CLEAR THE WAY
 

By Major General Robert B. Flowers 

Commandant, U.S. Army Engineer School 

As I look back at the past 39 mo nths, 1 realize that if. I 

had had a choice of when to be Commanda nt of the 

Engineer School, this was the best time. But now it's 

time to say good-bye. 

I've spent a good portion of my time as Co mma ndant visiting 

engineer units all over the world. I' ve see n first hand office rs, 

NCOs, and soldiers at work and their pride in accomplishing 

the diverse-missions of the Engineer Regim ent. I am immensely 

proud of the enthus iasm and profession alism displ ayed by all 

of them. Sappers, both acti ve du ty and Reserve Component, 

ar e de cisively engaged in eve ry maj or depl oyment tha t the 

Army is involved in . The Engineer Regiment continu es to lean 

more heavily on the Reserve Component with the incr eased 

number of dep loyments we are required to support. 

Th e engine er future is bright, as we hav e maj or cha nges 

under way in materiel development s. We 've led the Army's effort 

in the antipersonne l land mine alternatives program, which 

includes developm ent of the new RADAM artillery-delivered 

antitank mi ne system and an a lte rna tiv e to our non-selfde structing antipersonne l mines. 

We led the Maneuver Support Ce nter efforts for kee ping 

soldiers out o f hazardou s situat ions by giving them robo tic 

equipment. The soldiers in Bosnia and Koso vo have been 

pro vided robotic co untermiue equipment and traini ng, like the 

M60 Panther an d the Min iflai l. October sho uld see the M I 

Abrams Panth er bein g issued to the contingency forces in the 

Balkan s. The so ldiers fight ing in urb an/tunnel environments 

have been introduced to small robots used in the JCF AWE at 

Fort Polk , Louisiana. 

In October, we will field the Basic Hornet to the 82d Airborne 

Division. The Hornet changes the way we attack enemy schemes 

of maneuver and influences the commanders who work with mines 

at a highe r echelon than we' ve ever addre ssed. In December, we 

will begin fieldin g the Wolverine to the 4th Mechanized Infantry 

Divi sion. and in March , they will take those Wolverin es to the 

di vision's Capstone Ex erci se . We have 26 Wolv erines in the 

pip~lin with a dozen more going on order next year. 

We fie lde d an interim vehicle-mounted mine de tector last 

year as part of plan ned co unterm ine capa bility se ts. We 're 

developing ground-penetrating radar for those ten systems to 

detect nonmetallic min es. We'll add them in FY02 as part of the 

Gro und Stando ff Minefi eld -Detecti on System (GSTAM IDS) 

Program. In the meantime, we begin fin al development of the 

handheld STA MIDS (HSTA M IDS) next year. If te st results 

co nti nue to be e ncouragi ng , we may bu y some early for 

con ti ngenc ies. 

Next year, we sta rt two more major programs, the Raptor 

Intelligent Combat Outpo st an d th e Mon goose Ex plosive 

Stand off Mine Clearer. Both are critical enablers for the Interim 

Brigade Combat Team. Th e Raptor will be pivotal to our ability 

to dom inate terrain over "the distances we have to cov er with 

th e inte rim and obj e ct iv e forces. And , we 've made the 

Mongoose C-130 depl oyable and mobile enoug h to be the 

interim force 's minefie ld cle arer. 

The Grizzly continue s to b e th e ce nterpiece of our 

countermine capability and is recognized by TRADOC and DA 

as essential to the success of the hea vy co unterattac k force . 

Th e two prototypes are performing splendidly. Kee p reminding 

your maneuver bosses and brethren that we 've got to automate 

and armor the complex obstacle-breach ing task . It's the only 

way we can accomplish the mission without enormous penalties 

in casualties, tempo, and training time. 

As the Army defines the substance of information dominance, 

the future of our Regiment is indelib ly linked to digital terrain 

data . From the strategic level,the TRADOC Program Integration 

Office-Terrain Data (TPIO-TO) completed a two-year effort to 

define terrain-data requirements for the Army, The TPIO-TO now 

leads a robust Army team that is workin g with the National Imagery 

and Mapping Agency to develop an implementation strategy 

across the DoD . From a tactical and operati onal level, the TerrainVisualization Center and the MANSCEN Directorate of Combat 

Developments lead the proponent effort to pro vide the tools to 

the field to ensure that the engineer is clearly established as the 

terrain-data expert in the digita l force. Over the past three years, 

we have been able to get the terrain expertise and equipment in 

the digital division down to the maneuver-brigade level. We have 

also developed the ability to take this geos patial information and 

rap idly pu t it in the hands of the fro ntline soldiers with the 

prototype development of the high-volume digital printers. We 

are driving a fast train that is revolutionizing the way the Army 

sees the terr ain , Every engineer mu st be a part of this exciting 

chapter in engineering. 

With all that the Engineer Regiment is involved in, we must 

co ntinue to fo cu s and give priority to moderni zati on . I 

encourag e all of you to rema in situationally aw are by stayi ng 

connected to your school and your Regiment. In these resourceco nstrained tim es, it is esse ntial that th e entire Regiment 

continues to spe ak with one voice . I am confident that ou r 

gr eat engineer so ldiers all want to be successful and will 

continue to do the right thin g . A ll we as leaders mu st do is 

work to get them the resources they need ana then point them 

in the right direction. 

I know that our Regiment is in excell ent hands as Major 

General Anders "B. Aadland assumes his role as Comma nda nt. 

It has been an awesome 39 months. I am truly grateful for 

the support of everyone in the Fort Leonard Wood corrununity 

and the entire Eng inee r Regim ent. I am proud and honored to 

be part of the engineer heri tage. Wh ether fighting fires on the 

home front , building roads for the people of Kosrae, or keeping 

the peace in Kosovo , eng inee rs are alway s "on point." 

Essay on s! 
E · 

October !!91n~!! Department of the Arm Volume 30 PB 5-00-4 

UNITED STATES ARMY 

ENGINEER SCHOOL 

COMMANDANT 

Major General Robert B, Flowers 

MANAGING EDITOR 

Lynne Sparks 

FEATURES EDITOR 

Shirley Bridges 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Jennifer Morgan 

By Order 01 the Secretary of the Army : 

ERIC K. SHINSEKI 

General, United States Army 

Chief of Staff 

Official: 

#~iLL-J JOEL B. HUDSON 

Administrative Assistant to the 

Secretary of the Army 0020921 

Front Cover: The skid steer is shown with 

one of its seven attachments, the picket 

pounder. (Photo by PFC Matthew J. Jenkins.) 

Back Cover: Engineers of the 8th New York 

State Militia during the Civil War. 

FEATURES 

2 Engineers, Where Do We Go From Here? 

By Lieutenant Colonel Kevin S, Lindsay 

15 The Army Facilities Components System 

By Edward Scott 

16 Updating the Army Facilities Components System 

By Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Steiger 

17 Theater Construction Management System 

By Sergeant First Class Brian Nering 

20 Engineers Field the HYEX 

By Carolee Nisbet 

21 The Wolverine; An Update 

By Major J. Gary Hallinan 

22 Engineers Train With New, Advanced Equipment 

By Private First Class Matthew J. Jenkins 

26 OPFOR Engineer Platoon Leaders Learn Their Combined ­

Arms Trade 

By Captain Glenn Matlock, Jr. 

29 The Corps of Engineers 

By Dr. Larry Roberts 

32 Screaming Eagles Bridge the Gap 

By Captain James Handura 

34 The Junior Officer District Intern Program 

By Lieutenant Colonel Christopher J. Toomey, First Lieutenant 

Jeff Qualteri, and First Lieutenant Kevin Truesdell 

36 Costa Rican Ports Facilities : An Engineer Survey Mission 

By Captain Tim Scarbrough 

38 Enhanced Off-the-Shelf Technologies Help Engineers
 

Prepare for Future Operations
 

By Major Barrett W. Larwin 

40 The Thompson Bend Riparian-Corridor Project: An
 

Innovat ive Environmental Solution to a Major Navigation
 

and Flood-Control Concern
 

By Terrie J. Hatfield 

DEPARTMENTS 

Inside front cover: Clear the Way 47 PERSCO M Notes 

19 Letters to the Editor 48 CTC Notes 

25 The Engineer Writer's Guide 50 Engineer Update 

42 Past in Review 53 Lead the Way 

ENGINEER (ISSN 0048-19890) rs prepared quartertv by the U.S. Army Engineer 

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DISCLAIMER: Engin eer presents pro tess ronal Inform ation dasrqned to 

keep U.S mili tary and CIVil ian eng ineers Informed of curre nt and eme rging 

developments within their areas of expertise for the purpose of enhancrnq their 

October 2000 

professiona l development. Views exp ressed are those of the aut hor and not 

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Engineer J 
Engineers, here Do W o
 

om HereP 

By	 Lieutenant Colonel Kevin S. Lindsay 

This article is intended to stimulate thought and discussion 

on possible future directions for engineers. Although the 

article does not necessarily express an official Engineer 

School position or proposal. the author proposes some actions 

that might allow us to meet ChiefofStaffofthe Army General 

Eric K. Shinseki's vision. The author also illustrates possible 

future engineer organizations that would be more in line with 

that vision. 

Although engineers remain respected and valuable 

members of the Army team , it seems we are 

continually losing key force structure and modernization battles. The armored combat earthmover (ACE) took 

so long to get fielded that even when it was new, it was already 

a generation behind other members of the mechanized team. 

We may still win the fight over the heavy engineer-brigade 

headquarters, the Wolverine (see article , page 21), and the 

Grizzly, but the fact that their future is uncertain tells us that 

many key people in the Army see higher priorities out there for 

people and dollars . 

While we have been struggling to deal with long-standing 

equipment and organizational problems, Army downsizing has 

added a new set of problems. We've had to make tough 

decisions on which units to eliminate or move to the Reserve 

Component (RC) , and we've suffered from the same "salami 

slicing" (taking a little away from all units to avoid cutting more 

units) as the rest of the Army. So we've reduced many engineer 

squads from len to eight soldiers and steadily reduced support 

personnel. Units often respond to the latter by detailing soldiers 

from line platoons into support positions. Many units , even 

when they are at 100 percent strength, are not as capable as 

they were twenty years ago . 

2 Engineer 

Review Roles and Missions 

so what do we do? How can we not only maintain our 

current capabilities but actually increase our abilities 

to support the Army in an era of changing missions, 

shrinking budgets, and reduced personnel levels? We know 

that we can't simply dig our heels in to hold on to those systems 

and structures we've fought for based on the "Cold War Army." 

While we might win in the short term , in the long term, any 

system or structure that doesn't support post-Cold War realities 

will become a bill payer for those that do. It's just a matter of 

time. What we must do is identify where the Army is going and 

what it needs its engineers to do. We need a total review of our 

roles and missions and a top-to-bottom review of our units and 

our command-and-control (C2) structure. 

R

The Army Vision 

ealizing that we're not likely to get more money and 

more people , we have to ensure that we're focused 

on doing those things that the Army needs most from 

its engineers. General Shinseki's vision for the Army includes 

the following: 

•	 Strategic dominance. Dominance at every point of the 

spectrum-from humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, 

to peacekeeping, to major theaters of war. 

•	 Responsive. Quick deployment, over long distances, with 

sustained momentum. 

•	 Deployable. Combat forces capable of going anywhere in 

the world-a brigade combat team (BeT) in 96 hours after 

liftoff and a division in 120 hours. 

•	 Agile. Forces capable of transitioning quickly from stability 

support, to warfighting. and back. 

October 2000 
•	 Versatile. Units able to fight at any point on the spectrum 

of operations with minimal adj ust ment. 

•	 Lethal. Every ele ment in the warfighting for mation capable 

of generating co mbat power and contributing dec isively to 

the fight. 

•	 Survivable. Maximum protecti on at the indivi dual-sol die r 

level. 

•	 Sus ta inable .Redu ced logistics footprint and replenishment 

demand. 

The Army's move to create "medium" maneuver force s and 

the disc ussions on making heav y forces more depl oya ble and 

lighter forces more lethal are due to the rec ogniti on that we will 

likely have to mo ve to the figh t. Hopefull y, if we can move fast 

enough, we can wi n the war before it starts by stabilizing a 

region or reinforcin g a wea ker ally to the point that an aggressor 

decides not to attack. If war does bre ak out , then we want to 

deploy overwhelmin g combat power quickl y to defeat an enemy 

with minimal loss of friendly force s. Onc e ac tive combat ends, 

we mu st be ab le to tran siti on to peacek eeping and stability 

operation s, Key engine er considerations for these operations 

wiil incl ude the following : 

•	 Co nstruction projects will support civi l a nd militar y 

infrastructur e to help det er aggression and strengthen a 

friendly governme nt. En gineers are unique in their ability 

to pro vide highly visible assistanc e to a friendly nati on 

and show U.S. suppo rt in a non agre ssive manner. Acti ve 

and reserv e construction units have been successfull y 

doing this for ye ars. Airborn e and light corps battalions 

(which are rea lly medium battalions wi th a great de al of 

engineer equipment) give us the capability to deplo y for 

these types of missio ns quickly by air. 

•	 Enginee rs deployed for nation assistan ce may also assist 

in the buildup of U,S . combat power and playa key role in 

subsequent com bat operations. Versatility is a I11Usl. 

Dyn amic obstacles-such as the Volcano , HornetlRaptor, 

and Modular-Pack Mine System (M OPMS )- and future 

scatterable mines will be key if ene my forc es engage light 

and medium forces that arrive early. Dispersion of forces 

will hinder the emplacement of labor- and time-intensi ve 

con ventional obstacles. 

•	 Survivability support to light and med ium forces could be 

ke y becau se they will not ha ve the heavy armor of the 

Abrams tan k and the Bradley fighting vehicle. 

•	 Supp0I1 to aerial ports and seaports of debark ation and 

road network s will be key to the rapid buildup of forces. As 

pot enti al enemies learn to deliver chemical agents, min es, 

and co nventional munitions deeper an.d more accurately, 

our abi lity to use established airfie lds and ports will be 

threatened. We must have the ability for airborn e inserti on 

and landing at small, austere airfi elds. We also must be able 

to bring in logi stics over the shore, 

•	 In -stride breaching (b re ac hin g o bst ac le s with out 

dism ounting and stopping the maneuver force's momentum) 

will be key for forces on the attack. 

October 2000 

•	 Air-assault operations will play a gre ater role as medium 

formations are created that can be rap idly mov ed by the 

joint tactica l rotorcraft (JTR) and its plann ed 20 -ton lift 

capability. These operations will allow engi neers to provide 

rapid mobility support without hav ing to move as part of 

the maneuver formation , This should be especially true for 

brid ging and small earth-moving operations, where we' ve 

actually lost air-assa ult capability since Vietnam. 

•	 Maneuver for ces wi ll still wa nt well-maintained supply 

routes from the aerial ports or seapo rts of debarkation to 

the battalion train s. While future forces will make maximum 

use of the JTR, commande rs will not want to be lim ited to 

aerial resupply. A forc e with such a limitation would be open 

to catastrophe if the JTR was gro unded due to a new enemy 

air-defense system or some unfore seen wea the r co ndition. 

•	 Enemy forces will rely more on their own dyn amic obstacles 

and will gai n improved capability \0 deliver scatterable 

mines and other munition s on our supply lines. Sim ilarl y, 

they will gain in their abilities to destroy point targ ets, such 

as brid ges , along our supply lines. 

•	 Dispersion of forces will lead enemy defender s to rely less 

on labor- and equipment-intensive obs tacles such as tank 

ditches and con ventional mine s once combat is initiated . 

Instead , they will re inforce natural obstacl es and make 

maximum use ofrap idly delivered sca tterable min es. 

•	 We still wi ll encounter hea vy usc of co nventi onal mines 

and obstac le s in peace en forcement and sma ll-s cale 

co ntingenc ies wh ere factions have had months and years 

to place obstac les. 

T

Recommended Changes 

o better meet the se future eng ineer requirements and 

to address the cha lle nges brought on by ag in g 

equipment and the Army 's down sizin g, we should 

consider the following wh en develop ing our moderni zation 

plan : 

I. Minimi ze our organic/normally associ ated foo tprint in 

maneu ver formations (battalion task forces) . 

2. Focus on our unique capa bilities to meet future 

man euver-force requirement s. 

3.	 Simplify engineerC2. 

4, Examine and redefine the role of the combat-en gineer 

squad in support of mounted formation s, 

5. Ensure that we have robust (strong, healthy) engineer 

units at the execut ion level. 

6.	 Integrate Active Component (AC) and RC engineers. 

7. Improve equ ipment by going after high-payoff, low-cost 

deve lopments and modifications. 

Th e following par agraphs elabo rate on eac h of these seven 

areas. The intent is to stimulate thought -not to criticize past 

e fforts or to imp ly that the se are the only ways to move forward. 

As anyone who has ever worked a deci sion -making process or 

Enginee r 3 
other problem-solving technique knows, the best solution is 

usually one that emerge s during the analysis of several 

distinctly different courses of acti on . 

1. Minimize our organic/normally associated footprint in 

maneuver formations (battalion task forces). 

As we look to the future, our first challenge is to define the 

engineer-support requirements for maneuver formations who se 

capabilities are still being developed . Many assumptions are 

being made about the mobility, countermobility, survivability, 

general-engineering, and topographic-support requirements of 

future forces. Most of these assumptions are toward minimizing 

engineer-support requirements through revolutionary weapons 

or logistics techn olo gies . 

