ea rthmoving and hauling functions in 

an outstanding manner - when it was operational. 

However. failur e to meet r eliability, durability , 

and main tainability r equirements have precluded 

its accepta nce for use by troops in th e field. The 

Army Materiel Comma nd (AMC) conducted a 

Development Acceptance In-P roce ss Review (IPR) 

on t he UE T in October 1969. The materiel 

developer 's position to accept th e UET was not 

agr eed to by the oth er t hree votin g members 

(USACDC, USACONARC, and LDSRA). The 

maj or poin t of disagreement concerned the improvement in r eliabili ty th at could be ex pected 

through increased quality control and hard tooling 

in quantity production . Since this was essentially 

a tec hnical question. the four IPR members 

recommended to Dep artment of th e Army (DA) 

that an ad hoc group of the Army Scientific 

Advisory P anel be presen ted the UET pr oblem for 

r eview and formulation of recommendations for 

futu re efforts. 

The pr esent development program for t he UET 

is in accordance wit h th e progr am plan recommended by the ad hoc gro up in their re port to DA 

1970. A product management office has been 

tablished within AMC t hat has total pr ogr am 

responsibility for completion of development and 

initial production of th e UET. An updated QMR 

was approved by DA in 1971. Independent reviews 

of th e UET drawing package and previous TECOM 

t est reports was accomplished by awarding competitive shakedown and evaluatio n contracts to 

two firms with consider able experience in the 

production of high speed tracked vehicles. Each 

firm was furnish ed with a rebuilt prototype and all 

design data to assist them in th eir development 

of proposals for r ede sign, component te sting, fabri ­

cation of prototypes. conduct of in-house testing, 

and support of TE COM acceptance check test. 

As a result of th e proposals r eceived. an Advanced 

Production Engineering contract was awarded to 

Pacific Car and Foundry Co., Renton, Wa shin gton, 

for accomplishment of the above task s. As of this 

writing, the fabri cation of four UET prototypes is 

compl ete and cont r acto r shakedown t esting is in 

pr ocess. Upon conclusion of this t est phase, 

scheduled for this summe r , the UETs will be 

shipped to Aberdeen Proving Ground, MD.. where 

each tr actor will und ergo 650 hours of acceptance 

check t estin g. The primar y obje ctive of th e check 

test is to demon strate reliability and durability 

improvement and to r eaffirm th e performan ce and 

mobility data obtained from ear lier TECOM tests. 

Improving the low r eliablility of the UET is a 

formidable ta sk. Th e UET is mor e complex th an 

any of th e single purpose constr uct ion veh icles 

pr esently in th e enginee r inventory. Mobility and 

good performance at both high and Jaw speeds has 

never been accomplishe d in a tr acked constr uction 

vehicle prior to th e UET, and complexity has been 

the resul t. Since reliability generally is a function 

of the total parts and components of an end item, 

the added components pr esent anot her factor t hat 

makes the UET r eliabil ity goal difficul t t o achieve. 

If th e check te st demonstrates that re liability and 

durability have improved to a level which the 

Army can accept , then the UET may be adopted . 

If th e UET surv ives and is adopted for Army use, 

prod uction should begin in 1977 - 19 years after 

the pr ogram first saw th e light of day! Only field 

ope rational use will tell us if it was worth waiting. 

Mr. Robert W. Harrington is assign ed to the 

Engineer School; Deput y Commandant for Combat 

and Tm ining Developments, as an operational test 

and ev aulation project officer 'With the Mate riel 

S ys tems Division. His pr evious assignm ents were 

'With the Department of Mec hanical and Technical 

Equipment where he was invo lved in developing 

tmining courses in the operation , maintenance and 

repair of engineer missile support equipmen t f or 

US and foreign military students, and 'With the 

Engineer A gency of Combat Development s 

Command as a project officer for test and evaluation of airborne and airm obile construction equipm ent. 

25 
PFC Barbara Long 

The construction of a complete chapel is a 

major pr oject for any constr uctio n compa

ny, either 

military or civilian. The men of the 983d Engineer 

Battalion (Construction), who meet only one week6 

end a month. undertook such a challen

g• 

Teachers, factory workers. store clerks . 

and accountants became carpenters, mason s, electr icians , and plumbers for two days a month. 

The construction of a chapel was one of the 

most unique and challenging projects ever to be 
undertaken by this battalion. It was the first 

project of this magnitude ever to be completely 

designed and developed by military units for 

ivilians in this area. Up to this point, the 

atta1ion had only been involved in civilian proj ­

ects which did not require the expertise of all the 

construction trades. 

Th e "Chapel of Hope" is located on a wooded 

site at the Maumee Youth Camp. This is a State 

operated juvenile corrections facility located near 

the rural northwestern Ohio village of Neapolis. 

The American Gothic Chapel consists of a sanctuary whi ch seats 100 people, classrooms, a 

general purpose room, storage and utility rooms, 

two rest rooms, and two offices. It even has 

stained glass windows, donated by a cent ury old 

church sche duled for demolition. 

Th e chapel serves delinquent boys, ages 10-15, 

who are first tim e offenders. They are able to 

attend non-denominational chur ch services, Sunday school, and "Y" meetings in th e chapel as well 

as a host of oth er activities. 

The battalion became involved in the chapel 

project at th e r equest of the Maumee Youth Camp 

Chaplain. His attempts to raise adequate funds 

fell short of his needs - to build a spiritual center 

for th e young men at th e yout h camp. Undaunted, 

th e Reverend and his Volunteer Council (a group 

civic mind ed busin ess people ) decided to cont act 

e 364th Engineer Group and explained their 

lans to th e Group Commander. The 364th then 

prepared the plans, incorporating materials which 

would be donated or purchased and therefore stay 

within th e available budget. Th e plans for the 

chapel were prepared with the assistance of a local 

consulting architect. All plans were submitted and 

approved by the State of Ohio Architect's Office 

prior to const ruction. 

Th e act ual construction of the chapel by the 

983d Engineer Battalion began in Spring 1974. 

Reservists from two Toledo, Ohio, based companies and the company based in Bryan, Ohio, 

worked on the chap el a total of three week- ends a 

month. 

This battalion had never before undertaken so 

vast a project and the consequences proved very 

ben eficial. For example, the battalion construction 

officer noted an improvement in t he performance 

of th e men when th ey were abl e to see the purpose 

of th eir efforts and took a sense of pride in the 

tasks th ey wer e undertaking. Instead of just 

st udy ing their trades in the classroom or on small 

project s, the men of th e 983d constr ucted a chapel 

or th e less fortunate youth of their own communi­

. The reservists view the chapel as a chance to 

prove their constr uction skills and at the same 

time benefit th e community. 

Two-thirds of the men working on the chapel 

learned their construction skills while on active 

duty. Most of the men do not practice these skills 

in their civilian occupations, and the chapel project 

gav e them an opportunity to put these talents into 

practice . It also provided on-the-job training for 

men who were currently bein g trained by the 

Army Reserve as constr uction specialists. 

An added benefit of the project was the public 

int er est and civilian cooper ation it generated. A 

Woodville, Ohio, based heating and plumbing 

company seized th e opportunity the chap el project 

gave them to help the Reserves in their efforts to 

pr ovide a much needed facility for the boys of the 

Maumee Youth Camp. Another local civilian - an 

instructor at the Penta County Vocational School, 

assisted with te chnical problems in stone masonry 

and once the project got und erway, other willing 

and r esourceful civilians added their supprt. This 

type of civilian-military cooperation is unusual for 

pr ojects und ertaken by the Army Reserves. It 

was th e civic nature of the project which spurred 

memb ers of the community to volunteer th eir time 

and talent. 

Numer ous r eservists also put forth extra effort 

on the chapel project and stepped up to th e 

tremendous challenge of constructing an entire 

chapel. Rather than spending their week-ends and 

summer camps on remote chor es, they spent their 

time on a project of which they and their families 

can surely be proud. It isn't often that reservists 

can take a Sunday drive with their families and 

show them a building they built. The chapel is 

tangible proof of the ener gy th e men have 

expended on a meaningful project. 