The Army's goal is to minimize the need for specialized units 

such as engineer, air-defense, and fire-support teams that must 

move with the maneuver formation.The logic in this is simple and 

not really new : All of these specialized forces must be carefully 

maneuvered to be at the right place at the right time. Not only 

does this complicate the maneuver commander 's job. but these 

forces also must be deployed in large numbers to ensure that 

they are there when needed. As a result, the normally associated 

mechanized engin eer battalions that support each heavy maneuver brigade significantly increase the lift necessary to move the 

brigade. However, they often find themselves underemployed 

while moving with the brigade (for exampl e, after the initial obstacles were breach ed in Desert Storm ). And, they lack the versatility to support reception, staging, onward movement, and integration (RSOI), bases, and combat-support and combat-servicesupport (CS/CSS) operations. As a result, we often find ourselves 

with excess "assault engineers" and are forced to take up more 

critical lift to move echelon-above-division (EAD) engineers to 

support RSOI, bases, and CS/CSS operations. 

In reality. the Army has already adopted this recommendation and currently plans to put only a small company in the 

medium interim brigade combat team (IBCT). While the exa ct 

size of the company may change, it seems unlikely that future 

divisions will have an engineer battalion to support each ground 

maneu ver brigade. This may seem like a bad deci sion to some, 

but it probably is a reasonable one.Ifwe can keep our normally 

associated footprint small, but capable, we can build mor e versatility into the division as a whole by creating a sec ond divisional combat battalion that is not normally associated. Th is 

battalion could have the versatility to support a broad rang e of 

combat, RSOT, base support . and CS/CSS operations. As the 

remaining recommendations will point out , we can follow the 

Army 's lead on this and create more versatile, agil e, and 

deployable engineer organizations with companies instead of 

battalions as the normall y associated engineer force supporting a maneuv er brigade. 

2. Focus on our unique capabilities to meet future maneuverforce requirements. 

Currently, combat eng ineers spend a great deal of tim e 

performing labor-inten si ve tasks th at others could do . 

Conce rtina ob stacles and fenc es are general battlefield tasks 

that all soldiers should be able to do-just like digging a fightin g 

4 Engineer 

position. If we spend great quantities of man-hours (which we 

are ) erecting wire obstacles and fenc es (including fratri cide 

fencing), then we are providing unskilled labor. Others could 

perform this labor, but they don't-because they have more 

important jobs to do . This puts us at a severe disadvantage in 

the prioritization fight. We also should avoid pursuing force 

stru cture for scouting and forward reconnaissance missions 

for maneuver forces. Instead, we should be able to attach experts 

to the scouts for engineer-specifi c reconn aissance. We should 

also co ntinue pushing rapid topographic support and terra in 

an alysis to units. These are unique engineer capabilities. 

Other future requ irements that we are uniquely capable of 

supporting include the following : 

Maintenance and repair of main supply routes (MSRs). 

This mission will be even more important on a widely disper sed 

battl efi eld against future enemies that can attack our MSRs 

with long-range preci sion munition s and scatterabl e mines. 

While the future JTR promi ses redu ced reli ance on ground 

MSRs, few command ers will want to be totally reliant on air 

resupply for very long.Even in Vietnam (a classic light- infantry/ 

air-assault war), MSR maintenance and repair were major 

engineer missions. Unfortunately, there is general co nfus ion 

over whether MSR maintenance (to include bridgin g) is a 

mobility or general-enginee rin g/su st ainment tas k. Fi eld 

Manual (FM) 5-10 1, Mobility. clearly focuses on mobility 

suppo rt to ground man eu ver forces-infantry and armo r. 

Bridging and road maintenance and repair, which could be key 

to a maneuver task force's mobility, are currently considered 

ge nera l-engineering ta sk s and are co vere d in FM 5-104 , 

General Engineering . When senior leaders talk about mobility, 

they are often including mobility of unit supplies along the 

MSR. We have not done a good job of articulating the 

importance to the Army of maintaining supply routes in the 

task-force , brigade, and division areas. Articulating the 

importance of this mission , and fightin g for equipment to 

perform it, will be key to getting the right engineer force to 

support it in the future. We should start by moving MSR 

maintenance and repair and bridging out of the "generalengineering" category and include them in "mobility." 

Support outside ofthe maneuver brigades-brigade support 

areas(BSAs) and aviation, corps artillery, air-defense, and CSS 

units. As part of the Engineer Restructure Initiative, we put a 

battalion for each maneuver brigade in the heavy division . The se 

battalions have little sustainment-engineering capability. They 

lack the versatility to support stability operati ons (which typic ally 

require gen eral engineering) or to support force -buildup 

operations. This means that corps engineers must deplo y early 

to support stability operations and force buildup. This lack of 

versatility in heavy-division engineers also mean s that there are 

no divisional engineers to support anyone outside the maneuver 

brigade s. (In reality, there are very few engineers to support 

anyone outside the maneuver task force.) We currently rely on 

corps engineers to support BSA s, MSR maintenance and repair, 

aviation assembly areas, towed-artiUery survivability, air-defense 

artillery, CSS units in the division support area, and bridging 

October 20()O 
beyond the armored vehicle-launched brid ge (AVLB). The units 

in qu estion don't need just mechani zed engineers-they also 

need equipment for sur vivability berms and trenches, leveling 

ground for support areas, dust control, and simple construction 

supp ort for bunkers and basic qu alit y-of-life projects. Future 

structures should correct this lack of versatil ity in the 

division 's organic engineers. This would enable the division to 

execute a broader ran ge of mission s without corp s enginee r 

augmentati on -milking th e division more re sp on si ve and 

deploYable. 

Minefieldclearingandunexploded-ordnance (UX0) disposal 

We have said loud and clear that dernining and UXO removal are 

not o ur mission s. We focu s alm ost ex cl usively on assault 

breaching of minefields. We may have said this out of fear of 

becoming bog ged down and exposing our troops to unnecessary 

danger. However, this is very shorts ighted on our part. Minefield 

clearing and obstacle reduction (removal as opposed to breachi ng 

or bypassing) are engineer mobility tasks per FM 5- 101. Artillery, 

air- and ground-delivered xca tterable mines. and cluster bomb s 

lead to a very dirt y battlefi eld , Enemies incr easingly will be able 

to pl ace sc atterable mines on M5Rs, airfie lds. bases, and 

previ ou sly breached minefields , Eve n if they cannot plac e direct 

or indirect fire s on these, the y will pose a maj or obstacl e on our 

supply lines if we cannot clear them quickly. Explosive-ordnancedispo sal pers onnel cannot perform the se mission s alon e. We 

should ha ve the eq uipme nt an d tacti c s, tec hniq ue s, and 

procedure s (TIP) to detonate large numbers of surface-laid or 

shallow mine,/ UXO. By taking advantage of our demoli tion skills 

and the systems already developed, we could greatly enhance 

o ur division al and corps engine ers' ability to safely detect and 

clear UXO along MSRs, within potential bases, and from assault 

and helicopter landing zones . 

3. Simplify engineer C2. 

We should simplify our C2 structure and align it better with 

supported man eu ver units. 

Dis continue either brigades or groups. Eliminate one level 

of C2 and produce a flatt er organization that can take advantage 

of digital information systems. Ea ch division (heavy, medium, 

and light) should ha ve one bri gade/group. and each corps 

should have one . Th er e should also be so me number of 

brigades/gro ups for the theater rear. Th ese headquarters co uld 

be multicomponent with a mix of AC and RC subordinate units . 

This would allo w a smooth transition from peacetime training, 

to deplo yment , to combat/peacekeeping, to redeployment. Each 

ofthes e brigade/groups (including divisions) sho uld have some 

type of cons truc tion-ma nag ement section (mos t would be 

pred ominately RC) that wo uld perform drills and annu al training 

with the unit and go to war with them. The RC gro ups and 

brigades (15 groups and 4 bri gades curre ntly in the structure) 

co uld be co mb ined with AC groups and brigade s to pro vide 

each division and corps with a group. Construction-managem ent 

sections could be fairl y sma ll, utili zin g the U.S. Army Co rps of 

Enginee rs to support any heavy design or highl y technica l 

requirements. 

October 2000 

Use the same basic engineer C2 st ructure for hea vy, 

medium, and light forces. Currently, we have heavy division s 

with 0-6 engineers (we may convert this to an 0-6 staff engineer 

without a brig ade headquarters), 0-5 brigade engineers. and 

0-3 rask-forcc e ngine ers . Light, a irbo rn e, and air-assault 

division s have 0-5 engin eers, 0-3 brigade engi neers, and light 

task-force engineers (one level low er than hea vy di vision s). 

The new medium brigade is expected to have an 0 -5/ 0 -4 

engineer wi th just one orga nic company. Currently, due to lack 

of sustainment engineers , all divisions would likely receive 

large corp s augmentation (three to five battalion equivalents) 

depending on their priority. We try to assign a gro up to all 

types of divisions that receive significant corp." au gm entation. 

To provide co nsistent engineer C2 and a smoo th tran sition 

during co nt ingencies, we shou ld appl y th e foll owing reco mme ndations to all maneuver divisions and brigades: 

•	 Assign an 0 -6 group enginee r as the division e ng ineer for 

all division s. 

•	 Pro vide a robust group staff to suppo rt di vision tactical 

(DTAC), di visi on main (D MAIN), a nd divisi on rear 

(DREAR) command posts with a minimum of a major, a 

captain, and two NCOs for each command post (D MAIN 

would be larger, of course) wi tho ut pulling the gro up XO , 

S1 , or 54. Th e DR EAR should also have a cons tructio nmanagem ent sec tion. 

•	 Provi de an 0 -4 sta ff engineer (supported by a cap tain or 

first lieuten ant , and two NCOs) fo r each ma neuve r brigade 

and the aviation brigade . 

•	 Prov ide liaison teams (staff sergeant and specialist) for 

en gin eer platoons to assist the task-force en gineer platoon 

leader. If trained prop erly. these teams could assist platoon 

leaders during planning and then tra ck scatterable mines, 

othe r ob stacles, and mission status during execution. This 

would allow platoon leaders to focu s on le ading the ir 

platoo ns in combat. 

Reduce the types of corps battalions. Corps battal ions must 

be vers atile-----capable of both combat and construction missions. 

Th e curr ent combat-heavy batt ali on with its six verticalconstruction platoonsis difficult to employ efficiently once combat 

sta rts (ex ce pt in and aro und rear-area bas es). Th e Army is 

attemptin g to redu ce our deployed footprint by maximi zing use 

of host-nation and contract engineers.This plan directly threa tens 

the need for our current number of combat-heavy battalions (42 

active and reserve). Similarly, corps mechanized batt alion s ( 14 

active and reserv e) have almost no capability to maintain and 

repair M5Rs or to support rear-area bases. 

A more efficient system would be to convert current cornbath ea vy. c o rp s whe ele d, and mech ani zed battalions to 

mult ifunction al co mbat/co ns tr uc tion battali on s. Separ ate 

hor izontal, vertica l, and bri dge companies wo uld then be 

attac he d to th ese multifun cti onal battali on s based on the 

mission , enemy, terrain, troops, and time avail able (M ETT-T). 

Eac h batta lion-consisting of three line compani es with one 

hori zontal plat oon and two comba t platoon s each and a vertica l 

Engin eer 5 
pl at o on a nd con struct io n management sec tio n in th e 

headqu arters and headquarters company (HHC)-could wo rk 

an ywhere from the bri gade area to the theater rear. This wo uld 

reduce the amount of task- organization cha nges to a bare 

minimum 

Note: The separate companies mentioned above must he 

able to break out platoons similar to the wa)' prime-power 

platoons can he deployed fro m the company. In peacetime. 

these separate numbered companies would be assigned to a 

multfun cti on al battalion as a f ourth company . (This is 

commonlv do ne with current combat-suppo rt-equipment 

[CSE/ and light-equipm ent companies.) 

4. Examine and redefine the role of the combat-engineer squad 

in support of'mountedforrnations. 

Mo unted maneu ver commande rs have been saying for years 

that they wa nt their e nginee rs to do two thin gs: conduct instride bre aches and create dynamic obstacle s. This simple 

request pose s several issues for engineers to co nside r: 

•	 The need for org anic or normall y assoc ia ted co mb atengineer squads to meet the se two needs will continue to 

diminish . Moun ted maneu ver units need breaching and 

mi ne-laying equipment with we ll-trained operato rs- not a 

squad that dismo unts 10 breach or place obstacles by hand , 

•	 We must continue to develop equ ipme nt and TTP that 

enable mount ed engineers to perform required mobility tasks 

using the veh icles the y operate (and that protect them). 

•	 We are ma int aining unnecessarily large engi neer ass ault 

elements because of our desire to keep military occupat ional 

specialty (MOS ) 12B (combat engineer) squads for mobility/ 

co untermo bility support in mounted units. 

Th erefore. for mounted forces, we need to look at our ass ault 

enginee rs prim arily as ve hicles/e quipment fighting as pa rt of a 

mounted form ati on - not as tr an sp orters o f di smounted 

eng inee rs. Doctrine for medium forces is still being deve loped, 

but so far it see ms that the med ium brigade will be infantryheavy and move in an armored personnel carri er, Aga in. it seems 

that equipment to allow rapid movem ent by these personnel 

carriers would be more important than the ability to dismount 

large numbers of engineers. Dismounted in fantry can perform 

man y of the same tasks that dismounted engineers would 

perform. What the infantry probably can ' t do is conduc t illstride breaches, create dynami c obstacles, and clear rubble/ 

demolish buildings in military operations in urban terrain without 

engineer-equipment suppo rt, The objective force of 2020 to 

2030 will rely on specialty units (such as enginee r, fire-support, 

and air-de fense) as little as possibl e. Rather. the capabi lities 

that these eleme nts curre ntly bring to the task force will be 

built int o the man eu ver force 's veh icl es, equipment, and 

per sonnel to th e ma ximum exte nt possibl e. Th is fu rth er 

underscores the need to focus on doing those things that only 

an enginee r ca n reasonably do. 

Future enginee rs who are organic or normall y associated with a ma ne uver force sho uld therefore be very 

6 Engi neer 

equipme nt- focuse d. This equipment must have two operators 

per vehicle for 24-hour operations. (Why take critical air- or 

sea-lift space for a piece of equipment if we ca nnot operate and 

maintain it 24 hours a day?) Th e intent here is not to diminish 

the imp orta nce of combat-enginee rsquads; they remain critical 

because of their versatility. They allow the combat platoons to 

be versatile by co nducting operations such as route-clearan ce, 

obs tacle -r edu ct ion, an d area-cl e arance after a bre ac h ; 

co nstruc ting culve rts, bunker s, bridgin g , and lodgm en ts; 

pro vidi ng rear- area security; and fighting as infantry, when 

necessary. It does seem that 12Bs have lost some of their 

vers atility over the past twenty ye ars. We ' ve sig nifica ntly 

reduced the se ts, kits, and outfits (SKO) that they carry, Perhaps 

this is due in part to the redu ction to eight-m an squads. This 

tren d must be reversed because it clearly goes against Genera l 

Shinsek i's vision of more versa tile units. 

5. Ensure that we have robust engineer units at the execution 

level. 

We should ensure that units are robu st e nough to complete 

missions even when they are short up to 20 percent of their 

personnel due. to peacet im e shortages (le aves. transitions, 

schoo ls, spec ial du ties, support de tails) or co mbat losses. 

Return to ten-man squa ds. In going to eight-man squads, 

we have assumed away too ma ny real problems and reduced 

the squad's versatility (counter to Ge neral Sh inseki 's v isio n) . 

When the squad dismounts, it mu st leave a drive r (a "s hotgun" 

is also required in many cases) with the vehicle. In peacetime . 

profil es, personnel transitions, leaves, schools, spec ial duties, 

and support details (interna l and external) mean that an eightman squad will be short even if the unit is manned to 100 percent 

on paper. Also, with only five junior enlisted soldiers (including 

the vehicle driver), the squad has little opportunity to cross 

train soldiers on constru ction and the use of special equipment 

or tools. These same problems will continue in combat; plu s, 

we may hav e battle casua lties. 

Ma n pla toon , company, and high er h ead qu a rte rs with 

sufficient drivers and sup por t personnel to avoid deta iling 

them from squads. An oth er drain on our squads is th at we 

have allowed mod ified tabl es of orga nization and equ ipment 

(MT OEs) to be made th at do not pr ovi de sufficient dri vers, 

me chanics, and support pe rsonnel. Every vehi cle mu st ha ve 

a ded icated driver ; e nginee r equip me nt sho uld ha ve two 

dri ver s for a 24-ho ur operatio n. We need to loo k at each 

unit and put the posit ion s on the MT OE to prev ent sq ua ds 

and se ctions fro m be ing raid ed fo r dri vel'S and mechani cs. 

Th e same is true for other critica l suppo rt personnel suc h 

a s s upp l y; c om m un icatio ns ; n uclear, bio logic a l. a nd 

chemical; and armore rs . 

6. Integrate AC and RC engineers. 

We sh ou ld truly integrate AC and RC uni ts, takin g 

advantage of each other's strengths, especially in headqu arters, 

construc tion managemen t, and sustainme nt engineering. Th e 

robust structure that we need to com mand and control organic 

October 2000 
a nd r e info rc ing c orps e ngi nee rs a nd maintai n lin es of 

comm un ica tio n can only be reached if we in tegra te RC 

eng inee rs into active division s. 