Since the Maumee Youth Camp is under the 

jurisdiction of the Ohio State Youth Commission, 

th e land for the chapel was donated by the State. 

Materials were provided by donations from the 

camp's Volunteer Council. The labor, of course, 

was provided by the 983d. According to the 

battalions constr uction expert, th e Reserves provided services worth over $40,000. The Reverend 

is quite aware of this and unh esitatingly adds, 

"Without th e efforts of the Reserves the construction of th e chapel would have been impossible." 

The chapel was recently dedicated and is now a 

living monument to th e volunteer efforts of the 

983d Engineer Battalion. 

PFC Barbara L. Long is an Information Sp ecialist assigned to 983d Engr Bn (Const), USAR 

Center, Univ. of Teledo, Teledo, Ohio. She earn ed 

her B.S. degree in education from Michigan State 

University and teaches English, journalism and 

physical education at th e secondary school level. 

She is married, has a three year old daughter, and 

is pursuing a graduate program in journalism at 

the University of Michiqan: 

27 
The Corps of Engineers has undergone numerous changes over the past two decades. 

Guiding the direction and rate of change is the 

central concept of leadersh ip. Genera l Bruce 

C. Clarke, an outstanding military leader, gives 

us some food for thought in his article with 

respect to the key characteristics Engineer 

officers have displayed and must display if they 

are to continue in the proud traditions established by generations of Corps leaders. In these 

troubled and confused times, it behooves us to 

look back and reexamine some of our achievements and prepare ourselves for the defense 

needs of tomorrow. 

28 

l%i.Xqi.*A4~1f.« \;1i.;~~%m;Y~~: :A The milita eng -; ~er of today faces t 

challenge of the future from the vantage point of 

proud heritage, firml y based on the traditions of 

accomplishment and leadership so well exemplified 

by great military engineers who loom large in the 

history of our country. Throughout its existence, 

the Corps of Engineers has been called on to 

perform an amazing variety of duties, in many 

fields of endeavor, often far removed from purely 

military activities. From its ranks the Corps of 

Engineers has always produced the man who was 

equal to the task. The list of the great is long, 

much too long to do more here than to mention a 

few. 

The history of exploration and dev elopment of 

the West is filled with the names of Army 

Engineers - Lewis and Clark; Fremont, the 

"Pathfinder"; Dodge of the Union Pacific. Since 

early in the Nineteenth Century, Army Engineers 

hav e been charged with dev elopm en t of our rivers 

and harbors for navigation, and more recently 

with mitigation and control of floods. This brings 

to mind Humphreys and Abbot, Jadwin and Pick . 

Other names will always go together: Goethals 

and Panama Canal; Groves and th e atomic bomb; 

Wheeler and th e clearing of th e Su ez canf 

L'Enfant and the planning of Washington, D. 

Thayer and West Point; Somervell and the Arm · ' 

Service Forces in World War II; Clay and the 
I~N(JINI~I~ I
 

Genera I Bruce C. CIa rke 

iiI m r 

rlin Airlift; - the list of great engineers and 

eat accomplishments goes on and on . And from 

the Corps of Engineers have sprung many of our 

renowned combat leaders - Lee, Meade, Oliver, 

MacArthur, Hoge, and many others. All of these 

names are well known, as are their accomplishments. An examinat ion of the common characteristics of these great leaders provides some clues to 

the needs of greatness. 

All wer e men of a high order of intelligence and 

common sense. They were inquisitive and keenly 

alert. They had accurate minds, and were able to 

assimilate facts and arrive at realistic, practical 

decisions. All displayed the initiative and a sense 

of duty to seek out tasks, and to accept full 

responsibility for the accomplishment of their 

missions. They were good managers, able to grow 

to the size the job demanded. Above all, they 

were men of high ethics, and skilled human 

engineer s. 

High ethical standards are essential to the 

military engineer. Unswerving honesty, no matter 

how unpleasant the facts may be, is part of the 

tradition of the Corps of Engineers. However, 

h nesty alone is not enough; it must be coupled 

ith high moral standards, the awareness of what 

-ight and what is wrong. The resultant - that 

ich we call integrity - provides the basis for 

atness of character. When duty requires it, 

m ny men face the possibility of death in combat 

with high physical courage. But all too frequently, 

the moral courage to risk possible damage to their 

career for a rightful cause in peacetime is lacking 

in men of apparently great promise. The high 

ethical standards of a great military leader include 

the moral courage to face unflinchingly the risk of 

a blighted career in the cause of that which he 

believes to be right. 

Human engineering, the ability to organize, 

manage, inspire, and lead people, cannot be 

over-emphasized in the catalogue of common 

attributes of great military engineers. True, they 

had to have a superior knowledge of the theory 

and techniques of engineering, but they would 

never have risen to this high estate had they not 

been able to inspire and direct the efforts of others 

to get the job done. 

The role of the military engineer in the future 

has been discussed and examined at length. 

Estimates range from "We won't need him" to "He 

will be the most important member of the force." 

Obviously, the truth lies somewhere between. To 

those who believe that the role of the military 

engineer is diminishing in importance, it may be 

well to point out that each of our country's wars 

has demanded more of the military engineer than 

did the preceding war, and that in each of our 

wars, the engineer force was a larger part of the 

whole force than it was in earlier wars. The future 

holds many challenging problems for the military 

engineer. The traditional role of enhancing our 

mobility while impeding the enemy's requires 

better means of crossing natural and man-made 

barriers, and better means of slowing and stopping 

the enemy. Ways must be found to accomplish the 

many engineer tasks faster, better, and with fewer 

men. The ability of the Army to move in all kinds 

of weather or climate, and in all types of terrain, 

must be improved. And, as men move into space 

to the moon and to the other planets, the military 

engineer faces a host of new, exciting, and tremendously challenging tasks. 

As long as men live, there will always be new 

worlds to conquer, new horizons to be developed, 

new projects to be completed. The future is bright 

with promise for the men of vision who will 

dedicate themselves to making their dreams come 

true. In the forefront of these is the military 

engineer. 

Reprint from The Military Engineer, JulyAugust 1961, subject: "The Challenge of Leadership". 

29 
_.. ........ "~ "',,' ., r: 

COES 

........... ........" ....... " 

The Noncommissioned Officer Education System (NCOES) is an Army-wide program having 

two primary objectives: provide Army enlisted 

personnel with a program for educational and 

professional career development; provide each 

branch of the Army with professionally qualified 

noncommissioned officers. To meet the needs of 

the Corps of Engineers and its dedicated career 

enlisted personnel, the Engineer School has developed two progressive NCOES programs of 

instruction: the Engineer Noncommissioned Officer Basic (ENCOB) Course and the Engineer 

Noncommissioned Officer Advanced (ENCOA) 

Course. 

The requirement for the NCOES stems directly 

from the basic needs of the U. S. Army for more 

effe ctive leadership at all levels. The senior 

noncommissioned officer supervises or controls 

approximately 80 percent of the Army personnel 

resources. He is, therefore. the key man in the 

military management structure. 

The continuing progress and success of our 

Army and the individual success of the NCO will 

depend in large part on his technical knowledge 

as well as his ability to effectively direct peopl e 

toward an assigned objective. The noncommissioned officer has always been known as the 

"backbone of the Army"; however. there has until 

now been no structured program to provide for his 

continuing progressive professional development. 

Today's NCOES and tomorrow's EPMS programs 

recognize and bring into clear focus the challenges 

of today and th e great need for enlightened leadership, personalized to the individual and the 

situation. and balanced by professionalism and 

confidence for all leaders regardless of rank or 

position. 

Sergeant First Class Willia m D. Johnson 

On-the-job training is not only appropriate but
 

mandatory for many tasks, and certainly there are
 

many fine soldiers in the Army today doing an
 

outstanding job who learned most of their pro­


fessional skills by appl ying themselves on th e job
 

and gaining knowledge from th eir experiences. AI
 

too often this has been the only way to lear
 

because there have been insufficient Army or
 

civilian schools that taught the skills required. The
 

Army now realizes, however, the need for pro­


gressive and continuing formal education of its
 

career enlisted men.
 

The ever-increasing complexity of equipment 

and management structures. as well as the unique 

leadership problems inherent in an all volunteer 

Army, make th e process of continuing education ­ an absolute necessity. It must also be recognized 

~hat not only is professional military education, 

Important, but your civilian education is equally 

important. The Army wants and needs wellrounded men. This is demonstrated by Army 

policy that requires a high school diploma or .... 

equivalent for promotions beyond the grade of E-5. 

Who goes to NCOES? 

To attend the Basic Course, you must be a 

member of the Active Army or of a Reserve 

compon ent in grade E-4 or E-5, have an MOS 

evaluation score of 100 or more as it appears on 

the Enlisted Evaluation Data Report (waiver 

available) in the most r ecent MOS evaluation. and 

have been selected by your unit commander an 

higher commanders as applicable. 

To attend the Advanced Course. you must be 

selected by DA . For every one NCO selected. two 

30 
( 

I. ' 

qualified NCOs were not! (There are not enough 

allocations for the Advanced Course to accommodate all of the qualified people.) Are you the 

est qualified in your Career Management Field? 

Ninety percent (90%) of the Basic Course 

students will come directly from their parent unit 

and return upon completion. Ten percent (10%) 

will be those students in transit, who will continue 

on to assignment upon completion. Seventy-five 

percent (75%) of all students selected for ENCOA 

will come from their parent CONUS unit and 

return to the same unit. The other twenty-five 

percent (25%) will attend enroute during a 

permanent change of station (peS). All students 

are in a TDY status and not eligible for family 

travel to the school. 

VVhat They Learn 

To accommodate all Engineer Career Management Fields and MOSs, the Engineer School has 

developed a course concept which is quite flexible 

and applies to both Basic and Advanced Courses. 

Each course is divided into four (4) phases ­

Phase I has a common time span and is that 

portion of each course that is applicable to all 

career fields. Phase II is the portion of each 

course devoted to specific career fields where 

subjects applicable to a specific career are presented. Phase III is that portion devoted to MOS 

ecialization and instruction is aimed at increasg the skill level within the target MOS. Phase 

V consists of specialized group and individual 

projects where the student will put to practical 

use the knowledge and skills gained during the 

preceding weeks of instruction. For example, in 

the Basic Course, for the 12 series career field, 

Phase I consists of a general curriculum to include 

leadership, supply and maintenance procedures 

and material applicable to any MOS and career 

field. Phase II concentrates on combat engineering tasks to include equipment utilization, job 

management. tactical bridging, reconnaissance, 

construction operations, demolitions, and mine 

warfare. During this phase of instruction, students will receive cross-training of familiarity 

training within their Career Management Fields. 

Instruction in Phase III is MOS oriented, and for 

the 12B it might include advance techniques in 

camouflage, expedient methods of employing obstacles, rigging, field fortifications, demolitions, 

mine and countermine warfare, and other instruction unique to this MOS. Phase IV provides 

follow-up practical application of all the above 

instruction, utilizing individual and/or group study 

projects. For the 12B in Phase IV, a student might 

be given an introduction and mission to develop a 

target folder for the demolition of existing sample 

bridges; or to develop Barrier Plans with overlays 

for selected locations. 

Phases II, III and IV all have variable lengths. 

The lengths of each are established according to 

the needs of the career groupings and MOS's and 

in line with the imaginative ideas that can be 

implemented for effective development training 

during Phase IV. The emphasis is on practical 

application and exercise of the student's initiative. 

One of the objectives of the Engineer School is to 

make all phases of instruction challenging and 

satisfying to the students. 

In today's Army, with troop strength declining, 

the promotions and best assignments are going to 

be the reward of the man best qualified to do the 

job . Attendance at the Engineer Noncommissioned Officer Basic and/or Advanced Course will 

give you an opportunity to increase your professional skill, leadership, knowledge, confidence, and 

motivation. 

SFC William D. Johnson is the Curriculum 

Manager for the NCO Basic and Advanced 

Courses, Resident Training Management Division, 

US Army Engine er School. He has served as an 

instructor at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, and 

the Combat Engineer Noncommissioned Officers 

Course (CENCO) in Germany. SFC Johnson 

served as a platoon sergeant and first sergeant 

with D C2mpany, 299th Engineer Battalion (Combat) and is one of the very few enlisted men to 

command a combat engineer company in combat. 

He is a graduate of the Engineer NCO Advanced 

Course. His last tour of duty was as an Army 

Re cruiter in Salem, Oregon. 

31 
COM
 

A Helping 

Hands Story 

As a result of mutu al agreements between local 

communities and th e US Army Infantry Center 

(USAIC), Ft. Benning, Ga., sever al significant 

community assistance projects have been undert aken by th e 43d Engineer Battalion (Const ). 

These projects have been accomplished in diverse 

communities in both Alabama -Cordova, Alexander City and Phenix City ; and Georgia-Hamilton , Dalton and Columbus. Projects hav e included 

ball field complexes with ancillary buildings, 

extinguishing a major land fill fire, parks, roads 

and land clearing, and a major road complex with 

complete drainage faciliti es. The communit y assist ance progr am is car efully monitored by the 36th 

Engineer Group (Combat ) and the USAIC to 

insure th at each project meets the following 

crite ria : 

•	 Sponsored by a non-profit organization for 

community benefit. 

•	 No obj ection from local contractors. 

•	 Materials and fuel are provided by the 

community. 

Projects are evaluated from the viewpoint of 

overall training value for th e 43d Engineer Batta lion (Const), community impact, and support of 

LTC Howard J. Guba 

th e r ecruiting program. Projects that best mee t 

th e above criteria ar e selected. One of the most 

significant community assistance project undertaken by the 43d En gr Bn (Const) is th e Chattahoochee Valley Community College (CVCC) road 

project. This pr oject , located at Phenix City, Al., 

will pr ovide th e required access road for a tr act of 

land r ecently donated to th e college . The scope of 

th e project is listed in Table 1. Th e overall project 

can be divided into th e following phases : 

•	 Clearing and grubbing 

•	 Drainage 

•	 Sub base construction 

• Base course 

•	 Curb and gutter 

Initial effort began in August 1974 with 

clearing and grubbing operations. The project, 

TA BLE Total Unit Description 

2 Acres Clearing & grubbing, beyond 

R.O .W . 

24,459 Cu. Yds. Unclass ified excavation
 

820 Cu. Yds. Channel Excavation
 

203 Cu. Yds . Foundation backfill, local
 

material 

1,224 Cu. Yds. Unclassified cu lv ert ex cavat ion 

11,550 Cu. Yds.-in place Granular soil base, c lass I, type B 

2,500 Ton -In place Aggregate f or base , class 3, and 5 

roadmi xed
 

213 Lin . Ft . 18" concrete pipe
 

275 Lin . Ft. 15" concrete pipe
 

129 Lin. Ft. 24" concrete pipe
 

480 Lin . Ft. 24" concr ete pipe
 

198 Lin. Ft. 30" concrete pipe
 

96 Lin. F t. 48" concrete pipe 

2,000 Lin. F t. 6" concrete s.p . underdrain 

54 Lin . Ft. DOUble 8' x 8' reinforced concr 

Curb and Gutter Lin. Ft. 13,675
 

Man holes ea . 20
 

32 

I 
TY 

ASSISTANCE 

which is 6460 feet long, was divided into segments. 

Responsibility for this was assigned to two companies. The earth moving platoons of both companies were almost continuously involved in construction, with only occasional excursions to high 

priority installation support and quarterly field 

training exercises. Inexperienced equipment 

operators rapidly learned the capabilit y of their 

machines and improved their job performance 

throu gh th e day-to-day construction operations. 

The ve rtical platoons were involved in culvert construction which included a major cast in place 

double 8' x 8' x 54' reinforced concrete culvert. 

Extensive framework was required, giving the 

carpe nters valuable experience for future projects. 

'he drainage plans included curb and gutters with 

rick drop inlets. The drop inlets provided 

valuable experience for the masons and also 

se rved as a proving ground for several Stripesfor-Skill mason personnel. 