Con struction-m anagem en t is a prime example of a functi on 

tha t co uld be pe rformed as we ll or better by RC personn el. A 

sma ll active-du ty section wo uld be augmented by RC soldiers 

on weekend drills, durin g annual training, and when deploy ed 

for combat. Th ese RC soldiers often brin g techni cal ski lls 

beyond what we can reason abl y ex pect in the AC. Also, some 

of the units in the division could be RC. To be int egrated , the 

AC will need to make some adjustments. For ex amp le, a 

multicompo nent unit will have to des ignate one weekend a 

month for training, with two designated ca mp days sho rtly 

thereafter. Thi s may sound silly, but it 's a major issue when an 

RC unit wants to train with an AC unit. Oflen. the AC unit look s 

at the tra ining as ye t another weekend in the field and says no 

unl ess it wa s already planning to be in the field. AC units lend 

to expect RC units to adjust their sched ule to meet the AC 

sched ule. However, this isn 't pr acti cal because RC units try to 

lock in their 39 training days a year out, versus six weeks in AC 

uni ts. Multic ompon e nt tra inin g sho uld be routine a nd 

predictabl e; for example, AC units co uld plan that " the third 

weeke nd of every month , we will train with our RC units." 

7. Improve equipment b)' going after high-payoff, low-cost 

developments and modifications. 

Th e recent cuts in the Grizz ly and Wo lver ine pro grams 

illu strate how difficult it is to get maj or system s fielded-s-even 

when they are fully ju stified . Mayb e we can go for lo wer-cost 

systems that take advantage of comm ercial technology, mak e 

curre nt systems (such as the Palleti zed Loa d System [PLS]) 

work for medium and light forces, and look at improvements to 

current syste ms. 

Air -assa ult and air-transport capabilit ies. Air assaulting 

e ngi neer eq uip men t to whe re it is ne eded is a cri tica l 

en gineer for ce multipl ier that was used very well in Vietna m 

in suppo rt of both li ght and mechanized forces. The JTR 

will be able to tra n sp ort 20 tons. We sh ould now sta rt 

pla nning to procure eq uip ment tha t will tak e advantage of 

thi s ca pa b ility . For exam ple, there are D6 dozers that we ig h 

Icss th an 20 ton s. With D6s th at co m pare favo rably wi th 

current D7 capabilitie s, does it make sense to rebuild/replace 

the D7 fl eet-or sho uld we begin tr an sitiou in g to a D6? The 

later would seem the obvious choice . Simil ar de cisi on s can 

be m ad e fo r most of our en gin eer equipmen t. Th e capabilities of the C-17 an d JTR should allow our me dium force s 

to po sse ss c apabilitie s that rival o ur c urr ent hea vy e ngine er s, thu s ena bling our heavy and light org anizations to 

b e m er ged into m ed ium units in keep ing wi th Gene ra l 

Shinse ki 's vision for the obj ec tive for ce . 

Future Combat System-Engineer (FCS-EN). Divisional and 

EAD co mba t engi ne ers sho uld move in the FCS fo r fo rce 

protection . We should be wo rk ing with the Army to ensur e 

that the FCS bas as much mobility capability as possible. The 

foll owi ng options sho uld be pursued for the FCS-EN (pr ior ity 

as listed ): 

Octobe r 2000 

•	 A small bulldozer blade . Th is blade coul d be used to dig in , 

breach , clear rubble, and receive atta chme nts suc h as a 

mine roller or plow tha t rests on the grou nd to reduce stres s 

on the blade arms. 

•	 A demoliti on ro und fired by all FCSs or an FCS -EN. 

•	 A simple heavy-duty grapn el hook that co uld be fir ed from 

the FCS and then mechanic ally retrieved to cut barbed wire 

and deto nate trip wires. 

•	 Hydraulic and electric 10 01 co nnectio ns sim ilar to the 

capabi lity of th e curre nt hydraulic- el ectri c tool o utfit 

(RETO) trailer. 

These items should be incl uded in all FCSs . as much as 

possible. If they cannot be, then an FCS-EN should be de veloped. 

The capabilities versus an FCS-EN or other future combatengineer vehicle will largely determ ine the requirements for 

engineers in the maneuver-task-force form ation. 

Integrated trailers. We need to take a hard look at our trailers. 

By upgrading them for use with standard An ny prime movers, 

such as the interim lighting vehicle (IFY)/FCS andfamily of medium 

tactical vehicle s (FMTVs). we can increase our capabilities at an 

economical cost. Items such as the new hydraulic tool trailer are 

a step in the righ t direction , but we can do more. 

M echanized en ginee rs lost the earth-moving capability 

and versatility pro vid ed by a dump tru ck in o rde r to improve 

th eir sur vivabili ty. Curre nt th inking is tha t the re may be no 

e ng ineer variant of the IF V and possibly non e for the FCS . 

It would therefore be a trem endou s asset to have a highl y 

mobi le trailer th at co uld du mp 3 to 5 ton s of materi al. M ine/ 

counter mi ne se ts, demoliti on s. and SKO co uld be stored in 

an inse rt th at is eas ily dumped and retri eved using so me 

type of mini-Pl.S . Ad ditio nal feature .. of thi s trai ler sho uld 

include the ability to "daisy chain" tr ail ers so tha t one prime 

mo ver can pull mor e th an one trail er and a qui ck d isconnec t 

system that allows dri vers to disc onnect tr ail ers witho ut 

leaving the c ab, These two features, co m bined with th e 

ability of the medium PLS (descr ibed later) to tr an sport two 

tra ilers at a time, wo uld all o w trail ers to " ca tch up" with 

e le me nts that have dropped tr ailers ba sed on METT-T. 

When com bine d with the fo llowing two inserts , this sys tem 

would gi ve u s tremendou s ve rs ati lity an d agil ity to pe rfo rm 

both combat and con struction ta sks : 

IllI	 A mine/counterrnine insert. It should co nta in a Ground 

Standoff Minefield-Detection System (GSTAMlDS) and other 

future detec tio n and detonation equi p me nt for use in 

conjunctio n with the dump trailer. Optimally, the dump 

trailer could be attached to the blade on the FCS -EN for 

m ine-clear in g op e ratio ns. In thi s mode , we ight (dirt) 

would be add ed to the tra iler to make it heavy enough 

to stay on the ground whe n a mi ne is detonat ed. Note: 

Many scatterable antitank (AT) mines are relatively small 

shape d charges that would do little damage to a frailer 

fill ed with dirt. Tb e GSTAMIDS or other fu ture system 

could be mounted an d sus pe cted min es de to na ted . 

Eng ineer 7 
Fill ed with dirt and equipped with proofing wheels, the 

trailer would then proof the cle ared area in advance of 

the FCS . 

•	 An integrated skid steer with tools and attachments insert. 

(See article , page 22). With special boxes for hydrauli c 

tool s and attachments, th e ski d steer can load dump 

tr ail er s, FMTV dumps, and PLS dumps. While th e 

skid steer's bucket is small. the loading speed on ma ny 

smaller j obs is not critical. The sk id ste er can go 

places that sm all emplace ment excavato rs (SEEs) and 

bu ck et loaders cannot go, and it is also easi ly air as ­

sa ultab le. This integrated piece of equipment, tools, and 

trailer co uld be deployed and pull ed by anything from an 

IFV/F CS to a 5-t()]1 truck. With the skid steer, combat 

engineers co uld efficiently perform a variety of combat tasks 

(such as obstacle and bunker constru ction) and sustainme nt 

tasks (such as road repair and vertical construction). 

Medium combat-engineer vehicle (M CE V). Th is item is 

based on an ass umption that we will be able to develop a more 

capa ble and survivable co mbat breach er than the FCS-EN if we 

lim it the crew to thre e. The sma ller crew should ena ble a lower 

silhouette, more armor, and a more ca pable breaching hlade. 

Th is veh icle sho uld have a blade on the front similar to the 

Gri zzly, a demo lition gun, and the same heav y-duly grapnel as 

described abo ve for the FCS -EN . Deleting the Grizz ly's bucket 

arm should redu ce the weight and co st. 

Bridge sets. We need a vari ety of bridge se ts that can be 

rapidly depl oyed and placed by non-bridge uni ts. With the 

IFV / FCS being Clas s 20 or less, we should he able to produce 

an air-assaultabl e bridge that could be placed directl y over 

small gaps (reducing requirements for future medium AVLBs) 

1O cross the IFV/FCS. In fact, this wa s done in Vietnam with 

M4T6 dry spans. We sho uld also have air-assaultable piers for 

these brid ges to allow multiple sections to be air assault ed in 

to span larger gaps . This brid ge system could be placed by 

any engineer unit (site prep by an air-assaultable blad e would 

often be required ) and gr eatly reduce the requirement fo r 

specialty bridge companies . No te: A vers ion of this bridge 

could be developed for launching f rom (I PLS modul e. 

Automated fenc e and marking system. It currently takes 

more man-h ours to mark scatterable minefield s than to emplace 

them. We shou ld be able to come up with some type of rapid 

mar king system tha t can he attached to a high-mobility, 

multipurpose wheeled vehicle (HMMWV), a SEE, or a truck to 

eliminate having 12Bs hand-emplace fence s. This system should 

also allow for some type of antipersonnel obstacle similar in 

effect to triple-standard concertina wire. 

PLS for light and medium forces. CUITent PLS dump (12 

cubic yards) , water-distributor, and concrete-mixer modul es 

appear to be easily modified for air de ployment bec ause they 

can be broken down from their prime mover. We need a lighter 

version of the PLS that can haul 20-ton engin eer equipme ntsuch i:\!o, D6 s. loaders, graders, and deployabl e universal combat 

8 Engin eer 

earthmov ers (DEUCEs)- Cla ss IV, and current and future PLS 

modu les. An example is a 5· or 1O-to n tractor that could pull a 

trail er capable ofloading and off-loading PLS racks and able to 

haul equipment/Class IV wh en no rack is loaded.While this 

seems like a lot, it should be doable with rollers and a wrec kerlike system atta ched to the tractor. Note: The cu rrent PLS can 

hau l Two racks- one on the prime mover and one on the trailer. 

This system would only haul one 0 11 the trailer. 

Th e main difference between light and heavy horizontal 

engin eers is their earth-moving cap abiliti es. A 12-cubic-yard 

(14 cubic yard s with sideboards) dump truck would be a 

trem end ous improvement. Light units' graders, loaders, and 

dozer slDEUCEs are already ideal for most MSR maintenanc e 

mi s sion s. Us ing PLS te chn ol ogy wou ld also reduce 

development costs bec ause heavy. medium , and light units 

co uld use man y of th e sa me systems. As lat er structure 

discu ssion will show, a medium PLS will provide tremendous 

capability, versatility, and ag ility to future force s. 

An improvedmine-clearingline charge (MICLIC). Itshould 

be surv ivab le and simpler and capable of bein g pull ed by a 

variety of vehicles. The currently planned Mongoose system 

should pro vide this capability. 

Note: AI we move to make ourselves more versatile, we will 

enco unter significant training challenges. As a result, futu re 

systems should be designed to he as simp le 10 operate and 

maintain aspossible. This and ens uring that squads and platoons 

are properly sized are really the keys 10 versatility. We can also 

deve lop innovative training strategies, such as using civilian 

technical colleges and two-week courses at Fort Leonard Wood 

or other installations, to take some ofthe training burden offthe 

units. It is typically the leaders' inability to train soldiers Oil a 

wide varietv of equipment, rather than the soldiers ' ability to 

learn. that limits what our units can do. 

T

Possible Future Structures 

he Arm y has dev eloped its moderni zati on strategy to 

re ach its objective force a s shown in Figure I. 

While we sustain and recapitalize se lected "leg acy' 

force s. we will co ncurrently develop interim medium bri gade 

combat teams and interim divisions. We will take advantage of 

current science and technology (S&1') for our interim forces 

and future res earch and development (R&D) to rea ch our 

objective forc e. This objective force will ha ve the. same or 

greater firepower and survi vability as current heav y forces but 

will be mu ch lighter and depl oyabl e. using 20 -ton vehicles 

versus the 70 ton s of today 's Ml ma in battle tan k. As the 

objective force is fielded, legacy and interim forces will be 

tran sformed into the objec tive desig n. En gin eers ca n best 

suppo rt this plan by ut ilizin g the seven recomme ndatio ns 

previously describ ed .Based on this. [ recommend that we look 

at doing the follow ing: 

1. Field assault companies for the IBeT., (now to 20(2). (See 

assa ult battalion in Figure 2.) While this organizati on is larger 

than the company curre ntly proposed, the three assault and 

October 2000 
I 

First 

Interim 

BCT 

I I -:.----

J 

1.......- - - - ..........---... :.­ I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I

, 

I 

I Fi rst Unit 

Equ ipped 

Objective 

Legacy 

Force 

Objective 

Force 

Interim 

Force 't 

" 

2000 

...Responsive, Deployable, Agile, Versatile, Lethal, Survivable, Sustainable. 

Figure 1. The Army Transformation 

696 personnel 

1.520 personnel 

HHC 174 

Company HQ 

Brigade Engineer sect ion 

1 per maneuver brigade MTOE 700 personnel 

(mchl dlog &lation) 

MA.J. CPT,MSG, S£,G HHC. 100 lM 'I ;-,MMVVV 

Comp any HQ Personnel (21 1130133) iP.:-::n ( l HHCi 

3· Ccl/lSG/ XO ·· ::- IJ o? 'I Pm,,,n ne l (2rQ1l1:118) 2· o pereuors 3- C(tflSGIXO 2- Comrnorucexcos 2- Operations 3· SupplylNSOa, mor ?- Communcar ons 5-Fooc SeNloe 3-- 3IJ ppryA\f8C1a mor 18- Or9 eroo CS rnant 3- MBlr.tenalce- secncn 

Equ ipment Equipm er1 i i=CS.EN 3 X 174 1 FCS-EN 2 Armored HMt-..1V'Ns : Arrnored HMl'ofN vs 2 FMTVwIlll £'dJ8f r FMTV "" c,trililer 1 eo:o\.'e ,y rn vE'hlcie 1 Recoveri .'mBlnt vehleie 2 COl"it3C' trucks 1 Contact rruck 

(S al?Figure 4) 

/'38t:J Flpure 38) 

Separate man euver brigades. Including the medium b' iga de, should This multifunctional (MF) (combat/construction) battalion provides 

ha ve the same ba sic structure as the 15C> man assa ult company tremendous versatIlity to the diviSion. Division al and EAD M F 

battalions are the same . 

Figure 2. Standard Divisional Engineer Group Structure 

October 2000 Engineer 9 
obstacle (A&O) platoons (Figure 3) teamed with the pioneer 

pl ato on (Figure 4) provide the BCT with criti cal assault 

engineering support but are also versatile enough to support a 

broad range of missions. With this company, the BCT is more 

agile. It can go in early and support RSOI as well as stability, 

dcfen si ve, and offensive operations. Requirin g less corps 

augmentation , it will be more deployabl e and sustainable than 

smaller, less versatile designs. 

2. Field engineer groups with the interim divisions that have 

one assault battalion and one multifunctional (combat and 

construction) battalion (2003 to 2007). (See Figures 2 to 7, 

pages 9 and II to 13.) 

•	 Th e assault battalion provides four sma ll, yet capable, 

companies. Three of them can be normally associated with 

the thre e ground maneuver brigades. The fourt h company 

can reinforce the main effort or support the aviation brigade. 

•	 Figure 3a and Figures 5 and 6, page 12, respectively 

depict the A&O section , two combat-engineer platoons, 

and the equipment platoon found in the multifunctional 

baualion's line companies. Figure 7, pag e 13, depicts 

the vertical platoon found in the battalion HHC. 

Figure 8, pag e 13. co mpares the current heav y divisional 

bri gade with the proposed medium division al group. Th e 

co mpariso n shows that the proposed gro up has virtually the 

same ass ault capabilities as the div ision al engineer brigade. 

(The loss of AVLBs is more tha n mad e up for by the abilit y to 

air assault Cla ss 20 bridge sec tions that would be ma naged as 

a supply commodity.) Howe ver, the prop osed group has far 

greater horizontal and vert ical co nstruc tion capabilities. The 

increase of lSI personnel is a result of making robust squads 

and platoons that are fully capable of operating and maint ainin g 

equipment 24 hour s a day. In additi on, the proposed group has 

most or the combat-engineer squads in the multifunctional 

battalion where their versatility can be fully utilized. This group 

is fully capable of supporting a broad range of missions without 

corps augmentation but can also command and control EAO 

ass et s with out having to bring in a second 0-6 group 

headquarters. Th e multifunctional battalion's HHC includes a 

constructio n-m anagement sec tion with design, survey, and 

materi als-testing capabilities. As such, it can maintain and repair 

aerial ports and seap ort s of debarkation, MSRs, and lodgment 

area s with or without augmentation, depending on the amount 

of effort required . 

The Arm y currently has two AC corps airborne battalions 

and three RC corps light battalions that are organized similarl y 

to this design (including the A&O sec tion-called a mobility/ 

counterrnobility sec tion). The design depicted here has larger 

squad s and platoons; FCS -EN personnel carri ers with dump 

trailers instead of 5-t0I1 dumps as troop carriers; and a mixture 

of current equipment and new medium equ ipment such as a D6 

dozer, a medium PLS , and an excavator (all less than 20 tons). 

Th e result is a fully air-deployable and air-assaultable force 

with exce llent combat-engineering , force-protection, and 

fir ep ow er ca pa bilities as well as horizontal construction 

10 Eng inee r 

capabilities similar to that of a combat-heavy battali on and a 

significant vertical capability from the verti cal platoon and six 

combat platoons. 

Note: Since interim divisional groups may not have afielded 

IFV-ENdump trailer,a short-term solution would he to provide 

each combat-platoon headquarters an FM7V dump with a 

skid steer on a trailer. This vehicle could be hardened with 

ballistic glass and selected armor similar to a HMMWV\ 

armor for improved survivability. It should also have a ring 

mount for MKJ9s or other autom atic weapons (as should 

most ofour trucks and HMMWVs). 