The presence of a swamp adjacent to the major 

culvert and several artesian springs located in a 

stor m drain bed pro vided unique challenges to the 

platoon leaders and NCOs. To deal with the 

swamp, a coarse sand filter was sealed and the 

overburden placed. The desired stability was 

achieved and construction proceeded. Final paving was held over until major construction of 

college buuildings was completed, thus allowing 

consolidation to continue and ultimately precluding 

differential settlement of the paved surface. 

The artesian springs were discovered after 

excavation for a 30" storm dr ain. After placing a 

coarse sand bed, the pipe was installled and the 

excavation was backfillled with a coarse sand filter 

draining to daylight in a ditch . Hydrostatic forces 

developed by the artesian springs were thus 

dissipated without damage to the culvert . 

An added drainage feature wa s the provision of 

perforated pipe in cut areas to relieve hydrof 

atics forces and prevent infiltration of water into 

e sub bas e. Since the sub base was clay , addition 

moisture above optimum moisture content 

would cause reduced structural strength. Protected by the perforated pipe, cut areas will retain 

PROJECTS
 

design strength and differential settlement will be 

prevented. 

Construction of the CVCC road provided excellent exercise for the earthmoving platoons, including the entire earthmoving train-dozers, tractor 

scrapers, water distributors, compactors and graders. In addition , carperrters.sma sons, and all members of the vertical platoons participated in dr ainage construction. Surveyors , soils specialists, and 

construction inspectors from Headquarters Company were involved. The training benefit to the 

battalion was incalculable. The project was built 

according to State specifications and was inspected 

by Russell County highway department personnel. 

Engineers of th e 43d Engineer Battalion (Const) 

participated in a valuable training exercise enhancing MOS skills ; Phenix City obtained an access 

road , and the Army received favorable media 

coverage in both newspapers and local TV. 

An intangible benefit is th e overall favorable 

publicity of the project and its impact upon th e 

units r ecruiting program. community involvement 

by engineer units benefits both the units and 

civilian communities, and pro vides a viable alternative to "reduced budgets for training materials and fuels. 

Lieutenant Colonel Howard J. Guba is currently Chief, Plans and Topographic Branch, Field 

Enginee ring Division, Office, Chief of Engineers. 

He holds a MCE degree from Texas A&M 

University and an MS (Eng ineer Management) 

(rom th e University ofAlaska. He is a qraduaie of 

th e Engineer Officers Advanced Cours e and the 

Command and General Staff Colleqe. His previous 

assignments include, Instructor, US Na val Explosive Ordance Disposal School, Indian Head, Maryland; A ssis tanct to R esident Enqine er/Project 

Engineer, US A rmy Engine er District, Alaska; 

Staff Officer, Combat Developments command; 

Chief, Operations Bran ch, Lines of Communication 

Division, Construc tion Direct orat e, HQ MA CV, 

Vietnam; and Commander, 43d Engr Bn (Const), 

Ft . Benning, Georgia. 

33 
INTERSERVICE IRAININ6 FOR EQUIPMENT OPERATORS
 

CPT Robert A. Forma 

On 6 J anuary 1975, a new In terservice Training Program was begun at Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri, for Construction Equipmen t Operator s 

of the Army, Marine Corps and Air Force. 

In dev eloping this trainin g program, particularly for the Army, a major change was mad e in 

th e concept a nd organization of training. Course 

length, form and to some extent skills taught in 

each MOS were amended. In most cases, the 

courses have been shortened and provision has 

been made for more conce ntrat ed hands-on training. Two important considera tions pervaded th e 

new training program: 

•	 provide the field an equipme nt operator 

who can operate mor e than one piece of 

equipment ; and 

•	 provide only that training whi ch will be 

beneficial during the first enlistmen t term. 

The above considerations se rv e to reduce the 

overall len gth of training, particularly when 

coupled wit h t he current shift in emphasis toward 

performan ce training and criter ion test s. For 

example, the old seven week Cr ane Operator's 

Course (62F 20), has been replaced by three 

modules in th e In t erservice Training Course. Th e 

modules consist of: 

•	 a one week commo n core of fundamental 

subjects and vehicle operations in whi ch a 

trainee learns to operate a 5-ton truck; 

•	 a two week module in which the trainee 

learns t o operate t he crawler as a prime 

mover; and 

•	 a two week module in which t he trainee 

learns to operate a crane . 

Alth ough the overall training period wa s shortened, it it significant to not e that th ere is no 

reduced standard - the trainee must still pass the 

required perfor mance tests to graduate. Some 

believe t hat substitution of a shor t er , mult i-sk ill 

orien t ed course will produ ce a lesser skilled soldier 

tha n the old seven week sin gle skill course. Bu 

considering the amount of hands-on training f 

army equipme nt operators is at least double tha 

which wa s provided durin g the seven week 

courses , the revised courses are at least as 

effect ive in pr oviding basi c oper at or skills as were 

the old courses. 

This new training pr ogram provides the field 

an appre ntice, capable of operating several vari eties of equipment with job direction provided by 

a non-commissioned officer or another job supervisor. 

In conclusion, the Int erservice Training Program for Construction Equipment Operators seeks 

to provide a soldi er with those ba sic skills and 

competencies which can be r eadily built on with 

experience and practical work within the context 

of his unit. 

Captain Robert A. Forma is a Project 

Officer with the Individual Training Branch, Training Programs Divis ion; Depu ty Commandant f or 

Combat and Training Developments, US A rm y 

Engineer School, Fort Belvoir, Va. He holds a B.S. 

degr ee from the Unive rsit y of Minn esota and is a 

graduat e of the Engineer Offic er dvan~c

Course. He served with the 656th Engineer 

(TOP O); Facilities Engineer Directorate, Lon . 

Binh Depot, Vietnam; and the Engineer A dvis ory 

Division, MACV. 

34
 
In the past, it was an accepted military maxim 

that the winning General was the one who "got 

there first with the most." Today, opposing 

commanders have available rapid means of communications and control, the capability for remote 

surveillance and rapid transmission of intelligence, 

and almost instantaneous response of the application of firepower and maneuver by weapons which 

can achieve an extremely high first hit/kill probability. 

Today the question being asked more and more 

frequently is: "What are the key factors which 

influence success on the battlefield and how much 

do these factors contribute?" 

As Army Engineers, we have enjoyed the 

confidence of our combat commanders in our 

ability to contribute to the success of combat units. 

Typical Engineer tasks in the Division area include 

erecting tactical bridges, assault breaching of 

fortified positions, executing demolitions, cratering, employment of Atomic Demolitions Munitions 

DM), improvement of defensive positions, clearfields of fire and landing zones, and improveent of routes. 

Now we are being asked "How much does each 

combat and combat support task contribute to the 

Mark G. Pell 

success of the battle?" This "show me" attitude 

should be expected when Army strength is being 

reduced, and civil programs of the government are 

competing with defense programs for a greater 

share of the national budget. 

In order to develop an approach which will 

answer these questions, it is necessary first to 

establish "Measures of Effectiveness" by which 

results are evaluated quantitatively and allows the 

decision maker to make his selection relatively 

easily. For example, if a person were buying a car 

today and his primary criterion were fuel economy, 

a suitable "Measure of Effectiveness" (MOE) 

would be "Miles Per Gallon of Gasoline." This 

measure would make the selection of a new car 

simple. In combat, one of the accepted MOE is 

"Number of RED casualties." Another is the 

"Number of BLUE casualties." Taken together 

these two MOE result in a RED/BLUE casualty 

ratio, which is generally accepted as a measure of 

the results of combat. 

If we, as decision makers. were buying a new 

weapon system and our criterion of choice were 

the destruction of the enemy, "numbers of casualties" produced by the weapon system would be a 

suitable MOE for judging the effectiveness of the 

weapon. It could also be readily relatable to the 

3S 
MOE used for judging the results of the combat 

unit. since the two MOEs are identical. In this 

case, the decision makers would probably select 

those weapon systems which produced the greatest number of casualties. 

If we, as decision makers. were buying a new 

piece of Engineer equipment used by Combat 

Engineers. for example, a new type of tactical 

bridge, the number of casualties is not the most 

suitable MOE for judging the effectiveness of the 

new bridge. Instead, our criteria of choice might 

consist of several considerations. First, the bridge 

must be capable of being completely constructed. 

This is a Go/NoGo type criteria. Obviously, if a 

bridge has a capability of spanning a gap up to 50 

feet and the bridging r equirement is 65 feet. this is 

a "No Go." In this case. the mission cannot be 

accomplished with that type of bridge. The second 

criterion might be erection time for the bridge, 

possibly expressed in "number of feet per minute" 

which can be erected. Using such methods, one 

type of bridge can be compared with other types 

of bridges. This MOE will serve the purpose of 

quantifying the effectiveness of the new bridge 

when compared with other types of Engineer 

equipment already in the inventory. However, we 

have not yet established the effect of this increased capability for bridging on the outcome of 

th e battle, which as indicated earlier, is measured 

by numb ers of casualties. 

Given the above, we can now state th e proble 

as follows: "How can we relate improved En 

neer performance measured by "time to complete 

a task" to the outcome of the "Fir st Battle" 

measured by "RED/BLUE casualty ratio'?" Quantifying this type of indirect relationship between 

combat support functions and the outcome of 

battles has been the subject of numerous study 

efforts and atte mpts to simulate these rel ationships. For example, for large units, i.e.• Theater 

Forces. some success has been achieved, but the 

factors employed make it difficult to focus on 

specific support systems or equipment. For ex ­

ample. The Engineer Studies Group has used the 

Concep tual Army in the Field (CONAF) Evaluation Model (CEM) to reflect changes in the 

Engineer forces provided to a commander . Reduction of En gineer forces in this model increases the 

time required to accomplish combat engineer 

functions, which in turn, affects th e movement 

rates of th e force. which in turn, affects the 

location of th e Forward Edge of the Battle Ar ea 

(FEBA). This st udy effort is extremely useful for 

Army planners in developing balanced forces to 

support contingency plans. It would be helpful in 

answering th e que stion recently posed by t, Commander of th e US Army Logistics Center 

Fort Lee, Virginia as to the quantitative measur 

of the value of logistics support to a force or a 

combat unit. However. it is inadequate in helping 

the decision maker decid e which piece of equipment to buy in ord er to produce the maximum 

increase in combat effectiveness. 

Several other organi zations have completed, or 

are in the process of performing, related studies 

which may assist in solving the problem stated 

above. 

The Mobility Equipment Research and De ­

velopment Center (MERDC) developed a model to 

attempt to relate th e creation of delay due to 

obstacles to th e outcome of a battle. The MERDC 

effort is entitled the "MERDC Barrier Effectiveness Model. " Th is model does not completely 

solve the problem stated earlier. 

Another related effort. produced for MERDC, 

demonstrated a method for evaluating the "Military Worth of Countersurveillance Systems." This 

effort draws heavily on t he methodology used in 

the "MERDC Barrier Effectiveness Model. " 

The Commander, US Army Tr aining and Doctrine Command. r ecently task ed th e US Arrnv 

Engineer School (USAES) (and other servi 

schools) to make an analysis which would result 

producing quantitative measures of how increased 

effective ness will yield returns on the battlefield. 

36 
\ 

\ 

6 

~~

-:=- -. 

=-.!.. '> ::::os:? 

he Engineer School is 

"-v~~ curr ently analyzing this 

I, portant problem. Since increased effe ctiveness 

training is presumed to produce improved Engineer performance measured by time to complete a 

ta sk, a way must be found to relate this to the 

outcome of th e "First Battle" measured by RED/ 

BLUE cas ualt y ratio. 

Th e En gineer School is attempting to develop a 

methodology which would pr oduce evidence of this 

indirect relationship between Engineer task MOE 

and battlefield MOE and to quantify the results. 

The USAES is constantly learning from each of 

the efforts described abov e. 

Th e st eps in the Engineer School's methodology are envisioned as follows: 

• For a specific Engineer t ask, establish 

parameters r epresenting high, normal, and low 

performance times to accomplish the task. 

• Condu ct sensitivity analysis: 

- Playing each performance time in a 

suitable battle scenario using the high, normal, 

and low performance tim es as variables. 

- Measure results by using casualty MOE 

for the combat unit being supported. 

- Plot curves representing the MOE casualties wh en the high, normal and low performance 

iables were played. 

* If th e curve is flat, th e analysis indicates 

at changes in the effectiveness with which Engineers perform their combat support task hav e no 

identifiable effect on the outcome of the battle. 

* If the curve is steep, the analysis indicates that changes in the effectiveness with which 

Engineers perform their combat support have influenc ed the outcome of the battle measured by 

increased casualti es. The changes in the casualty 

MOE serves to quantify how much battlefield 

effe ctiveness is improved by changes in the 

effe ctiv eness of th e Engineer support. 

Repeat this procedure for other Engineer 

tasks. 

Identify for further study or anal ysis each 

Engineer task which produces a steep curve since 

improvement in t he performance of these tasks 

may pr odu ce a high payoff in terms of combat 

effective ness. 

In or der to employ this methodology, a model is 

needed which will be capable of: 

• Playing ground combat of a maneuver 

unit of battalion or brigade size and measuring 

result s by number of casualties. 

• Playing th e performance of Engineer 

combat support tasks such as those des cribed as 

typical in a Division area and being capable of 

varying the performance times for the tasks. 

• Relating th e performance times of the 

variables in the model to ultimate results of the 

battle as measured by the output in terms of 

casualties. 

The USAES knows of no model which can 

currently perform in t his manner without modification. 

The US Army En gineer School project described above has been programmed for the next 

18 months. It is now investigating possible models 

to be used for th e analysis. Initial plans envision 

t he use of the Mobile Assault Bridge as one of the 

En gineer tasks to be analyzed. This is also being 

used as one of the Engineer School pieces of 

equipme nt to be analyzed in the Training Effectiveness Proj ect directed by HQ, TRADOC. In 

this way. th e two related efforts can go on 

concurrently, which will allow the data and results 

to be used mutually. 

If this approach proves succ essful, it will have 

wide application in quantifying many aspects of 

Army operations which indirectly effect the outcome of the "Th e First Battle." 

Mr. Mark G. Pell is an Operations Res earch 

Analyst in the Concepts and Studies Division: 

Deputy Commandant for Combat and Training 

Developments, US. Army Engineer School. Mr. 

Pell is a retired Lieutenant Colone l; Infantry, and 

has spent 13 years in Army Combat Developments 

activities. Mr. Pell holds a BS Degree from the 

University of Pennsylvania, a MA from George 

Washington Unive rsi ty, and is a graduate of th e 

Comman d and General Staff College. 

37 
Major William 

Surveying, the act of making measurements 

for determining the positions of points on, above, 

or beneath the earth's surface, is a venerable 

trade whose practitioners span all geographic, 

ethnic and professional boundaries. The U.S. 

Army has been in the business of surveying 

almost from its birth. Today, all the services have 

need of survey information to accomplish their 

respective missions. This survey information 

spans the entire spectrum from road plan and 

profile construction survey to the computation of 

distances and azimuths between points separated 

by half th e distance around the earth in support of 

strategic weapons systems. 

The Defense Mapping School (DMS), located at 

Fort Belvoir, Va., has the mission of training the 

Military Service personnel who perform these 

missions for all of DoD . Techniques and equipment taught are those standard to service practice, but differ very little from standard civilian 

land surveying. The faculty of the school is a mix 

of military and civilian instructors who, by the 

nature of their experience, are very well acquainted with developments in surveying instruments in the civilian sector. In an attempt to 

modernize military survey equipment, these instructors are actively engaged in a program of 

equipment testing and evaluation, in cooperation 

with the U.S. Army Mobility Equipment Research 

and Development Center (MERDC) and the 

United States Army Engineer School (USAES) via 

the concept evaluation program of TRADOC. 