If Arm y force de velopers halk at making the multifunctional 

battal ion organi c to the div ision , the multifunctional battalion 

could simply be assigned to the division for trainin g purposes 

but remain an EAO asset. This is currently done with light 

equipment and CSE companies . It is key, however, that the 

division retain the C2 pro vided by the group headquarters in 

order to rapidly plan and conduct contingency operations. 

3. Convert legacy light and heavy divisions to a similar twobattalion group (2003 to 2007). This would move the legacy 

organizations more in line with General Shinseki 's vision of 

versatility and agility. The unit' s current equipment and that 

found in current EAD battalions could be used for an interim 

organization. This would then be replaced by medium versions 

as the pare nt division wa s transformed into an objective 

division. This conversio n would require equipment and 

personnel to be shifted from current EAD units such as corps 

airborne for light/airborne/air-assault divisions and combatheavy for hea vy divisions. Since so much of our active force 

curre ntly resides in the heavy-division engineer bri gades, 

standing up medium interim divisions with two-battalion groups 

will affect the entire force. Key decision s will have to be mad e 

on what units will be AC, RC, and multicomponent. That is why 

better integration of AC and RC structures is so important. 

4. Convert corps combat-heavy, mechanized, and wheeled 

battalions to interim multifunctional battalions (same as the 

divisional group's multifunctional battalion) (2003 to 20~)7)

Initially, an interim multifunctional battalion would be formed 

usin g current equipment (5-ton dumps as a squad vehicle and 

07s). Gener al- con structi on (vertical) platoons would be 

converted to combat platoons in the line companies. A vertical 

plat oon would be added to the HHC in the combat-heavy 

battalions. Wheeled battali ons would lose the third combat 

platoon per company but would gain horizontal and vertical 

capabilities. Mechanized battalions would retain most of their 

combat capabilities whil e gaining much greater horizontal and 

vertical capabilities. As current equipment is replaced, new 

equipment would be less than 20 tons (0 6s repl acing D7s). As 

mentioned above for the division al comb at battalion, these 

interim battali ons would have to add a 5-ton dump with a sk id 

steer on a trailer until a dump trailer with insert is developed. 

Before a medium CEV brea cher is fielded to EAD units, an 

interim A&O sec tion could be created using 5-ton dump trucks 

to haul MICLl Cs/M ongooses and Volcanos. Just as with the 

October 2000 
•• •• 

••• 

•• 

••• 

r------- - - - - - - - - - - - -- 1 

Figure 3a. Assault & Obstacle Section
 

(In a mu ttrunctlonal ballalion line company)
 

Includes:
 

1 Assault seclion as shown below
 

1 Obstacle section as shown below
 

Personnel: 010/13113 III 

Equipment: 2 MCEVs , 1 medium assaull bridge, 1-0-30-31 2 FCS-EN traiers to wed byMCEVs 

I 

Mission: Move with maneuver battalio n s in lhe attack. 

breach ob stacles. and support a hasty defense. They are 

reinforced by Ihe pioneer platoon and multtfunckonal 

ballalion for defen se The liaison omcer (La) team in the 

plaloon HQ can move as pan of Ihe l ask-forc s HQ . The 

team Ira CKSmobllil y/countermobdily dala for Ihe task force 

and provide s constant liaison with supporting engineers 

Typical attack : The plal oon leade r/assault sections I'll eve 

with the mo st ern-cat assault ele menl s. The obslacle secll on 

typically stays with the battalion ir atns unlll needed. The 

platoon sergeanl may move Wllh either section base d on lhe 

METT -T 

I
 

Platoon HO 

1-0-9-10 

2 FCS ·E Ns 

2 FCS·EN trailer 

1 Plalo on leader IPL) 

1 Plal oon sergea nt tPS ) 2x 1 H Q squad leaderilO (SS G)
 

1 As sl La (SPC)
 

4 Drivers/gunners
 

2 Co mb at ""g lneers
 

Note Attached medics. 

mechanics, or 128 s wotJld 

also fide In the bac k of the 

FCS. 

I 

Assault 

2 x (0-0-8-8) ] Per Sedion : 

2 MCE V s 

(Include marking system and 10'/ll ng system 

1 Medium assault bridge 

(med ium AVL8 or towed and la unched from lrarler ) 

2 FC&EN trail ers with MIC LIClMo ngoose insert s 

(lo wed by MCEV s or PL.PS FCS·EN) 

3-Man crew/CEV 

2-Man crew/m edium as saun b ridge 

Obstacle 

(0-0-5-5) 

1 r,1edlUm PLS w ith 2 Vo lcanos 

(COUld al so carry addlh onal MICLIClMongo ose) 

1 SEE van ant w ilh fenCing machine 

3-Man crew for PLS wll h Volcano s 

2-Man cr sw for SEE va ria nt 

Figure 3. Assault and Obstacle Platoon (Divisional Assault Battalion) 

Mission: Redu ce breached obstacles along key routes. 

mainlain MSRs. provide survivability and genera ' 

engine enng support to Ihe 8SA . and relnforceA&O platoons 

during Ihe defense 

(Nole The 12Bs wHh roote-clei¥ing and lane-wldenlng/areEtce erence eotupment are key to keepmgMSRs open.) 

1-0-38 -3 9 

I 

•• • 

I 

• • 

Platoon HQ Combat Equrpment 

1-0-5-6 (0-0-10-10) (0-0-23-23) 

2 PCS-ENs Mov es in tne PLiP S FC5-EN or 2 FC&EN trailer s with counlermine insert s with equipment platoon FMTVs lean also carry Volcan o system In trail er) 

1 Squad leader 1 Platoon leader (PL) (LTJ 2 Team Ieaders 1 Platoon serg eant CPS) 7 Combat eng;neers 4 DrlvNslgunners 

Notes: The INa FCS-ENs wlh coumermme Inserts give the 

pioneer pli'Jtoon Hs rotJte-clearlng and obstecte-reoucto n 

capabilitle.s and prov ide excellent force protection and flfepowfT 

The combat sqtJudCull assist wffh route clearance and suppon 

the eqtJlpmenl section v,Hh cu sretts and simple vertical construdmt: 

The combat squad can also be alr-assatJ/tedfor demolitio n/mine 

missions. 

3 DEUCE variants (moblie blades) 

(armor kilslbalilstic gla ss optional) 

2 D6s (a rr-a ssauliable JTR) 

2 Medium PLSs 10haul D6s 

(COUld also accepl dump and olher PLS modules) 

2 FMTV dum ps 

2 Trailers v~th skid steers and attaehm ants 

(skid sl eers can load FMTV. PLS. and 

FCS·E N trailer dumps) 

2 SEE vanart s With trailers for atlachments 

Figure 4. Pioneer Platoon (Divisional Assault Battalion) 

October 200D Enginee r / / 
••• 

•• 

••• 

1-0-40-40 

I
 

Mission : Reinforce divisional engineers or support rea r-a rea 

operaticns Versalllily Is key The unll can provide mountedl 

dismounted moblhly/couniermoblilly support. conduel route-clearinq 

operations. place elr-assaultable bndges and bridge sets, repair 

roads. conslrucl bridge bypasses. widen breaches. and perform 

simple UXO demolition and pioneer construction In support of the 

dNlslonlcorpsllhealer. The versatility of the 128 allows this platoon 

10 Iransltlon quickly from combat tasks (such as breaching or routeclearing) 10 UXO demolition to bunker or SEA-hut conslr uctlon. (The 

plaloon may be augmerlted by Ihe vertlcafconstrucllon platoon in 

the HHC.)The FCS-EN gives Ihls platoon excellent mobilily and 

survivability and a firepower overmalch agalnsl most expected 

enemies The plaloon can receive horrzontal or vertic al alla chments 

for missrons beyond its organic capabllny. 

I 

Platoon HQ 

1-0-9-10 

1 FCS-EN 

1 FCS-EN trailer with skid sleer and melal-cutl mg/plasma saw 

2 SEE variants wnh trailers for anacbments (auger, fencing, 

tamper, and pavement breaker) 

1 Platoon leader 

1 Plaloon sergeant 

1 HQ squad leader/LO (SSG) 

1 Ass! LO (SPC) 

4 SEE operators 

2 Drivers/gunners 

I 

• 

Combat Engineer 

3 x (0-0-10- 10) 

1 FCS-EN vehicle 

- Push blade 

- Multipurpose (demolilions/AT) weapon 

- Heavy grapnel with culling edges 

- Hydrauiic-/electric-tool outfit (HETO) 3x 

1 FCS-EN Irailer 

- GSTAMIDSlmlne/demoUllons 

- Mme proofing 

- 5-lon dump truck 

1 Squad leader (SSG) 

2 Team leaders (SGn 

1 Dnver 

6 Combal engineers 

Figure 5. Combat-Engineer Platoon (MUltifunctional Engineer Battalion) 

1-0-47- 48 

I
 

IVission: Support mobilitylcounlermobilitylsustarnabilityl 

general-englneenng operations maintain and repair assault 

and helicopter landing zoies and MSRs; and support reararea bases . This platoon has four equipment squads and a 

HQ squad. The equipment is arr-transportable by JTR 

DEUCES provide ground mobile blades The D6 provrdes 

more robust, but still air-ass aultable, earthmoving capability. 

Excavators, loaders, and PLS 12-cubic-yard dumps pro/ide 

heavy earthmovmq capability. The 48-man platoon provides 

sufficient operators to maintain and operate equipment for 

24-hour operations. 

I

..
 Platoon HQ 

1-0-7-8 

1 Armo red HMMVW 

1 FMN dump 

1HETO trailerrair compre ssor 

1 Platoon leader (LT) 

1 Platoon sergeant (SFC) 

1 HQ squad leaderlL O (SSG) 

j Asst LO ( SPC) 

2 HETO 0 perators!to d keepers 

2 Drivers/gunners 

I 

• 

Equipment 

Operations ] 

4 x (0-0-10-10) 

3 Mobile blades (DEUCE vanant)
 

3 Graders
 

3 Medium earthmov ers (D-6) (can be armo refr -MCAPS)
 

2 Excavators (JTR-transportable)
 

2 2 112-yard loaders
 

2 SEE variants With trailers for atta chments
 

5 Medium PLS transporters 

2 PLS 12-cublc-yard dump trailers 

1 PLS water/dust-control trailer 

2 FMTV dumps with trallers 

1 7 112-ton crane 

2 High-speed corrpactors 

Figure 6. Equipment Platoon (MUltifunctional Engineer Battalion) 

12 Eng ineer Engineer 2000 
•• 

••• 

I
 

Platoon HQ 

1-0-7-8 

1 Armored HMMWV 

1 FM TV dump 

1 Trailer With skid ste er and attach ments 

1 Platoon leader 

1 Platoon sergeant 

1 HQ souad leaderllO (SSG) 

1 Asst LO (SP C) 

2 Skid- steer/spe craj-equipment operators 

2 Driver s/gunn ers 

1-D-37-38 

I
 

Mission: Comp lete vertrcal-construcnon tasks throughout 

the battle field.Three squads are capable of operat ing 

mdependently or augme nlo"g comb at and pioneer platoon s 

to construct bunkers and bases and build timber-trestle, 

Bailey, and Mabey John son bridges 

I 

• 

Vertical
 

3 x (0-0-10- 10)
 

3 FM TV dump s (1 per squad) 

3 Hydraulic/electric trailers 

Figure 7. Vertical Platoon (Multifunctional Engineer Battalion) 

-__. ...._._-_._... ._".""• ..__.__..•. _----_._.. 

Majo r Systems 

Current 

Heavy 

Battalion 

Current 

Heavy 

Oiv Engr 

Brigade 

Proposed 

Assault 

Battalion 

Proposed 

MF 

Battalion 

Proposed 

Oiv Group 

(d+e+HHC) 

Delta 

CurrentProposed 

(f-c) 

(a) (b) (e ) (dj (e) (f) (g) 

ACEIDEUCE vanants 21 63 0 9 9 -54 

MCEVs 0 0 48 6 54 +54 

APCIFCS-ENs 28 84 32 24 56 -28 

FCS-EN dump trailers 0 0 32 24 56 +56 

MICLICs/Mongooses 12 36 48 6 54 + 18 

Volcanos 6 18 24 6 30 +12 

AVLBs/Med assault bndges 12 36 24 3 27 -9 

Graders 0 0 0 9 9 +9 

SEE vanants 6 18 20 21 4 1 +23 

06 dozers 0 0 8 9 17 + 17 

High-speed excavators 0 0 0 6 6 +6 

Med PLS equipment haulers 0 0 20 18 38 +38 

PLS dump racks 0 0 0 6 6 +6 

PLS water distributors 0 0 0 3 3 +3 

FMTV dumps 0 0 8 13 2 1 +21 

Cranes 0 0 0 3 3 +3 

Skid steers 0 0 8 7 15 +15 

Personnel 429 1,369 700 69 6 1 520 +151 

Noio« 

1	 All equipment for medium esssur beiteiions and multtfundional battaUons weighs less tha n 20 tens and IS 

tbereiore air assaultable by JTR and transportable by C-17s and C-130s (newer versions) This not only allovls 

t he forr;e to deploy by air but slso gives if fremendo us capabilt y fo move que kly fa where It JS needed by air 

t1ssauff. 

2. The proposed divisiona/ group has more personnel than fhe curenf hea vy divisiona l b tJgade because if has 

more robust squads, platoons, and headquarters. It is much more cepebfe of 24-hour operalio ns end has 

equipment to support combat operations: mainfain and repalf sere! porfs of debarkatio n and MSR s: and 

suppo stRSOI,forr;e buiklup, logi stiCS, and ofher bases. 

Bottom line : It is a versatile and agil e organiz ation. 

Figure 8. A Companion of Major Engineer Systems of the Current Heavy
 

Divisional Engineer Brigade and the Proposed Two-Battalion Group
 

October 2000	 Eng ineer J3 
interim combat platoon. these 5-ton dumps co uld be hardened 

with ballisti c glass. armored cabs, and applique bottom and 

side armor. With a ring -mount ed MKI 9. this would be a vast 

improvem ent in survivab ility and firepower ove r current 5-t C)D 

dump truck s. 

5. Create vertical companies and merge current CSE, dump, 

and esc into one type ofseparate horizontal company (2003 

to 2007). Separate paving and quarr y det achments would also 

be retained . The ve rtical se pa rate co mpanies would wo rk 

primarily in nationlhumanitarian assistance and rear-area bases. 

They would become buildin g experts similar to prime-power 

platoons. Th ese se pa rate companies -alo ng with alrea dy 

ex isting bridge companies--could wo rk independentl y but more 

often would work under the control of a multifunctional battalion 

for design , testin g, managem ent support, and sec urity. They 

shou ld be assigned to a multifun ctional battali on in peacetime 

for the same support. 

6. Replace interim equipment with objective-force equipment 

as technology and funds allow (2007 to 2030). It is imp ortant 

to restructure sooner than later. This will help us avo id 

repl acing/maintaining overag ed equipme nt and units that we 

no longer need . We will undoubtedl y lose battalion and higher 

headquarters in order to build units that are more robust at the 

execution level. Whi le painful , this is the right thin g to do-the 

few er units we have to deploy, the less unit C2 "overhead" will 

have to be dep loyed with them. Early conversion will then 

allow us to focus on developing the equipme nt and fine tuning 

int erim organizations in ord er to reach the objective force. A 

rea sonable goal would be to field the first objective force 

engineer uni ts in 20 10. Interi m units would then receive 

objec tive equipmen t as fund s allo w from 2010 to 2030 . 

Note: Whil e putting a bridge company back in the divisio n 

is tempting, we should avoid doing so since bridge companies 

are p rimarily singl e-purpose units and would not be ne eded 

f or many con tinge nci es. A/so, b ridging doe s not require 

ex te nsi ve combin ed -a rms tra in in g wi th th e supported 

man eu ve r unit. We wo uld be b et ter off keepin g bridge 

compa nies (active Gild reserve) as EAD asse ts. We should also 

en sure that sufficient bridge se ts (such as th e Class 20 

described above, the Bailey, and the Mabe y Johnson ) lire 

availab le for rapid fo rward deli very and emp lacement by the 

divisional assault and combat battalions , or multifunctional 

EAD battalions. 

T

Seize the Initiative 

he engineer org anizations and changes described in 

this article clearly support General Sh inseki 's vision : 

Responsive a nd deployable. Th e medium division with its 

e ng ineer gro up can deploy and co nduc t a wide range or 

missions wi th less EAD augmentation than curre nt structures, 

The robu st squads and platoon s will be fully capable of 24­

hour operations and there fore ensure that we get the most out 

of our depl oyed equipment. 

J4 Engineer 

Agile. Medium divisional engineers and EAD multifunctional 

ba ttalions will be able to rap idly ch ange from construction to 

combat operations and back again. The simplified, but more 

rob ust, C2 struc ture in the divisi on and corp s would allow 

dep loying forces to keep the same engineer C2 team tha t they 

have trained with. 

Versatile. Both divisional and corps engineers wou ld be 

much more capable of supporting a full spectrum of ope rations . 

This versatility mean s that few er types, and numbers. of 

enginee rs must be deployed . Integrating RC enginee rs into C2 

headquarters at the division and corps levels allows us to take 

bette r advantage of the trem endous techn ical capabilities found 

in the RC. We ca n therefore provid e better construction 

ma nagemen t, whi ch is the key engineer mission in many lowintensity scenarios. 