Survey equipment, which has been marketed 

and proven in private surveying practice, is 

examined for service standardization. The equipment is adopted not because it is new, but it must 

help the military surveyor do his job faster, more 

accurately (in keeping with the ultimate use of his 

measurements) and must be rugged enough to 

function in a hostile military environment. The 

new equipment must also take advantage of the 

educational strengths of our present day soldier. 

In the main, surveying equipment measures 

H. Sprinsky 

one of the following quantities: 

• directions or angles (these terms are not 

synonymous) 

• distance between two points 

• azimuths 

A distinction will be made here between plane 

and g-eodetic surveying equipment. The assumption in plane surveying is that the level of the 

undisturbed oceans (mean sea level), carried under 

the land mass we occupy, can be approximated by 

a plane. All positions would then be located 

above, on or below this plane. This is correct only 

for small areas and so plane surveying techniqu 

are used most commonly in construction of roa 

airfields and buildings, registration of sm 

parcels of land, and city (cadastral) surveys. 

Geodetic Surveying recognizes that, over large 

areas, the level of the undisturbed oceans, extended under the land masses of the earth, is 

curved (that is, the earth itself is rounded), 

Geodetic Surveys are usually much more precise 

(and costly) than plane surveys and are used to 

establish national networks of control and for 

support of strategic weapons systems. 

In the field of plane surveys, due to tremendous improvements in electronics and optics over 

the last ten years, many new and improved 

distance measuring machines have been marketed. 

Those which MERDC evaluated were short range 

devices using the wavelength of a frequency of 

infra-red light to determine distance. The DMS 

tested the instruments by having instructors and 

students perform many measurements with each 

model considered, to assure that manufacturer's 

claims were accurate, that soldiers in the field 

could use them for military surveys and, in normal 

military use, that they were reliable. Although 

they are to replace the standard 50 ft and 100 ft 

tapes, which cost a fraction of the infra-n 

devices, the speed with which measurements 

be made on lines up to 1.6 Km will significant 

improve the capability of survey sections which 

38 

c 
are part of units engaged in horizontal and vertical 

construction. Th e accuracy of the distance obtained are probably up t o a magnitude better than 

ose resulting from taping procedures, particularon longer lines. 

Another de vice evaluated by DIVIS is th e 

"self-leveling" lev el whi ch could r eplace th e dumpy 

and military levels, if adopted. These self levelers 

use a suspended prism to establish the horizon. 

Rather th an th e complicated 4 foot scr ew leveling 

procedure common to th e olde r instruments, a 

singl e "bulls-eye" bubble only needs to be aligned, 

the prism and su spension system take care of the 

rest. If you have ever done any spir it leveling or 

SELF LEVELING LEVE L S, WHICH WILL BE USED IN 

CON STRUCTION A N D P RECISE LEVELING. RIGHT IS 

THE WI LD N A C 3 A ND LEFT IS THE ZEISS NI -2. 

E NEW SER V I CE STA N DA R D PRECISE THEODOLITE, 

E DKM 3 ( L E F T) A N D THE T3 ( R I G H T l. NOTE TH A T 

E T3 IS A STA N DA R D REFRACTIN G TELES COPE WHILE 

THE DKM 3 IS A COM BIN ATION R E F L E CT I NG· R E F RACTIN G TELE SCOPE DEV I C E . 

watched ev en an ex perience d spirit leveling cr ew, 

you can appreciate the time saving s this r epresents. 

For the geod etic surveyor, a basic cha nge in 

his precise th eod olite, th e Wild T-3, accurate to a 

fraction of a se cond of arc. It has been standard in 

precise horizontal positioning projects for over 

twenty years, but will be replaced by th e Kern 

DKM 3. This new instrume nt is capable of the 

same accuracy bu t is mor e compact in its transportation configuration. Geodetic surveyors will also 

be abl e to use th e new infra-red distance measurers 

pr evi ously describ ed and DMS will be evalu ating 

laser distanc e measurers for long r ange, pr ecise 

TH E ZEI SS NI -2 W IT H ASTROLABE ATTA CHMENT . THIS 

WILL BE EVALUATED AS A PRECI SE ASTRONOMIC 

PO SITI ON DETERMI NING DEVI CE BY OMS. 

THE CU B I C DM 20, A M ICROWAVE DI ST ANCE M EASU R ING 

DEVI CE (LEFT ). A BA TTE RY DRI VEN PSYCHROMETE R 

(W E T & DR Y A I R TEMPERATU RE MEA SURER ) A N D 

PO CK E T BAROMETER ( R IG HT ) A R E PART OF T H E COM ­

PLETE SYS T EM. 

39 
point to point distances. Concurrently, and still on 

th e subject of distance measuring devices, DMS 

will be te sting and evaluating Microwave devices 

as r eplacem ents for the MRA 301, MC 8 and AP 99 

now standard in survey units. 

As mentioned pr eviou sly, new is not necessari ­

ly better. One of the oldest astronomic positioning 

devices is t he 60° Astrolabe. In its cr udest form, 

th is device pr edates the sextant. Mor e refined 

astrolab e devices ar e used in most observator ies 

engaged in the study of polar motion and time . A 

new astrolabe attachment for th e same se lfleveling levels mentioned previously will be evaluated at DMS. Man y authorities in the field of 

positional or geodetic astronomy feel that th is 

ast rolabe -self-leveling level combination has the 

pot ential of being as accur ate as inst ruments 

presently used by th e services which are far mor e 

costly and cumbers ome. 

Any surveyor involved with astronomic positi onal measu r emen ts is intimat ely ass ociate d with 

the accurate measurement of t ime . Originally this 

was done with special pendulum clocks . More 

recently, we have used accurate electro-mecha nical chronometer s which are t hen calibrate d with 

th e National Bureau of Standards time standar d, 

WWV or WWVH, which are radio stations broadcasting time signals. We now hav e as serv ice 

standard a time set incorporating the latest in 

"quartz clock" oscillators and WWV/ WWVH receivers which automatically record the exact time 

of an event observed with our special, high precision astronomic theodolites. 

All the new equipme nt discussed would repr es ent a real headache if data redu ction from 

observations, now made quicker and easier, were 

to be don e in the traditional way, that is by hand 

with logarithms. Our new soldiers have already 

be en exp osed , in public schools, to small, portable 

electronic hand calculators . A new development in 

the entire survey field is the adoption of scientific 

hand calculators into serv ice standar d survey sets. 

These devices are being used and taught in DMS 

courses and the rapidity with which field dat a is 

being reduced ma y surpr ise and please all users of 

survey inform ation, from the strategic missile ma 

to the construction foreman on a road job. DMS 

now r edesignin g courses of instr uction, pro cedures, and meth ods of computat ion to take advantage of this strength in th e modern soldi er and 

improvement in the electronic calculator . 

The future for the surveyor may be even mor e 

promising th an what has already been exp erienced. Commercial applications of the Navy 

Navigation Satellite System hold great promise 

for fast, accurate point positioning . The testing 

and standardization of iner tial positioning system s, 

mounted on all whee l drive vehicles, continues to 

be an area in which all th e ser vices are interest ed. 

DMS tec hnical experts in this field are part of 

the eva luation so that when a finish ed product is 

finally adopted, it will ma tch serv icema n str engths 

and capabilitie s. DMS t echnical expe rts may also 

be investigating commercially available digital 

re adout transits and theodolit es , which would 

r emove much of th e possibil ity of obs erver err or 

or blunders in readings . 

The final result of t his effor t by DMS and 

MERDC will be a sur vey capability for th e 

ser vices whi ch is as modern and efficient as its 

commercial counterpart. The final result for th e 

military surveyor will be t hat he is t aught 0 

modern, pr ecise equipment and has a trade whi c 

he can per sue either in the se rvice or in civilian 

pract ice. 

Major William H. Sprinsky has received his MS 

and PhD in Geodes y from Ohio S tate Universiiu. 

He served as a Combat engineer and Engineer 

Maintenance officer in Germany from 1960-1 964. 