Lethal and Survivable. Multifunctional battalions (with IFV/ 

FCS s) that repl ace com bat-heavy and whee led batt alions will 

be much more capable of defending them sel ves and supporting 

combat operations, while still havin g excelle nt sustainmentenginee ring capa bilities . The additio nal dig asse ts in the twobattalion group will also pr ovide mu ch greater survivability 

suppo rt to the division . 

Sustainable. By making the division al and co rps engin eers 

more versa tile, and thereb y red ucin g th e number of co rps 

eng inee rs required , the depl oyed force is sma ller and more 

easily sustained . The multifunctiona l battalions in the division s 

and the EAD m ultifunctional batt alions ensure that MSRs and 

aerial ports and sea ports of debarkation remain open and keep 

logistics traffic flowing. 

While our challenges may be great, so are our opportunities. 

If we seize the initiati ve by voluntarily reorg ani zing significant 

portions of the enginee r corps to better SUPPOlt the Army 's 

vision, we can control our own destin y and win future resource 

fights. W 

Li eutenant Col on el Lindsay is the Asslst ant Co rps 

Engin eer for the XVllI Airbo rne Corps. He has served with the 

27th Engineer Batt a lion (Corps itA irb orn e ), the J3t h 

Engine er Battalion/7th Infantry Division , the 36th En gineer 

Group (Co nstructio n) in Som ali a, and the 20th En gineer 

Brigad e (CombatuAirbo me Corps). LTC Lindsay also has 

serve d with the Nashvill e D istrict , U.S. A.rmy Corps of 

Engineers, as a fac ili ties engineer in Hoh en fels, Germany; 

and as an ACIRC advisor to a combat heavv hattalion, an 

eng inee r group, and a theater Army bri gade. He holds a 

master 's in civil engineering fro m vanderbilt Univ ersity and 

is a registered professional eng ineer in Virginia. 

Octob er 2000 
The Army Facilities
 

Components System
 

By Edward Scott 

uring Wo rld War TI , it becam e apparent that the 

Army nee ded an improved emergency con struction ­

support system to enhance planni ng and execu tion of 

the co nstruction missions in the theater of operations. The 

goal was to de velo p standard des igns and provide a commo n 

base for planning, logistics support, and construction. 

In 1951 , the Office of the Chie f of Enginee rs de veloped a 

system to facilitate planning and to serve as a con structi on 

guide to e ngineer field units. Th e system, the Engi neer Func ­

tional Components System -later called the Army Fac ilities 

Components System (AFCS)---was established as a set of standa rd fac ility designs. managed and supported at the U.S. Anny 

Corps of Engineers headqu arters. 

Th e AFCS design-and-support mission tran sferred to the 

U.S. Army Eng ineering and Support Center in Hun ts ville, Ala ­

bama, in 1978. Program managemen t remains at the Co rps's 

headq uarter s. The AFCS is an enginee ring co nstructionsup port pro gram for Army mission cons truc tion in a thea ter of 

opera tions and for other OCONUS requ irements. It also supports emergency construction durin g disaster relief in any area 

when req uired and also supports worl dw ide humanitarianrelief e fforts. 

The system was used in support of Operations Restore Hope 

in Somalia. Upho ld Democracy in Haiti, Joint Endeavor/Joint 

G uard in Bosnia , and Allie d Force in Kosovo. Th e AFCS provides pla nning gu idance , co nstruc tion drawings. bills of ma terial. and labor and equipment estimates.Th e Huntsville Ce nter ' s 

mission is to maint ain and modern ize the informa tion contained 

in the system and to distribute it to all military engineer uni ts 

on the distribution list or that requ est the system (see articl e, 

pa ge 16). Altho ugh rhe AFCS is updated continuously, the 

system is sent to e ngineers ann ually. 

Until 1995 , a series of 11 Arm y tech nical manuals provided 

AFCS designs and related informatio n to milit ary engineers . All 

the informa tion from these technical manuals is now ava ilable on 

'I compact disk that can he used on common office computer 

equipment. This user system is the Theater Co nstruction Ma nagement System (TO /TS) (see sidebar. page 17). 

In addit ion to the AFCS design drawings and re lated 

da ta, the T CMS inc ludes com m erci a l softw are and 

government-devel oped programming to facilitate planning, 

logistics coordination, design, site adaptation, communication, 

co nstruction management, and reporting. The APCS includes 

construc tio n drawings and computerized information for about 

4 ,400 facility designs and 750 installation de sig ns. Some of the 

October 2000 

A soldier uses the TCMS to locate plans for a construction project 

de signs incl uded in the system are troop camps, hospitals, 

bridge" marine terminals, and ammunition storage facil ities. 

Thi s system not only eliminates the time it normally wo uld 

tak e to design a facility b ut also provides soldiers with a wealth 

of information. 

Among the Huntsville Center 's AFCS responsibilities are 

to­

•	 Develop budgets. 

•	 Pre pare and conduc t indus trial advanceme nts in 

technology. 

•	 Pla n projects and pro grams. 

•	 Arrange and mo nitor periodic exercises of the system. 

•	 Develop and coordinat e scopes of work . 

•	 Negotiate and award design co ntracts. 

Prep are designs, bills of mater ial, and labor and eq uip ment 

estimates, 

•	 Review desi gns for technical and fu nctional adequacy. 

•	 Provide automation SUpp011 for AFCS and TCMS programs. 

•	 Co ordin ate wor k wit h the Corps 's labs. 

For more information about the Army Facilities Co mponents 

System. co ntac t Edward Scott at (256) 895 -178 1. III 

M,: Scott, a supervisory mechanical engin eer; is Th e Ar CS 

Branch Chi ef and pr oject manager for the AFCSITCMS 

pro gram. 

Engineer 15 
Updating the Army Facilities
 

Components System
 

Bv Lieutenant Colonel Robert C. Steiger 

W
h ile th e World Wa r II ­


era wood en theater-ofoper atio ns buildings a re 

almost a thing of the past on Arm y bases 

today, the designs still live on in the Army 

Facilitie s Components System's (AFCS's) 

family of documents. However, the 416th 

Engin eer Command (ENCOM), Darien, 

Illinois, is leading a project to moderni ze 

some ofthe AFCS designs. The AFCS is 

the military engineeri ng constructjonsup po rt system for pl annin g a nd 

executin g th eat er-of-oper ati ons con ­

struction. To the average engineer soldier, 

it is still a catalog of Army design s for 

facilities such as base camps and com ­

ponents such as guard towers. 

The project to modern ize some of the 

AFCS designs has two parts. First, add 

to th e AFCS -specific de si gns for 

Southwest Asi a fa cilities an d corn ­

ponents, such as sunshades, that are not 

found in the AFCS today. Second , modify 

some existing designs to use alternative 

con struction materials that are more 

prevalent, are available faster, and cost 

less in the South we st Asia area of 

operation. We are focusing on replacing 

lumber with materials such as concretemasonry-unit block. plastic or steel pipe , 

and fabri c. 

The Beginning 

This project originated in la te 

1998 , when part of the 416th 

ENCOM's Forward Cell deployed 

to Ku w ait to supp ort Army Ce ntral 

Comm and (ARC ENT)-the Army 's 

component of Ce ntral Command 

(CENTCOM)-during Operation Desert 

Fox . Th is op erati on , the re sp on se to 

Iraq 's threats toward Kuwait, involved 

th e deployment of more than 4,000 

16 Enginee r 

soldiers to Kuwait to build a deterrence ! 

force . The Forward CeJ] was involv ed in 

pro viding facilities for the reception , 

staging, and onward integration (RSOT) 

of the soldiers. 

We turned to the AFCS for already 

designed facilities and components but 

found them unabl e to meet the needs of 

the deterrence force. The AFCS designs 

for facilitie s to support troops in the 

field-such as field showers, latrines, 

guar d towers. and administration 

buildings-were too lumb er-inten sive 

and too perm anent. The designs were for 

" temporary" facilities, with a useful life 

of at least 24 months. What we needed 

were facilities that met th e " initia l" 

standa rd, with a useful life of I to 6 

months. 

The AFCS had not been updated to 

include the facilit y components designed 

and built during ancl aft er Opera tions 

Desert Shield and Desert Storm that were 

Southwest Asia-specific . We couldn 't 

even find designs for some basic facilities 

that we needed . So ARC ENT and the 

416th ENCOM had to quickly redevelop 

designs , speci fications, and scopes of 

work for initi al standard facili ties and 

co mponents. 

The Project 

T he after- action report for 

Oper ation Desert Fox recommend ed that designs for RSOI 

facilities applicable to the Southwest 

Asian environment be institutional ized. 

The report spedfied that designs for both 

initial and temporary facilities (as defined 

in Joint Chiefs orStaff Pamphlet 4-04, 

Join t Doctrine [ or Civil En gin eering 

Suppo rt) be included. 

In addition, the CENTCOM Engineer 

Workin g Group (composed of engineers 

from all of CENTCO M's sub ordin ate 

services) also recommended that the 

AFCS designs be updated and modi fied 

to use alternative construction materials 

and techniques found in Southwest Asia 

and as ked that forc e prote cti on be 

includ ed. We nicknamed the proje ct the 

"Top 20 Project." because we focused 

on 20 generic facilities and components 

that are used most by all services (An ny. 

Navy, Air Force, and Marines) in So uthwest Asia. Exampl es are suns hades, 

shower s, latrines, and maintenanc e 

hardsta nds. 

Involved in this project are the U.S. 

Army Corp s of Engineer s (US AC E) 

Transatlanti c Program Center (TAC); the 

En gineering and Support Cent er at the 

Huntsville. Ala bama, Di vision of the 

Co r ps of Engineers; th e 416th 

ENCOM 's Forward Cell ; and the 416tl1 

ENCOM 's facilities en gine erin g design 

team. The TAC provides engineering. 

construction , and contractin g service s 

for the Army and Air Force in 

CENTCOM's area of resp onsib ility and 

beyond. It is the be st s o urc e of 

in stituti onal kn o wled ge of U .S . 

g overn men t-fina nc ed or -managed 

construction in the Middl e East. It s 

forerunn er , th e Middle Ea st / Africa 

Program Office, was a key elem ent in the 

USACE's engineering and co nstruc tion 

accomplishments before and during 

Op erations De sert Shield and De sert 

Storm. 

Huntsville' s Engineering and Support 

Center developed and manages the PCbased Theater Constructi on Management System (TC MS) for construction 

pl anning. design in g, managi ng, and 

October 2000 
rep oning (see sideb ar ). The TCMS , I'

which is used for co nti ngenc y construction, has proven to be an imp ortant I 

system for engineer bri gades, gro up s, 

and batt alions. To fin d th e AFCS ! 

dra win gs and specifications. it is no ! 

lon ger necessary to leaf thro ugh the large I 

paper Tec hnical Manu als 5-30 I and 5- i 

302, A rmy Fa c ili ties Co mponents I 

Syst em - Des igns; a nd 5-303, Army I

Fa cil itie s Comp on ents S)'stem- , 

Logisti cs Della and Bills of Mat eri el. I 

Now, units can load the TC M S program 

and , with AutoCAD® LT, pull up the 

complete design packages and even issue 

construction directi ves from the program. 

The TCMS makes it easier to ens ure faster 

distribution and use of the latest AFCS 

chauge s . 

When the 4 16th ENCOM began the 

proje ct to update the AFCS designs, the 

first step was to solicit input from eac h 

of the services as to its recommendations 

for the 20 most used generic facili ties and 

com pone nts. We found that we reall y 

needed to expand the number beyond 20 

to capture all of the most frequentl y used 

facilities (see chart , page 18), 

The next step was to contact the TAC 

to see what designs existed fo r facilities 

o r compo ne nts construc ted du ri ng or 

since Opera tio ns Desert Shi e ld and 

Desert Storm, such as sunshades, that 

met our requirements. The TAC had a 

p le t ho ra of designs for tempora ry 

standard and permanent facil it ies but 

ve ry fe w th at could mee t the austere 

design criteri a for the initial standard. We 

contacted personnel at Hun tsville's Enginee ring and Support Center to inform 

the m of this project and find out how 

difficult it would be to mo dify the TCMS 

and the AFCS to add these Sout hwest 

Asia-spec ific faci lities and components 

to the fami ly of designs. Per sonn el at the 

ce nter were very responsive and eager 

to add these facilities. 

T he proj ect o fficer for the Top 20 

Pr oj ect then assigned a source of the 

design, specifications, an d b ill o f 

materials (BOM) to each ofthe items. For 

some item s, 'We co uld quickly proc ure the 

de sign from TAC because it had already 

been used in the area of operations to 

build a facility or component. All the 4 l6th 

October 2000 

ENCOM had to do wa s pr odu ce th e 

specificat ions and check the BOM. For 

many o the r it em s, we turn ed to our 

facili ties engineering design team to either 

modi fy an existing design or complete the 

p a ckage fo r an exis ting design b y 

developing the spec ifications and BOM. 

A goo d example of this is the familiar 

"burnout latrin e" from the Vietn am War. 

The design was modi lied to replace some 

woo d structural members with plastic or 

stee l pipe. Th e walls are no longer pl ywood but arc fabric - whatever locally 

made fabric is available. Altho ugh we 

haven' t totally eliminated wood in the 

projec ts, we have drastica lly reduced the 

amou nt of plywood nee ded. 

As eac h desig n packa ge is finished, 

engi nee rs with are a-o f-oper a tio n s 

ex perience revie w the package to ens ure 

that it is co mplete and unde rstanda ble. 

To date, the 416th ENCOM has completed 

th ree of th e desig n pack ages and is 

staffing them. The next step is to e lec ­

tronicall y send eac h de sign package to 

Hu ntsville to be in cluded in the next 

vers io ns of TCNtS so ftware. So start 

lookin g for the first of the new Southwest 

Asia-specific design packages later this 

year. 

The Results 

BJ.' mod erni zin g so me o f th e 

AFCS designs with the Top 20 

Project, the 4161h ENCOM . the 

Tran s arl a nt i c Pro gr am Ce nte r. and 

Hu ntsvill e 's Eng ineering and Sup port 

Center are on the \.... ay to making it easier 

for en gi neers depl oyin g to Southwest 

Asia to provi de facilities and components 

to depl oyed soldiers much faster than 

before. W 

Li eutenan t Co lonel St eig,-'r il' a team 

leader ill the 416111 ENCOM For ward 

Cell , Atlanta, Georgia. He previously 

commande d the 3 9 1st Eng ineer 

Battalion, Greenville, South Carolina. 

A graduate ofthe Command and General 

Staff' Course and the Armor and Engineer 

Offi cer Advanced Courses, LTC Steig er 

ho lds a maste r '.I' de gree in busin ess 

administration [rom Duke University. 

Durham, North Carolina. 

Theater Construction
 

Management System
 

By Sergeant First Class Brian Nering 

Modern Army engineers have a multitude 

of automated aids to make their job easier. 

Th e Theater Constru ction Ma nageme nt 

System (TCMS) is one of these aids. Used 

in conjunction with AutoCAD(1l) LT, the TCMS 

is a computer-based sy stem for planning 

construction projects . The system includes 

d esign , managem ent , and repo rt ing 

capab ilities . 

Th e TCMS wa s des ig ned to repl ace 

Technical Manu als 5-301 and 5·302, Army 

Facilities Components Sys tem - Design s; 

and 5-303 , Arm y Fa cilities Components 

System - Logistics Data and Bills of Materiel . 

Th ese manu als include "blueprints" an d 

schedules for projects ranging from latrines 

to base camps. The goa l was to pro vide 

construction units with examples of projects 

that had already been used in the field. In 

other words, civil engineers would not have 

to design a base cam p from scratch; they 

would simply copy the required drawmos, 

make any necessary ch anges, and st art 

building. 

The primary military occupational specialty 

involved is Si T, technical engineer. The 51T 

course is taught at Fort Leo na rd Wood , 

Missouri, to members of all branches of Ihe 

militar y. Th e 18-wee k, technically intense 

adv anced-mdiv idua l-training co urse IS 

com pri sed of draft ing, surveying , and 

materials-testing skills. At the beginner level 

(10), students are taught to search, modify, 

and print drawings properly. Considering the 

current inventory of 4,800 plans to choose 

from, proper search techniques are critical. 

In the TCMS- under the "Facillties'' pulldown menu-type either a "n ou n' or short 

"descriptron" to search for like projects. After 

locating the desired project, open the drawing 

file in AutoCAD LT and save it as a separate 

file.Then changes can be made to the drawing 

for site conditions or oth er requ irem ents 

specific to that project. Currently, personnel 

at the staff- serg eant level (30 ) ar e responsible tor determining required changes. 

The next step is 10 generate a bill of materrals 

(80M) needed to build the structure. 

It's easy to see how the TCMS has become a time and labor saver. Projects that 

once required cumbersome technical manuals 

and a chest of flat flies are now on a CD. As 

always, time IS a valuable asset to mission 

accomplishment, and the TCMS is now "tlrne 

saved" for the military. W 

Serg eant First Class Nering ie the 

Program of Instruction Manager tor MOS 5 1T, 

Directorate of Train ing Development, U.S. 

Army Maneuver Support Center, Fort Leonard 

Wood, Missouri. 

Engin eer j 7 
rep ortin g (see sid eba r). The TCMS , : 

wh ic h is u sed fo r co nti ngency co nstruc tion, has proven to be an imp ortant ; 

system [o r e ngineer bri gades, gro ups, 

and battalions. To find th e AFC S 

d raw ing s and spec ifications, it is no ! 

longer necessary tu leaf throu gh the large I 

paper Technical Man uals 5-301 and 5- : 

302, A rm} Fa cil it ie s Co mpon ents 

S vst em - Desig ns; a n d 5-303 . Armv 

Fac ilit ie s Components S.vst emLog istics Data and Bills of Mate riel. 

Now, units ca n load the TCM S pr ogram 

and , with Au toCAD® LT, pull up the 

complete design packages and even issue 

constructio n directiv es from the pro gram. 

Th e TCM S makes it easier to ensure faster 

distribution and use of the latest AFCS 

cha nges. 

Whe n the 416th E NCOM began the 

proj ect to update the AFCS designs, the 

first step wa s to solici t inp ut fro m each 

of the serv ices as to its recom mendations 

Ior the 20 most used generic facilities and 

compo nents. We found th at we reall y 

neede d to exp and the nu mber beyond 20 

to capture all of the most freq uently used 

fac iliti es (see chart. pag e 18). 

The next step was to contact the TAC 

to see what designs ex isted for facilities 

or co mponents construc ted during or 

si nce Ope rat ion s Dese rt Shie ld and 

Dese rt Storm. such as suns hade s, tha t 

met our requirements. The TAC had a 

p letho ra o f de si g ns for temporar y 

standard and permane nt fac ilities but 

ve ry few th at co uld mee t the austere 

design criteria for the initial standard . We 

contacted personn el at Hu ntsville's En ­

gineering and SUPP0l1 Cente r to inform 

the m of this proj ect and find out how 

difficult it would he to modify the TCM S 

and the AFCS to add these So uthwest 

Asia-s pecific fa cilities and compon ents 

to the family of design s. Pe rso nnel at the 

center we re very responsive and eager 

[ 0 add these faciliti es. 

The project officer for the Top 20 

Projec t th en assig ned a sourc e of the 

desi g n , spec i fica tio ns , an d bill of 

materi als (BOM) to each ofthe items . For 

some item s, we could quick ly procure the 

design from TAC bec ause it had a lread y 

be en used in the area of operations to 

build a facility or component. All the 4 16th 

October 2000 

ENCOM had to do was produce the 

specifications and chec k the BOM . For 

many o the r items, we turn ed to our 

fac ilities engineering design team to either 

modify an ex isting design or co mplete the 

p ac k age for an ex is ting design b y 

devel oping th e specifications and BOM. 

A good example of this is the fami liar 

"burnout latrine" from the Vietnam War. 

Th e design wa s mod ified to repl ace some 

wood structura l members with pla stic or 

steel pipe . The wa lls are no lon ger plywood but are fa bric-wha tever locall y 

made fabri c is available . Altho ug h we 

have n' t totall y elimin ated wood in the 

project s, we have drastica lly reduced the 

amount of plywood needed . 

As eac h design pack age is finis hed, 

e ng inee rs w it h area -o f- o pera tions 

experie nce rev iew the packa ge to ensure 

that it is complete and understandable . 

To date. the 4 16th ENCOM has completed 

three of the desi g n packages and is 

staffing them . The next step is to ele ctroni ca lly send eac h design pa ck age to 

Hunts vill e to be included in the ne xt 

ver sions of TCMS s oftw are . So start 

looking for the first of the new Southwest 

Asia-sp ecific design packages later this 

year. 

The Results 

By m od erni zing some o f th e 

AFCS design s with the Top 20 

Project, the 4 l6 th ENCOM , the 

Tra ns atl ant ic P rogr am Ce nte r , an d 

H untsvill e 's En ginee ring and Support 

Center are on the way to maki ng it easier 

for engineers deploying to Southwest 

Asia to provi de faciliti es and components 

to deployed sold iers much faster than 

before. III 

Lieut enan t Colon el St ei ge r is a tea m 

lea der in th e 4 16th ENCOM Forward 

Cell, A tla nta , Ge orgia. /-Ie previou sly 

co mma nd e d th e 3 9 1St En g in e e r 

Battalion, Greenville, Soutl: Ca rolina. 

A graduate ofthe Command and General 

Staf]Cours e and the Armor and En gine er 

Office r Advanced Courses, LTC Steiger 

holds a m aste r 's deg ree ill bu sin ess 

administration [rom Duke Unive rsity, 

D urham, No rth Ca rolina. 

Theater Construction
 

Management System
 

By Sergeant First Class Brian Nering 

Modern Army engineers have a multitude 

of automated aids to make their job easier. 

The Theater Con struction Manag em ent 

System (TCMS) is one of these aids. Used 

in conjunction with AutoCAD® LT, the TCMS 

is a comp uter-based system for plan ning 

construction projects. The system includes 

d esig n, managem ent , and reportin g 

capabi lities. 

Th e TCMS was designed to repl ace 

Technical Manuals 5-301 and 5-302, Army 

Facilities Compo nents System - Designs; 

and 5-303 , Army Facilit ies Components 

System - Logistics Data and Bills of Materiel. 

Th ese manu al s inc lude "blueprints" and 

schedules for projects ranging from latrines 

to base camps. Th e goa l was to provid e 

construction units with examples of projects 

that had already been used in the field. In 

other words, civil engineers would not have 

to design a base camp from scratch; they 

would simpl y copy the requ ired drawings, 

make any nec essa ry changes, and start 

building. 

The primary military occupational specialty 

involved is 51T, technical engineer. The 51T 

course is taught at Fort Leon ard Wo od, 

Missouri, to members of all branches of the 

military. The 18-week, technically intense 

adva nce d-i nd ivi du al-traini ng cou rse is 

comprised of d raft in g, surve yin g, and 

materials-testing skills. At the beqmner level 

(10), student s are taught to search, modify, 

and print drawinqs properly. Considennq the 

current inventory of 4,800 pJans to choos e 

from, proper search techniques are critical. 

In the TCMS- under the "Facilities" pulldown menu- type either a "noun" or short 

"description" to search for like projects. After 

locating the desired project, open the drawing 

file in AutoCAD LT and save It as a separate 

file. Then changes can be made to the drawing 

for site conditions or other requireme nts 

specific to that project. Currently. personnel 

at the staf f-se rge an t level (30) are responsib le for determining required changes 

The next step is to generate a bill of materials 

(BOM) needed to build the structure. 

It's easy to see how the TCMS has become a time and labor saver. Projects that 

once required cumbersome technical manuals 

and a chest of flat files are now on a CD. As 

always, time is a valuable asset to mrssron 

accomplishment, and the TCMS is now "time 

saved" for the military. 

Serge an t Firs t Class Nering IS the 

Program of Instruction Manager for MOS 5 1T, 

Directorate of Training Development, U.S. 

Army Maneuver Support Center, Fort Leonard 

Wood, Missouri. 

Eng ineer 17 

III 
Top "20" Projects
 

Southwest Asia Area of Operations
 

Project Description Concept 

1 Aircraft maintena nce An arch-span metal building Various ai rcraft sizes 

2 Ammunition supply point An earth -barr icaded ammunition-storage 

point 

3 Barriers A concrete vehicle-barrier checkpoint Placed at gate entrances ; reinforced concrete; relocatable; 

"Jersey" and "Texas" sizes (3 leet and 6 feet high) 

Barriers A 55-ga llon drum vehicle-barrier checkpo int Placed at gate entrances ; filled with water; relocatable 

4 Base-camp layout A site-layout desig n for a 1,OOO-man Kaabal Layout using the above factlrtres 

5 Berms Perimeter base-camp berms Six-foot-high earth berms to provide blast protection and 

wheeled-vehicle barrier 

Berms Aircraft, helicopter, and Patriot battery 

pro tection 

Eight-foot-high, sand-grid wall s or fabric-lined wire baskets 

(filled with sand and gravel) 

6 Bulk fuel A bulk-fuel storage and transfer point 

Inland petroleum-distribution system (IPDS) feed and truck 

feed, with earth berms for spill protection; unit prov ides 

collapsible bags, piping, and pumps 

7 Bunke rs Protective personnel bunkers 

SCUD bunkers; reinforced-concrete box culvert , 5 feet 

high, 8 inches thick, sandbag sides and top, sandbagged 

Jersey barriers on the ends 

8 Displaced-civilian camp A 5,000-man camp Layout using the above facilities 

9 

Electrical-power grid 

and lights 

Electrical-power grid and lighting for a 

1.000-man Kaabal 

Power cables elevated on timber SCissors, with relocata ble 

exterior lights; electricity from 2- by 100-kilowatt generators 

(1,650 amperes at 120 volIs) 

10 Enemy-prisoner-of-war 

camp 

A 5,000-man camp Layout using the above facilities 

11 Hard stand Rough-terrain forklift capable An area 100 by 100 meters: gravel surfa ce, 6 inches thick; 

upgrade with 6 inches of concrete 

12 Helicopter fueling point A forward-area arming and refuel point 

(FAARP) CH-47-capable, using dust palliatives for dust control 

13 Helicopter landing pad CH-47- and UH-60-capable versions A concrete pad, 8 inches thick, with tie-downs; dust 

palliative around pad 

14 Latrines A three-hole field latrine Wood frame; fabric siding; metal burnout barrel s; relocatable 

15 Latrines A one-hole field latnne (foldable portatoilet) 

Plastic siding, fabric hinges and snap constructio n for 

quick assembly; relocatable; requires sewage service 

16 Latrines A three-lube urinal PVC pipe in gravel sump 

17 Petroleum pipeline An IPDS (pipeline) 

18 Showe r/latr ines A shower/latrine trailer 

Eight shower stalls and 8 toilet seats in a 40-foot trailer unit, 

with sinks and water heater; liftable; requires nonpotable 

running water, gray -water disposal , and sewage co llection 

Sho wers Two- and three-stall portable field showers Woo d frame; metal water storage; nonpolable water; 

relocatable; thermostat-controlled heating elements 

19 Sh owe rs Shower trailer 

Sixteen shower stalls in a 40-100t trailer unit, with sinks, 

and water heater; liftable; requires nonpotable water and 

gray-water dispos al 

20 Sunscreens Prefabricated metal building With out walls; various sizes; capable of storing MILVANs 

stacked two high 

21 Tent pads A 4-inch gravel hardstand; upgrade with a 

4-inch lean concrete slab for tent pads 

Concrete pad kept thin and low strength to retain initial 

standard 

22 Tow er s Two-man guard/o bservation lowers 

around perimeter and checkpoi nts 

Steel frame preferred; 10-foot towers (from ground to top 

of floor); sandbagged sides and top 

Was h basi ns/shavi ng 

stand s Water tower 

Steel frame preferred; for nonpotable water; unit prov ides 

a 3,OOO-galion collapsible bladder; platform elevated to 10 

feet 

18 Engineer October 2000 
/./ :­
 
 Letters To The Editor 

U.S. Army Prime Power: A Tradition ofI nnovation and 

Excellence 

1 was very interested in an article in the Jul y 2000 issue of 

Engine er by CW2 An drew K. Potter ('·U.S. Army Prim e Power: 

A Tr adition or Innovation and Excell ence" ), since it concerned 

the use of the nuclear power barge Sturgis during the peri od 1 

worked at the Panam a Canal. 

Page 3 of the artic le indicates that the Sturgis wa s" ... moored 

from to 1975 in the Pa nama Cana l Zo ne, allowi ng the wa ters 

of Ga tun Lake to he used for filling locks." Act ually. the situation 

wa s mu ch more comple x. The Sturgis provided aug me ntation 

power-gene ration capacity to the entire Canal Zo ne , especially 

during the dry seaso n. whic h allowed more of the wate r cap acity 

of Ga tun Lake 10 be used [or navigation purposes rather tha n 

for hydroelectric power gene ration. Th erefore, the lak e could 

be ke pt at higher lev e ls. Thi s was critica l during this period 

bec au se of the emergence and grow th of th e " Pa na rnax " 

container ship. which tested the draft and dime nsiona l lim its of 

the Ca nal. 

The Sturg is p ro vi de d a va lu ab le se rv ice to the Cana l 

operations but had no direct relationship to " fi lling the locks." 

Had the Stu rgis not been in the Ca na l Zo ne during that time , 

more water wo uld have been used for power ge ner ation. This 

wo uld have lowered the lev el of Ga tun Lake and red uced the 

allow able dra ft for transitin g vcsseb, which wo uld have result ed 

in fe wer vessels tran siting the Can al. Th e Sturg is was replaced 

by two 2 1·MW Hitachi turbines, one on the Pacific side of the 

Isthmus an d one on the Atla nti c side. 

LaMar T. Sizemore , CPE 

Deputy Director. Public Wor ks 

U.S. Arm y Aviat ion Ce nter 

Fort Ru cker. Alabama 

Maneuver Support Center's Reply 

Thank yo u [or yo ur interest in Engi neer and the p rime ­

po wer article. We appreciate your knowledge of the work in 

Pan ama and your taking time TO comme nt on Gatun Lake and 

the Sturgis miss ion . We wel come the opportunity to Team more 

about The histo rv of the prime -power batt alion . It is a lo ng 

and varie d .1lo ry, an d co ntributions [rom people who ha ve 

worked the mission (Ire invalua ble . 

CW2 Andrew K. Potter 

Combat Developer 

Route Reconnaissanc e: A Lost Art 

An article entitled "Rou te Reconnaissa nce: A Lost Art" by 

Capta in Matt Pas voge l in the Apri l 2000 iss ue of En gine er 

inst antl y c aught my ey e. 

A, a retired NCO. who was a reconnaissan ce NC O for the 

S02d E ngineer Batt alion in Korea and the II th Engin eer Battal ion 

at Fo rt Belvoir. Virgi nia, I was impressed with the list of recon 

equipme nt in Figure 2, page 16. r didn t have a dig ital came ra or 

a Glo ba l Po siti oni ng Syste m back then (l wish I had). My 

measuri ng tape in Korea wa s metric, and I had to co nve rt the 

formul as or measur em ent- to acco mmod ate the nu mbers in the 

form ulas in FM 5- 170, Eng inee r Reconnaissance, and FM 5-34. 

En gineer Field Data. 

I re co mmen d add ing a Philly ro d to the list of rec on 

equipment. Used by surve yors whe n runnin g levels and find ing 

e le vatio ns, th is rod a lso c a n be used with pho togra phs of 

brid ges to give some reference as to size . A picture of a bridge 

is fin e. but witho ut some way of determining the brid ge's size, 

it is just a pretty picture . 

Another u seful p iece of eq uipme nt to have o n a recon 

mission is a stopwatch. You can measur e off a certain distan ce 

along the ban k of a stream or river and then drop a stick into the 

water at the upstream end an d tim e how lon g it ta kes for the 

stick to travel the measured distance. Usi ng the formul as in FM 

5-34 , the n ow rate or the strea m ca n he calc ulated. Th is is criti cal 

for det ermin ing a bridge byp ass. 

Mr. Lau rie R. Be nke II, CCI 

Construct ion Represent ative 

U.S. Army Ea stern Distric t Fac ilitie s Engi neer 

Kunsan Project Office, Korea 

Engineer School's Reply 

We app reciate your co mments. They ha ve been no ted bv 

th e p e rsonn e l who are up g ra din g the Fie ld Sketch S e t. 

Meanwhile, po sitioning a so ldier in th e digital p ho to wou ld 

lend a sense of sc ale to th e st ructure. Th e recon [orm itsel] 

req u ir e s sca le d lind/or dimensional drawings along wi th 

other critical infonnation. And th e CPS-the Pre cisio n 

Lightweight CPS Receiver (PLGR)-/1l1s a chronometerfeature 

that digita ll» d isp lays the current lime in an hour-minutesecond arra ngeme nt. 

As a [orme r reconnaissance NCO, y OLt realire the impossib ility u.! carrying all the items necessa ry to m e l'! ev erv 

contingencv. In the future, Land YV<lrrior capabilities will link 

video and audio responses or the recon team members directlv 

to the int elligence-gatherin g headquarters. Fo r th ose not so 

equ ipped, the Fie ld Sketch Se T is heing modernized with a 

lap top , a dig ita l camera , a GPS, and laser ran ge -finding 

devices (o r reconnaissan ce and construc tion use CIS well as 

fac ilities man agement and contracti ng . 

Alan Schlie 

For ce Development Analvst 

OCTober 2000 Eng ineer 19 
IIII rs Filid Ihl IYEI
 

B\' Carolee Ni.\hel 

On 17 Jun e, the 77th Regional Support Command , Fort 

Dix, New Jerse y, celebrated the first acquisition of 

commercial hydraulic excavators (HYEXs) for an Army 

Reserve unit. Five of the HYEXs were added to the inventory 

of mission , trainin g, and eme rge ncy -support equipment used 

by the 77th 's 854th Engineer Battalion. 

Th e commander of the 77th termed the new equipment a 

combat multiplier that will let soldiers of the 854th complete 

more mission s faster and better. The HYEX is deployable, and 

it rep laces 12 to 15 piece s of equipm ent in the unit 's inventory 

that are obsolete. It gives the unit the abi lity to accomplish 

tasks that they co uldn' t do before. 

The Army opted to switch to the new eq uipment to save 

time and money. It would ofte n take as much as half a day to 

cha nge the extensions on their old equ ipment, bur now it takes 

less than five minu tes. This decreases time spent on projects, 

which decreases proj ect costs. 

Th e 854th received three types of HYEXs: 

•	 Type I, weighing in at 52.410 pounds, comes equipped with 

a hydraulic quick-disconnect coupler; a hydraulic thumb 

clamp; and heavy and utility buckets for general diggin g, 

trenchin g. and lifting. 

•	 Type II, a slightly heftier 62,000 pounds. is equipped with a 

hydrauli c qui ck-disconn ect coupler, a hydr auli c rock drill, 

and a heav y-du ty bucket for quar ry operatio ns. 