MAJ Sprinsky served as an Engineer Equipment 

and Engineer Maintenance Officer in Vietnam 

INF RA -RED DISTAN CE MEA SURIN G DEVICES IN A MERDC CO NT RO L L E D ENVIRONMENT CH AMBER . FROM L E F T 

RI GHT. THE CUBIC DM 60, HEWLETT-P A C KARD 3800, HEWLETT-P AC K ARD 3805. WILD Dl10 M O U N T E D ON A T HEODOLI T E 

A N D K&E MICRO-R ANGER M OUNTED ON A LEVEL . 

40 
IRMY TRIININ6 60ES MODERN
 

Stanley Georges 

For those cons tr uctively involved in education, 

cur re nt developm ents in the field of military 

training are proving to be r evolutionary. In recent 

year s, no educa t ional concept has ra ised mor e 

discussion in the Army tha n the Train ing Extension cour se s (TEC). 

Basically, TE C was develop ed by the Army , as 

a r esp ons e to help soldie rs in 3 vital areas. Th e.se 

are: On-th e-job trainin g, MOS te sts, and Integrated and concurrent training. 

Th e TEC program cent er s on prepackaged 

lessons t hat ar e multi-media, soldier tested, and 

with both pre- and post-test features th at can be 

used by indi viduals and units. TEC's features 

,r mit se lf-pacing and enable t he user to perform 

Ials directl y r elated to an MOS and to perform 

on-the-job skills. 

TEC incorporates two innovations that are of 

special interest: 

•	 Audiovisual le ssons: Th ese are packa ged 

with an audio cassette and a closed-loop color 

filmstrip that is sy nchronized t hrough a 

"Cue -See ," TV-like machine. Th e st udent 

learns fr om th e color film and a "down-toear th" narration. 

•	 Audio case tte player: Th e cassettes, which 

provide audio only, ar e us ed as an extension 

t o t he audiovisual lessons t o guid e the studen t in "hands-on" practice for the eq uipmen t or iented skills that he learns from the 

"Cue-See." 

Results fro m act ua l soldier -test situations indicate that th e audiovisual lessons are st imulat ing, 

provocative and most effective as a teaching mod e. 

In this context, it is significant to not e th at th e 

Combat Arms have suc cessfully adopte d this 

trainin g program ove r the las t year. At presen t, 

th e US Army Engineer School is preparing 14 

generator oper ator TEC lessons t hat are schedns

ed to be in the field by Decem ber 1975 and is 

eloping 15 diesel engine tr oubleshooti ng lesth at will be compl eted during the next 

calendar year. Futhermore, reports from the field 

indicate that by the beginning of next year most 

military service schools will be involved in prepa ring TEC lessons. 

Alth ough TEC is not considered t he "cathedral" 

of training mod es, it has implications far beyond 

mere pedagogy. For instance: 

•	 TEC tr aining materials are designed to em ­

phasize peformance r ather t han mere theory, 

which was emphasized in previous methods 

of instruction. In other words, the emphasis 

is on what the soldier will do as a r esult of 

t he training. Empirical methods are employed and validate the instruction . 

•	 Unit commanders and trainer s can ea sily use 

TEC diagnostic testing and evaluating to 

determine strengths and weaknesses in the 

job proficiency of individual soldiers. 

•	 Training within unit s is enhanced because 

TEC provides trainers with high quality 

instruction in a ready-to-use form that re o 

duces th e need for unit trainers to develop 

lesson plans, visit training aids center, audiovisual suppor t centers, post ph oto labs, or 

ot her ag encies to obtain materials t o support 

training. As a result, trainers can act more 

as evaluators - to test the student as he 

finish es his training, or as de signers for new 

TEC lessons. 

Finally, th e innovative features of the TEC 

program overcome the traditional shortcomings of 

most courses of instruction - a one-way flow of 

instruction from Army service schools to individual soldiers at the unit level. By using high quality 

multi-media methods , the program focuses on t he 

benefits of applying training technology to Army 

training. In doing so, it emphasizes the necessity 

of soldi er performance, not instructor performmance. 

Details for the distrubution of TEC lessons to 

Engineer units ha ve not yet be en finalized . Howeve r, according to tentative schedules , Engineer 

Combat Support and Combat Service Support 

units win begin to r eceive both the software 

(lessons) and hardwar e (Cue-See sets) in fiscal 

year 1976. The software will consist of common 

Army and En gin eer subjects. Th e hardwar e will 

cons ist of eight sets of audiovisual equipme nt 

(Cue-Se e) and four sets of audio (casset te player) 

eq uipme nt per battalion. 

m

tri

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Mr

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. 

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opocir, 

Va. Mr. Georg es has been with the above division 

since 1966 and is currently a TEC Project 

Manaqer. He is a retired A rmy Engineer Officer 

and has touqh: at the Enginer S chool both as an 

officer and as a civilian. He holds a Masters 

degree from th e University of Maryland. 

41 
CPT Stephen P. Meyer 

The United States Army Enginee r School 

(USAES) has been in the forefront of TRADOC's 

development of dynamic initiatives in the field of 

trai ning literature. 

In November 1974, TRADOC announced the 

"1000 Good Books" program. This reorganizati on 

and vitalization of training literature has t he 

objective of disseminating the Army's vital information to troops. while t aking "nice-to-know" or 

specialized matters out of Army-wide use and 

placing such information in special texts for their 

selected audiences. Basically, the program is 

aimed at reducing the quantity of manuals while 

improving t heir quality, i.e., TRADOC will r educe 

t he pr es ent 1700 manuals to th e goal of 1000. The 

USAES's contribution to this reduction will be 

from 188 to 123 titles. 

A key element of the program is the "How to 

Fight" manuals. Lessons learned from recen t 

conflicts about the effectiveness of modern armamen ts and th e increased difficulty of survival on 

the modern battlefield indicate t hat the tactics 

des cribed in current manuals ar e no longer 

adequate or appli cabl e. Th e "How to Fight" 

manuals will use th e anal yses of these "learned 

lessons" and capabilities of present da y weapons t 

outline what must be done to win th e first battle 

t he next war. The USAES's contribution to thes 

manuals will cover t he employment of the di42 
visional and nondivisional engineer battalions. 

These are discussed in: 

• FM 5-135 Engineer Battalion, Armored, Infantry and Infantry (Mechanized) Divisions. 

•	 FM 5-136 Engineer Battalion, Airborne and 

Airmobile Divisions. 

•	 FM 5-142 Nondivisional Engineer Combat 

Units. 

The revised manuals will describe the four 

engineer roles in support of offensive, defensive, 

and retrograde operations: 

• Impede enemy mobility. 

• Enhance friendly mobility. 

• Provide protective and defensive shelter. 

• Fight as Infantry. 

The USAES has also assumed responsibility 

for literature on "Barrier and Denial Operations" 

(FM 31-10) and will produce a "How to Fight" 

manual on this topic. 

An important element of the "1000 Good Books" 

program are the TRADOC Bulletins. These are 

bri ef volumes - about 30 pages - which provide 

timely te chnical information to the field and 

explain, 'why we fight the way we do'. The 

USAES is currently writing two bulletins for 

TRADOC - Camouflage and Barriers. 

Technical manuals which presently contain 

narrow slices of the "infor mation pie," such as TM 

>; 350 - Hydraulic Power Control Systems, or TM 

5-545 - Geology, will disappear under the "1000 

Good Books" program. Their contents will be 

diverted to several locations. The material will be 

available either in the unit (civilian) book set, or a 

school text, or a sold iers manual - (a new one stop 

guide for each particular MaS). 

The USAES has already produced its version 

of the soldiers manual as a prototype Individual 

Training and Evaluation Program (ITEP). This 

serves as an information "road map" with respect 

to a soldier's needs for proficiency in his MOS. 

Individ ual tasks, conditions, and standards are 

prescribed in accordance with the Systems Engineering approach to training. 

Following the same principle at the unit level, 

the Army Training and Evaluation Program 

(ARTEP) is being produced to replace the old 

Army Training Program and Army Training Test 

(ATP /ATT). The ARTEP lists those tasks the 

unit must be able to perform in order to successfully accomplish its mission. The ARTEP provides 

guidance to units on how they should: 

• conduct their training, 

•	 administer their annual tests, and 

•	 evaluate (training REDCON) their level of 

readiness. 