•	 Type Ill, the hea vyweight of the trio at 7 I,900 pounds, is 

equipped with a hydraulic qui c k-disconnect coupler, a 

heavy-dut y bucket , a rock bucket, and an impact breaker 

for use in quarry operations. 

Although the HYEX is not new to public industry, it is new 

to the Army invent ory. It repr esents a critical step in expanding 

and improving the unit 's ability to train soldiers while meeting 

its peac e and wartime mission s. In addition, the heavy-d uty 

equipme nt will enhanc e the unit 's capability to supp ort the 

Fede ral Emergency Management Agency and other humanitarian missio ns. 

A versatile type of construction equipment, the exc avators 

were specifically adapted for miIitary use. During the next year, 

other engineering units will receive the HYEX. Beca use of the ir 

interchan geable extensions , the three types of excava tors can 

cover every nee ded job for land construc tion fro m drilli ng, 

ham mering, breaking, lifting, and filling in. 

According to the commander of the 77th Re gional Support 

Command, fielding this equipment at Fort Dix is a testament to 

the post and to the U.S, Army Reserve forces. W 

Ms. Nisbet is the p ublic affa irs officer at Fort Dix, the U.S. 

Army Reserve Command's largest training instal lation, lind 

the editor of the Fort Dix Post. 

Th e ph otograph was pr ovided by m embers of th e 35ijth Mobile 

Public Affa irs Detachm ent, Salt Lak e City, Utah. 

HYEXTypell 

20 En gineer	 October 2000 
Thl Wllllrlll:
 

By Major 1. Gary Hallinan 

The Wolverine is back for fiscal year 200 1. While the 

Arm y is transforming to become light er and more 

tran sportable, support to the legacy maneu vcr force 

continues. The Product Manager Wolverine, Deput y for Systems 

Acquisition (DSA), U.S. Anny Tank -automotive and Armaments 

Command (USATACOM), Warren, Michi gan, will field 12 

Wolverines to the 588th Engineer Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, 

Fort Hood,Texas, by January 2001-just in time to participate in 

the First Digitized Divisi on Capstone Exercise at the National 

Training Center, Fort Irwin ,California. in March 200 I. 

The fieldi ng of the Wolverines is the direct result of several 

things: restored fisca l year 2000 funding for low-rate initial 

production (LRIP) increment three, a congressional plus up in 

fiscal year 200 I to procure 12 additional Wolverines on the 

current LRIP contract with General Dynamics Land System s. 

an d th e Wolverine s' successful demon str ation during the 

Limired User Test co nducted earlier this year. Now, maneu verbrigade commanders will have a true military load class (MLC) 

70 gap-crossing capability up to 24 meters that can keep pace 

wit h and is as sustainable as its suppo rted force. 

Several milestones still must be met in order to complete the 

production and fielding of the remaining Wolverines. The system 

must go through an initial operational test and evaluation in late 

200 1 at Fort Hood. This test will formally evaluate the entire 

system- its qualitative reliability, availability, and maintainability 

as well as the soldiers who interact directly with the Wolverine. 

Pendin g successful completion ofthis test,the Wolverine program 

will be scrutinized during the Milestone III decision, which is 

scheduled for the second quarter of fiscal year 2002.The deciding 

authority (DSA, USATACOM) will base its dec ision on several 

criteria to determine if the program is ready to move on to the next 

phase of its life cycle-s-full-rate production. 

It is clear why the Army decided to restore the Wolverine 

after its ncar term ination from Program Budget Decision 745. 

The Wolverine, the Engineer Regiment's only digitized platform , 

has commonality with the current legacy force since it is based 

on an M 1A2 System Enh ancement Program (SEP) chassis th at 

has be en modified to tran sport, launch. and retri eve an MLC 70 

Leguan bridge across gaps up to 24 meters wide.The WOlverine 

will prov ide the Army wi th re sp on si ve assa ult-bridg irig 

capab ility, en abling freedom of maneu ver on the digitized 

battlefi eld. The Wolverine is a one-for-one replacement for the 

armore d vehic le- lau nc hed bridge (AVLB) . A significant 

improvement over the older existing technology, the Wolverine 

brings the following cap abilities to Force XXI engineers: 

•	 Improved force readiness. 

•	 Improved force mobility. The Wolverine is as mobil e and as 

agile as the supported maneu ver force, a key requi rement 

for flexibility of maneu ver. 

•	 Improved gap crossing. The Wolverine can cross 73 percent 

of gaps theater-wide, co mpared to the AVLB's 54 percen t. 

•	 Caution-free MLC 70 crossing at 24 meters. 

•	 Red uced logistics footprint. The Wolverin e's chassis is 90 

percent compatible with the M IA2SEP. 

The path forward is cle ar. Although the First Digitized 

Division Capstone Exercise is not a formal test of the system, 

the performance of the Wolverine and how it interacts as part 

of the heavy maneuver, digitized brigade is critical to the future 

of the program and the role the Eng ineer Regiment will play in 

the first Digitized Division . w 

Maj o r Ha llina n is the Wol verin e Assista nt Product 

Manage r, U. S. Army TACOM, \Vcll"ren, Mi chigan. 

Wolverine 

Oc tob er 2000	 Engineer 21 
Engineers rain 

With New, Advanced 

Equipment
 

By Privat e First Class Matthew J. Jenkin s 

During the recent Digital Mountain Peak exercise at 

Fort Drum, New York, sappe rs from A Company, 4 1sr 

En gineer Battalion, IOLh Mountain Di vision. train ed 

with new equipment designed to increase the surviva bility and 

agility of the division. The training was in preparation lor the 

Joint Contingency Forc e Army Warfightin g Experiment that 

the lath Mountain Division participated in at th e Joint 

Readin ess Training Center, Fort Polk , Loui sian a, from 9 to 2 1 

September 2000. Combat engineers are an integral part of the 

combined-arm s team , and this new equipment will allow brigade 

engineers (engineer company com manders) to respond qui cker 

to the brigade task-force commander \ intent on the battlefield . 

Lightweight Mobile Obstacle Breacher 

T
o clear a path through a suspected minefi eld more
 

quickly, light engineers now can turn to the light­


weight mobil e obstacle breacher (LM OB). Th e 55­


po und, manpackable device is designed to eliminate sur face­


laid or buried antipersonnel mines. Th e LMOB cont ains it 250­


fool. rocket-propelled detonation cord; a 30-foot spoo l of wire
 

that attach es to the detonator; and a stak e that secures the
 

case to the ground.
 

The detonation cord contains 1,000 grains of explosive 

substance per foot, whi ch will clear a 250-foot-long. 18-inchwide path through an antipersonnel minefield . Th is is 20 times 

stron ger than th e old 50 -grain-per-foot detonation cord. 

Attach ed to the front end of the deto nation cord are two twisted 

metal cables about 3 feet long. These lightweight cable.... , which 

are attached to both sides of the rocket base, allow the rocket 

to successfu lly deploy witho u t te aring away fro m th e 

detonation cord. The LM OB. which comes with two re loads 

per kit. eventually will he employed by infantrymen if sappers 

are not readily available. 

Mini-Mine Detector 

One o f th e ne w to ol s th at will increase the 

The surv ivability of light fig hte rs is the mnu-rmne lightweight mobile obstacle breacher will 

clear a path 250 feet long and 18 inches wide. detector (MIMID). which is about half the weight 

22 Engineer Octaha 2000 
and one-fourt h the size of the olde r co nventional mine de tec tor 

(the ANfPSS-12). A soldier can comfortab ly crawl on the gro und 

with this new device to elude enemy fire .The sma ll, co llaps ible 

frame of the MIMID makes it ideal for light engineers or light 

fighters to have readily acc essibl e. Unfo lding up to 4 fee t in 

leng th . the 6-poun d MIMID is powered by four A A batteries 

that are locat ed in the handle. 

To use the MI MID, a so ldier sticks one hand throu gh a 

holl ow. rectangul ar frame and gr ips a hand le locat ed directly 

beh ind the top of the electronics co ntrol unit (E CU). The top of 

the fr ame re sts aga inst the bott om o f the wrist to pro vide 

stab ility. A soldier ca n pro be a l -metcr area 180 degrees in front 

of him with the MIMIO's hollow, rec ta ngular search he ad. 

The EC U is the brains of the MIM ID . There is a lightemitting diod e (LED) on top of the ECU and an earpiece 

connection on the right side. A pair of kno bs at the bott om of 

the ECU allows an opera tor to control the volume of the earpiece 

and the sensi tivity of the search head . T he ECl) or the older 

min e de tec tor was sepa rate fro m the pro bing device . 

The LED a llows light righters to tell if they are "ho t" or 

"cold" when it comes to min e detectio n. The fl ashing red, sixlevel me ter goes from top to bottom to inform a so ldier of the 

presenc e of a me tallic object. Then a "probe man" de termi nes if 

the metallic object is a mine . If it is, a demolition team comes 

along and destroys the mine. 

Volcano (Light) 

I

n addition to new devices for defeating the ene my's land 

mines, ligh t engineers arc trai ning with a new tool that 

willallow them to lay mines oftheir own.The Volcano (Light) 

is designed to lay a minefield about 900 fee t la ng and mo re than 

IIO fe et wide . Attached to th e back of a high -mobility, 

multipurpose, wheeled vehicle (HM MW V),it allows mo re mobility 

than the larger Volcano, which is attached to a 5-ton truck. 

The Volcano (Light), which is ope rated fro m where the back 

seat wo uld normally be in a HM MW V, sits about 18 inches off 

the vehicle's floorb oard on a stand th at ro tates 180 degrees. 

The Volc ano (Lig ht) has twen ty 2-foot-long metal canisters, 

each containing five antitank mines and one antipersonnel min e, 

The canisters are braced by an inclined strip of metal . Once the 

ca nisters are armed . pressing a button ex pels the mi nes over 

the perimeter. Wh en the mines hit the ground, trip wires spring 

out of each min e to prevent the ene my from passing sa fely. 

M-Gator 

Conserving so ld ie rs' e nergy on today 's up-tempo 

ba ttlefield is always an issu e , an d a new device 

un ve il ed durin g Dig ita l Mo un ta in Pe ak helps 

co nserve tha t ene rgy. The newly m od e le d M- G ator is 

ba si c all y a mil itary go lf carl. It' s a six-wheeled, topl e ss 

ve hicle that is a ble [ 0 tr avel through all typ e s of terrain. 

Abo ut 3 fe e t tall , it is muc h more mob ile th an a H MM W v. 

October 2000 

The Volcano (Light), scaled down to fit a HMMWV to 

match the mobility of a light fighter, creates a defens ive 

minefield. 

The two-se ated vehic le c an hau I up to 1.400 pou nds o f 

eq uipmen t in two cargo trays. T he sma ller eq uip me n t tr ay 

on the ho od hol ds abo ut 2 c ubic fe et in vol ume, and the 

rear tr a y holds a bo ut 14 c ubic fee l. T he I S-h orse pow er 

M- Gat Of, w hic h runs on diesel fue l an d can reach a speed 

of 17 m iles per ho ur, can be sli ng -load ed by a U B -flO B lack 

Hawk helicopter. Th e M-Gator can be used for ev-acua ting 

casua ltie s, layin g com munic at io n li nes, and transp ortin g 

message s . 

Skid Steer 

I

n addition to helpin g clear obstac les, a new ini tia tivethe skid steer-will also help light enginee rs co nstruct 

some obstacles and field fortifi cation s of their own (see 

Engineer, February 1998, page 18). The hig hly mane uverable 

sk id steer, which resemble s the combi nation of a sma ll bull dozer 

and a sma ll for k!ift, increases combat-engi neer-squad capabi lities and reduces physical fatigue . Two vers ions of the skid 

steer-s-both camouflage-painted and commerc ially availablcare be ing evalua ted . Th e Melroe Bo bcate Mod el 76 3 (see fro nt 

cover) is a rub ber-tired vehi cle but, when needed, steel tracks 

can be manually installed over the tires to inc rease mobi lity. 

Th e Caterp illars ASV Mod el MD-28 10has full-time rubber tracks 

for propulsion, whic h gives a reduced psi ra ting for traveling 

over we t and swampy terrain. Seven different attachments can 

be installe d on eit her skid steer: 

Engineer 23 
D	 Picket pounder-installs concertina wire, pickets, and post. 

•	 Clamshell bucket-excavates or drops material in a 

designated spot. It is used for paving projects, such as 

filling in potholes. 

Auger (12-,24- or 36-inch)-drills holes. One practical use 

for the 24- and 36-inch augers is to drill side-by-side holes 

up to 5 feet deep. 

•	 Backhoe-excavates sand or gravel. 

•	 Pavement breaker-breaks down pavement, concrete, or 

asphalt obstacles. 

•	 Closed bucket-transports excavated materials. 

•	 Fork lift-moves palletized equipment. 

T

High-Mobility Engineer Excavator 

he new high-mobility engineer excavator (HMEE) will 

phase out the older small emplacement excavator 

(SEE). The HMEE will provide better mobility, greater 

reliability, and a larger front-end loader than the SEE. The 

HMEE can reach 3 speed of 70 mph, as opposed to the SEE's 

top speed of 30 mph . The HMEE's front-end loader can be 

used for limited bulldozing. A backhoe attachment can excavate 

up to 14 cubic feet of dirt or gravel per scoop, 7 cubic feet more 

than the SEE. When the backhoe is not in usc. it folds up, turns 

sideways, and leans in toward the HMEE's cab. The HMEE will 

be helpful to all soldiers on the battlefield, whether they need 

to dig a fighting position in a few seconds or construct a large 

berm to serve as a barrier hom the enemy. 

Robotic T·3 Dozer 

L ig ht engineers also will be using some new 

te.chnological. initiatives to tackle obstacles during 

military operations in urban terrain (MOUT). They can 

stay out of harm's way while clearing obstacles, thanks to the 

new Robotic T-3 Dozer, which is designed to clear away rubble 

and debris that obstructs the path of light fighters in MOUT 

settings. The diesel-fuel-operated dozer is about 12 feet long 

and 9 feet tall. Propelled by steel tracks, it weighs between 4 

and 5 tons and has a top speed of about 10 mph. The remotely 

controlled bulldozer can be operated from up to 1,000 feet away. 

A camera placed on the ceiling of the dozer's cab projects onto 

a television screen and allows the operator to see as if he were 

sitting in the cab. 

L 

Urban Robot 

ight engineers also trained with a new robotic 

reconnaissance tool that is small enough to recon 

sewers and tunnels in a MOUT setting. The urban 

robot (URBOT)-which has a camera on its front, rear. and 

top---can be operated from up to 1,000 feet away. A lithium 

battery powers the unit for up to 2 hours. 

The black aluminum URBOT is a 65-pound, manpackable 

initiative that is about 2 feet long and 1 foot wide. It is rubbertracked, can travel about 3 feet per second, and can climb stairs. 

The URBOT is a unique two-way reconnaissance device: the 

operator can speak through the device and also hear sounds. 

The URBOT can be guided to approach a person, shine a light 

Th e HMEE is faster and mor e reliable and will do double the work of the SEE. 

24 Engineer	 October 2000 
I 

in his fa ce , and speak directl y to him to iden tify him as friend or 

foe. Another use th e 41 st Engi neer Battali on found fo r the 

URBOT was to guide it under a HM M WV to find an oil leak 

with the robot 's lighted c amera. 

Topographic Systems 

n addition to th o se form s of reco nnaissance , light 

en gin eers can a lso pro vide topographi c maps to brigade 

task-force commanders. A three-part system for co llecting 

to pograph ic information will allow te rra in detachments to 

dissemin ate informati on muc h faster. The sy ste m co llects data 

from satellites orbiting the ea rth, se nds it to a compac t disc, 

prints it, and puts it in to squad leade rs' hands. 

T he first new ini tiati ve ac ces sed in this chain of ev ents is 

the Rap id Terrain Data Genera tion (RTD G) System. This set of 

c o mpac t disc s c on tain s data collec ted fro m a e ria l re ­

co nnaissance devices. Satellite dishe s that orbit the e arth and 

airpla nes feed the computer data ab out terrain features . The 

tec hno logy on the compact disks turns the data into a highresolution top ographic map. 

A fter the dat a is se nt from the RTDG System . it hits the 

se co nd new initiative on this information high way, the Digital 

Topo graphic Support System -L ight (DT SS-L). Th e DTSS-L is 

mounted ins ide a s he lter on the back of a HM MW V. In addition 

to th e reg ular devices of a HM MW V, the DTSS-L has some 

com mercial -off-the-she lf (COTS) techn ology- such as pri nters, 

scanners, and a comp uter workstation-s- to hel p top ogr aphers 

process th e geo graphic da ta . Throu gh a computer net work 

lin k, the in formation goes to a third new in itiative, the Rap id 

Hardcopy Rep rodu cti on (RHR) System. The RHR System has 

the capability to print up to 5,000 color map s a day. Becau se 

they are con nected b y a co mputer network, RHR Systems ca n 

he se t up in many places on the battl efield. This will allow 

information to be distributed to a large group of peopl e in a 

small amount of time . The b rigade's tactical- operations cent er 

will be able to disseminate the top ographic information all the 

way down to the sq uad leaders . 

Conclusion 

he 41st Engineer Battalio n wa nts to bu ild on the se 

eme rg ing te c h n ol o gi e s t o inc rease th e uni t 's 

versatility and mobility on the mod ern battl efi eld. Wi th 

this new eq uipment. the batt alion will be better prep ared to 

maximi ze combat-engineer SUp p0l1 to the division ac ro ss a full 

spec tru m of op erations . W. 