The above three areas are based on unit tasks, 

conditions and standards. 

The Training Circular (TC) has also been revitalized and now serves as a means to get 

"perishable" information to the field in a hurry. 

The USAES recently produced TC 5-200 (Camout1age Pattern Painting) - this explains to Army 

units the techniques of applying the new and 

improved camouflage paint th ey are receiving. 

All the publications cited above have been 

changed not only in purpose but also in format. 

Ampl e use of illustrations, lively layout, and 

imaginative typesetting make these books much 

mor e readable than their predecessors. 

Th e oft-cited complaint that the field doesn't 

"believe anything unless it's in a tan-covered, 

standard printed FM or TM" is a truism. But, the 

complaint continues, "even if the information is 

there, it won't be read because it's too dry and 

dull." With the publication of the new books, such 

compl aints will be laid to r est. 

Captain Stephen P. Meyer, is currently Project 

Officer, Engineer S chool, Deputy Commandant for 

Combat and Training Developments. He holds a 

BS deqre e from Drexel University and a MS 

degree from Clemson University, both in chemical 

engineering. He is also a graduate of the Engineer 

Officer Advanced Course . . He has served as company commander in both Germany and Vietnam, 

and was an ROTC instructor at Clemson Unive rsi ty. 

43 
RETENTION OF SELECTED CSM PAST 30 YEARS 

For the third consecutive year, Department of the Army intends to retain selected Command 

Sergeants Major beyond 30 years active service. 

Eligibility for consideration will be limited to CSMs who have completed 30 or more years' active 

service and have an ETS during FY 76. Applicants must have a 1974 PMOS Evaluation Score of 110 

or higher and be able to complete 35 years service prior to reaching age 55. 

TIME-IN-GRADE CHANGE FOR RETIREMENT 

The requirement for Army members in grades E-7, E-8, E-9, CW3, CW4, 0 -5 and 0-6 to serve a 

minimum of two years in grade before being eligible for nondisability retirement has been suspended 

until 30 June 76, DA has announced. 

Individuals in those grades who have completed all their service obligations and who are 

otherwise eligible may apply for voluntary retirement between now and 30 June 76 providing they 

have completed six months active duty in that grade - effective from the date of their promotion. 

Officers of the reserve components and the Army of the United States without component who 

are serving, or have been offered retention beyond 20 years' service as an exception of policy, will 

not be involuntarily released from active duty earlier as a result of this suspension. 

Interested individuals should refer to the procedures contained in Chapter 4, AR 635-100 and 

Chapter 12, AR 635-200 for submitting applications for retirement. 

ADVANCED NCOES SELECTION BOARD RESULTS 

The Advanced Noncommissioned Officer Education System Selection Board which conve 

19 Feb. 75 and adjourned 12 Mar., has selected 4,936 of 15,713 eligible senior NCOs to attend Advanced 

NCOES during FY 76. MI LPERCE N announced the names of the selected individuals in 

May 75. 

Individuals considered had to have at least a high school diploma or equivalent. The board also 

reviewed the eligible NCOs' overall performance ability and potential for future service in making 

final selections. 

NCOs selected from oversea assignments may return to CONUS to attend the school TDYand 

return, provided they would have at least six months remaining of their oversea tour upon completion 

of the school. Those NCOs must also extend their oversea tours for at least one year in order to 

participate. 

NEW OER UPDATE 

If approved without revision during current staffing, the new Officer Evaluation Report (DA 

Form 76) that becomes effective 1 January 1976 will be a significant departure from past reports. 

The proposed major changes include the following: 

• Rated Officer Input: Rated officers would be required to describe in detail their most 

significant duties and responsibilities executed during rating periods. They would also have to list 

the performance objectives that most accounted for their time. The proposed requirement for rated 

officer input is purposefully designed to promote a continual discussion - one which would begin at 

the outset and be carried on throughout an entire rating period - between the officer and rater to 

determine the job description, set performance objectives, and mutually plan in advance toward 

mission accomplishment. 

• Separate Rater/Indorser Input: Rating and indorsing officers would provide separ
 

evaluation information on the new form. Specifically, the rater would assess performance (how
 

the rated officer actually accomplished the tasks of the job), while the indorser would evaluate
 

officer's potential (how well the officer can be expected to execute the tasks of a job demanding 

higher rank and added responsibility). 

44 
• Expanded Role for Reviewer: In addition to the reviewer's current responsibilities in the 

rating chain, he, like the indorser, would be required to evaluate the rated officer's potential. 

• Descriptive Emphasis: The new form describes rather than quantifies; thus the rater, 

indorser and reviewer would not enter numerical scores in their evaluations of the officer's overall 

performance or potential. 

• Tailored to OPMS: The form has been designed to meet the future requirements of the Officer 

Personnel Management System (OPMS) . Since each OPMS specialty has unique management 

requirements, the report would be flexible enough to allow for - or in some cases, require - the 

inclusion of specific performance and potential data needed by specialty managers. The rated 

officer would also be able to use a portion of the form to enter a preference for specialty designation 

or a future assignment in a primary or alternate OPMS specialty. 

• Close Out Reports: Prior to the 1 January 1976 implementation date of the new form, a 

closeout report on current DA Form 67-7 would be required for all officers. If approved, this action 

would not only preclude much of the apprehension normally experienced by those officers who would 

otherwise be due ratings during early 1976; it would also synchronize the initial rater/rated officer 

discussions of performance objectives which are being proposed in conjunction with use of the new 

form. 

Certain aspects of the present evaluation system would remain unchanged once the DA Form 76 

becomes effective. For example, rated officers would continue to receive personal copies of 

completed reports; a single form would still be used to evaluate all active duty and reserve 

ponent warrant and commissioned officers through the grade of Major General; and the 

fessional attributes would continue to be evaluated. In this latter instance, however, rated • officers could expect to find that the new form would feature expanded format entries addressing 

professional competence, individual self-discipline, leadership, professional ethics, and professional 

orientation. 

Despite these proposed innovations, the forthcoming OE R is not designed as a panacea for all 

past problems associated with the history of the officer evaluation process. Instead, the DA Form 76 

now being staffed is an evolutionary form which, if approved, will be the first step toward continuing 

improvements in evaluating officers. 

MOVEM SUPPORTS MOVEM ENT 

Moving soldiers across the country and around the world effectively is a vital link in the Army's 

chain. To help facilitate accurate controls and eliminate empty seats flying overseas at the Army's 

expense, MI LPE RCEN has developed the Movement Oversea Verification of Enlisted Mem bers 

(MOVEM) report. 

Under the MOVEM concept, 30 to 45 days prior to a given arrival month overseas, port calls are 

matched against assignment information on the Enlisted Master File. DA approved deletions and 

deferments are then scratched from the report and soldiers specified by DA to move during that 

arrival month, but who do not have port calls, are identified. From this a more realistic picture of 

exactly who will make their port call and who won't becomes clear. The MOVEM report, indicating 

soldiers unlikely to meet their port calls, is then prepared and forwarded to major com manders 

requiring either movement or an explanation of any unauthorized deviations. In this way, new 

arrangements can be made to transport those soldiers to their new assignments, if necessary, or 

arrangements can be made for other soldiers, on stand-by status, to fill their seats. . 

Since its implementation early this year, MOVEM reports have been sent monthly to the affected 

mands. Comments on the report and suggested improvements were solicited and have been 

ve and useful. As the MOVEM program progresses, it will continue to provide effective 

er if ication of port calls for soldiers moving overseas and save the Army money by filling the seat of 

a "no show" with a soldier who needs the seat but normally wouldn't have the priority to have it. 

4S 
Send your subscriptions to: 

The Engineer Magazine 

Office of the Secretary, 

Fort Belvoir, Va 22060 

Here is your personal copy of 

Engineer magazine. I knew you were 

I brought it as fast as I 

don't know how Engineer 

personnel cope with Iife without it? 

At $4.00 a year, mailing costs included, 

there is no excuse for anyone to be without 

thei r persona I copy. 

Hey! Pal , 

The 

expecting it, so 

could . I really 

Corps 

Checks should be made payable to: 

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