(A ll ph otographs by Private First Class Matthew j . I enkins.i 

Private First Class Jenk ins, a staffwriterfor the Fort Drum 

Bl izrard, is a gradua te of the Dep artment of Defense 

Information School's Basic Journalism Course 6-Y9. Fort 

Meade. Marylan d. 

The Engineer Writer's Guide 

We think engi neers take a special pride in their profession, and 

Engineer is always looking for articles from readers who want to 

share their experti se, experience, and ideas. 

If you are a potential contributing writer, here are a few "writer's 

guide" tips to steer you in the right direction. 

Articles may discuss engineer training, operations, doctrine, equipment, history. or other areas of general interest to an engineer readerShip . 

We 're especially interested in articles that have a "how-to-do-itbetter" theme. For instance, we're not looking for articles telling readers how you conducted a routine field exercise. But if you think you 

have a "new-and-improved" way of conducting a tactical operation, 

training exercise, or other operational procedure that may prove helpful to other engineers, that's what we need . 

Articles should generally come from contributors with firsthand 

experience of the subject being presented. Articles should be concise, 

straightforward, and in the active voice. 

Length should range from 2,000 to 4,000 words, and text should 

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copies. Provide a 3 II2-inch disk in Microsoft Word , Rich Text 

Format, or ASCII (please indicate word-processing format on disk 

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Contributors arc encouraged to include black-and-wh ite or color 

photos, artwork, and/or line diagrams that illustrate information in the 

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photos are preferred, but we will accept digital images originally saved 

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Include YO Llr full name, rank, current unit, and job title. Also include a list of your past assignments, experience, and education: your 

mailing address; and a fax number and commercia l daytime phone 

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Reviews of books on engineer topics are also welcome. 

Articles or bonk reviews may be mailed to: Editor. Engineer Professional Bulletin. 320 Engineer Loop, Suite 210, Port Leonard Wood. 

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All submissions are subject to editing. 

If you have questions about an article you're working on-or 

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Note: Due 10 the limited space pel' issue, we will not print articles 

that have been accepted fo r publication by other Army professional 

bulletins. 

October 2000 Engineer 25 
By and large, junior officers who 

se rve as co mba t su ppo rters 

with the opposing force (OPFOR) 

at the National Training Center (NTC) at 

Fort Irwin , Cali fornia, devel op a firmer 

gra sp of combined-arms operations than 

their peers who serve in differ e n t 

bran ches and/or duty locati ons. Engineer 

platoon lea ders serving wi th the 58th 

Combat Engineer Company (CEq- the 

separate company that supports the lith 

Armored Cavalry Regiment (ACR) in its 

OPFOR mission at the NTC-learn and 

master their trade as combined-arms 

comb at supp orters. The y practic e 

multiechelon leadership, hon e their skills 

as staff advisors, develop a highe r degree 

of situational awa reness, and repeatedly 

pl an a nd co nd uc t a comb ined- arms 

opera tion. Th en, they put all the pieces 

ofthe combined-arms operation together 

in a large-seale-conflict scen ario. 

Serving in Multiechelon
 

Leadership Positions
 

T he le arning curve fo r junior 

office rs in the OPFOR is steep 

because they typicall y serve in 

positions that represent units one to two 

levels higher than their ac tual unit. For 

example, a platoon replicates a company 

and a company replic ates a battalion. As 

such, the leadership also must rise to the 

occa sion of the troop-leading duties that 

the replicated unit requ ires. Put simply, a 

platoon leader in garriso n bec omes a 

company commander on the battlefield . 

Wh en the II th ACR takes on the ro le 

of the OPFO R, it fuses two maneu ver 

sq ua dro ns to gether to rep li cate a 

motori zed rifl e regiment (M RR) , 

con sisting of fo ur motori zed rifl e 

battal ion s (M RBs) and eac h implied 

headquarters element. In support o f the 

OPFOR mi s si on, th e 58 th CEC 

coordi na tes the efforts of a visiting 

en gineer com pa ny with its in terna l 

capabiliti e s to repli cat e the 46 th 

Krasno vian Engineer Battalion. 

To simplify the process of supporting 

th e OPFOR in each of its dyn ami c 

missions on the NTC battlefield , the 58th 

CEC incorporates the duties of the three 

line platoon leaders into components of 

the OP F OR c ampaig n. On e pl at oon 

leader is responsible for coordinating the 

co mpa ny 's su pport for offe nsi ve 

opera tions, suc h as meetin g battl es . 

MRR pene tra tion mission s, co unte rattacks, r aid s, and de coy mi ssions. 

Another platoon leader coordinates the 

co mpa ny 's s up po rt to de fen si ve 

ope ratio ns, including de li bera te and 

ha st y defen ses, co ver ing-zone op erations, and security-zo ne opera tions. The 

third platoon leader either augments the 

executive officer as the operations officer 

in the fiel d or manages sustai nme nt 

proj ects tasked to the co mpany . The 

assault-a n d-o bs tacle pl at oon leader 

advises maneuver commande rs on all 

survivability operations. 

In defensive oper ation s, such as MRB 

deliberate defenses or MRR se curityz one defen se s. th e pl at o on le ader 

r esp onsible for defen sive su pport 

coo rdinates not only the efforts of his 

pl ato on but also th ose of the o the r 

plato on s in th e co m pany a nd an 

additi on al co mpa ny of aug mentee 

engineers. In terms of execution, the 

defensive platoon is responsible for the 

entire defensive operation , a planning 

and supervising task usually tack led by 

October 2000 
a company or ba ttalion. Likewise , the 

offensive platoon leader is responsible 

for all engine er support to the MRR in 

offens ive operations, usually a task for 

a n e ng inee r co mpan y or b att ali on 

co mmander. 

Eng ineer plato on leaders hav e the 

o p po rt u nity to sta ff a nd plan th e 

operation that they will support, develop 

the accompanying enginee r overlays and 

es tima te s, and then ex ec ute and supervise tha t o peratio n. Platoon leaders 

can observe their overlay becom ing not 

j ust a complex obstacle belt but a fullblow n en gagement area. Th eir level of 

involvem ent stretches thro ugh the entire 

de fen siv e operation as they ov erwa tch 

the critical areas in the obs tacle beltssupervising the execution of situationa l 

o bs tacle s, reporting the enemy 's po ­

sitio ns and activitie s while conducting 

breaching operations, and calling for fire. 

No t on ly do th e pl at oo n leade rs ex ­

peri enc e th e magn itude of pro viding 

enginee r SUPP0 rL to a regim ent-si zed 

unit, bu t they also witness the effects of 

their mission on the hig her unit's mission 

and on the enemy . 

Serving As Unit Leaders and
 

Staff Officers
 

Combat supporters who are with 

th e O PFOR we ar du al hats, 

serving both as their respecti ve 

un it leader and as the regimental staff 

offic er. In the OP FOR, there are no staff 

officers wh o are equivalent to assistant 

bri gade eng inee rs to serve as the link 

between the regimental staff and the Sgth 

CEC. Instead , the platoon lead er wh o 

suppo rts offens ive or defensive o per ­

ations is the enginee r adv iso r to the staff 

and commander. These pla toon leaders, 

with vari ed assistance from the exe cutive 

officer, att e nd the plannin g session s for 

the war ga mes, orde rs, and rehearsals that 

are pertinent to either the offensive or 

defens ive ope ration. 

Regi ment al an d sq uadro n staff 

o ff ice rs and co m manders dep en d o n 

e nginee r platoon leaders to he experts 

in the mobi lit y!coun te r mob il ity! 

surviva b ili ty Battlefie ld Ope rating 

System (BOS). Engineer lieutenants must 

be masters of the ir field craft because 

th e s uc ces s of th e N TC o p erati on 

de pen ds on it. Fo r ex ample, the platoon 

lead ers who suppo rt de fen si ve ope rati ons adv ise MRB co mmanders on 

e n g a g em e n t- a r e a d e v el opmen i , 

situationa l-obstacle use , and engineer 

b la de asse ts fo r a ll th e d efen si ve 

mission s for a given rotation . 

Th ere are usuall y five battle sce na rios 

for th e force -on -force portion of the 

rotati on, with at least two orthree ofthem 

being defen sive mission s for the OPFOR. 

There fore , the defensive plato on leader 

must coordinate with three separate WIRB 

commande rs to plan enga geme nt-area 

I development for each rotationalscenario. 

Planning mu st include an aly sis of the 

e nem y's possib le course s o f ac tio n, 

dece ptio n, flank security, mobility oCthe 

combined-arms reser ve, and the location 

of fighting posit ion s and obstac le belts 

in relati on to system capabilities of both 

for ces and terrain. In short , the e ngineer 

platoon leader must cr aft an e ngageme nt 

area that optimizes e nginee r assets and 

time, max imizes the use oft errain, protects 

frie n d ly c o mb at fo rc e s, and f ully 

supports the MRB comma nde r 's intent 

and sche me of man eu ver. Th ese tasks 

normall y are performed by an enginee rb at tali o n sta ff or by a n e n g inee rco mpany commander. Plato on leaders in 

the 58th CEC perform the tasks with 

I	 mi nimal supe rv isio n, in add it io n to 

performing the ir platoon-leader duties. 

As a resu lt, j unior lieu ten ants pr acti ce 

the hi gher-le vel pl anning and staffing 

An OPFOR engineer helps his squad create a br each lane. 

process, wh ich pro vides them ex pos ure 

to the co mbined-arms planning pro cess. 

J

Learning Through Repetition 

unior offic ers who serve with the 

OP FOR pract ice co mbined-arms 

ope ra tions several times per month 

every mon th. At [he NTC, there is always 

a ne xt tim e . Le ade rs can tak e away 

lesson s and app ly what the y have learned 

repeatedly th rough o ut thei r tenure of 

leadership. Furthermore, since the OPFOR 

must be a fre ethi nking op po ne nt, the 

sc he me o f e ngi nee r o pe ra tio ns mu st 

constantly adapt to the capa bilities of the 

v isiting bri g ade com ba t te a m , the 

regimental commander' s intent, and the 

p ast le ss on s learn ed . Thu s. combateng ineer platoon leaders can appl y both 

the positives and negative s of lesson s 

learned for the same type of ope ration s 

(for example. security-zo ne defen se) and 

apply them as they plan,staff, and execute 

engineer operations for future battles. As 

a former commander of the 58th CEC said, 

"You have a rare opportunity to make a 

plan and then see the execution of that 

plan." 

Th e success or failure of the regiment 

provides insta nt feedback on the junior 

officers' decisions and ac tions before 

and during an ope rati on. Unlike man y of 

th eir maneu ver co mpa nio ns, plato on 

lead er s from the 58th CEC attend the 

regime ntal after-acti on re views ("'ho t 

wa shes" ). There they re cei ve insta nt 

feedb ack not only on their uni t' s succes s 

October 2000	 Engineer 27 
or failure but also on how it affec ted the propensit y to lise and proficiency in Putting It All Together 

success or failure of the OPFOR. 

Developing Situational 

Awareness 

ge ner al , combat su ppo rte rs I n 

dev elop a high degree of situ ation al 

awareness becau se they typicall y , support echelons two and three levels 

hi gh er th an th eir own. Unlike th eir 

maneuv er and engi neer co unterparts at 

other dut y stations , OP FOR engineer 

plat oon leaders must attend war games, 

staff synchronization drills, reg imental 

o perat io ns orders, back briefs. and 

regimenta l rehearsals.Thus, they develop 

an und erstanding of the mission as a 

regim ental op eration as oppo sed to a 

sub-unit-leve l operation . 

The mission itself requires that the 

platoon lead ers operate at a higher level 

of situational awareness. becau se they 

must synchronize the transition of asse ts 

from un it to unit- som etimes se veral 

times in one operation. Although they 

may be task-organized to one MRB at 

th e onset of a mission, th ey are regime ntal asse ts and mu st ac t to accomplish the regim ental mission . For 

example, platoon leaders must anticipate 

enc oun terin g situ ati on al obsta cles 

thro ughout the dep th of the battl efield 

simulta neo usly and mu st ad vise th e 

maneuver commander on how to employ 

engineer assets both before and during 

the mission. 

The task organization of engi neers 

changes from mi ssion to mission in an 

offe n.sive ca mpaign with the OPFOR. 

En gine er platoon leaders playa crucial 

role in determining that task organization 

because they arc ultimately the ones who 

adv ise' th e re gimental staff a nd 

com ma nder on how to be st empl oy 

enginee r capabilities based on intent , 

terrain, and ene my capab ilities. Th e 

typical task organization of en gineers 

during an offe nsive operation is to attach 

a mobility support de tach ment (MSO) 

with the forward security element and a 

mobile obstacle detachment (MOD) and 

a Volcano (UMZ) with the adv an ced 

guard main bod y; then, an MSD and an 

MOD travel with the main body.However, 

depending on a rot ational brigade's 

28 Engineer 

using situational obstacles. both MSDs 

may be "front-loaded" with the advanced 

guard. Likewise. the UMZ and the 

MODs may be task-organized as an 

independe nt situationa l-obstacle detach ­

ment traveling with the antitank battalion 

to seal assailable flank s autonomously 

of the main maneu ver effort's ability to 

de vel op th e si tua tio n. Th e e ng ineer 

platoon leader. under the coac hing of the 

58th CEC commander, makes the se 

determinations and recommendations in 

the planning processes that go into each 

mission. 

"The vast training area 

of the TC and the 

dynamic desert terrain 

give engineer platoon 

leaders the opport nity to 

develop a varied expertise 

in operations." 

Engineers also learn about the other 

BOS s and how they all fit together. As a 

ma tter of ro utine , eng ineer pla too n 

l eaders advise peers in ma neuver 

squadrons on employing int ernal and 

external assets to co nduct an operation 

effectively-whether it is during an STX 

or a rotati onal sce nario. Sometim es, an 

eng ineer may actuall y advise a peer on 

how to integrate all attac hed combatsupport elements into the scheme of 

maneuver. or even sha pe the pee r 's 

sche me of maneuver. The rea son engineers can do this is because they have 

more experience with the combined-arms 

co ncep t and how each BOS fits in the 

picture. Int egrating internal operations 

into a combined-arms team is essential 

to und erst and in g th e co nce pt, a nd 

pra cticing that integr ation is the key to 

maste ring it. OPFOR engineer platoon 

leaders practice this every month. 

Offi cers at the NTC ha ve the 

opportunity to participate in 

large-scale exe cution of ex ­

ercises, putting together all the elements 

of man eu ve r and com bined -arms 

operations. Le aders can pr act ice their 

skills through train ups, rehearsals, and 

STXs. However, there is no substitute 

for putting all the piece s together. Every 

exercise with in the OPFOR regiment is 

always a combined-arms operation. 

Additionally.junior leaders and soldiers 

have the opportunity to focus on their 

specific tasks-whether it is emplacement 

of ob stacles or maneu ver suppo rtbecau se the higher-ech elon leaders are 

very efficient in planning and coordination, 

whi ch enables routine exe cution. The 

normal difficultie s that hinder training in 

most uni ts, suc h as availa bi lity of 

maneuver areas and training dollars, do 

not play a major role in shaping training 

for th e OPFOR. While it p laces an 

unreasonable limitation on home-station 

training, range s, and dem olition qualificat ion tabl es, the 58th CEC ha s the 

oppo rtunity to con duct mu ltiech el o n 

maneuver and operations-be it in either 

tbe rotational scenario or in rotatio nal 

train-up STXs.Thus, platoon leaders have 

the luxury of conducting essential engineer 

cornerstone missions and doing so at an 

incredibly high operational tempo. 

The vast training area ofthe NTC and 

the dynamic desert terrain give en gineer 

pl atoo n le ade rs the opport unity to 

develop a varied expertise in operations. 

The NTC rotation is the end-all training 

eve nt for which most other units train . It 

is the oppo rtunity to put an operation 

together against a large force in a large 

traini ng area . For the OPFOR, it occ urs 

eve ry month . Th e dynamics o f s upporting several headquarter, and units 

simultaneously is a matter of routine for 

enginee r platoon leaders who serve in 

the OPFOR . This allows j unior officers 

to develop skills necessary to effective ly 

advise and support un its in multil evel 

operations. 

Th e multi cch e lon ope ra tio ns en ­

compassed in each rot ational sce nario 

(continued on page 30 ) 

October 2000 
By D,: Larry Roberts 

On 16June 1775 , the Contine ntal 

Co ng re ss resol ved "T hat 

there be one Chief Engi neer at 

the Grand Army . ... ThM two assistants 

be employed under him ...." This marked 

the begi nning of the Corps of Enginee rs. 

In the followi ng year, a number of individua ls were given appointments as engineers or assistant engineers in the Continental Anny. Three years later, the Con ­

gress authori zed the recruitment of three 

companies of engine ers, ge ner ally referred to as miners and suppers. The organiza tion of the se compa nies-and the 

officers having engineer respon sibili ­

ties- into a "Corps of Engineers" came 

on 11 March 1779. During the Revo lution , these mi ners and sappcrs worked 

on field fo rtifica tions and roads. At the 

Battle of Yorkto wn , they joined in the 

ass ault of Redoubt No. 10 in their sec ­

ondary ca pacity as infantrymen . At the 

close of the Revolution , the Corps was 

mustered out of se rvice. 

Because of a recogni zed need for a 

regular military establishment, Congress 

took a num ber of steps in the early 1790s 

to reconstitute the American Army. One 

of these wa s the esta blishme nt of the 

Co rps of Artille rists and Eng inee rs in 

1794. During the crisis with France four 

ye ars later, an addition al regim ent o f 

art ille rists and engi neers was formed. 

However, it was soo n recognized that the 

duties and functions of the artilleris ts and 

engi neers, whi le co nnected, we re distinct. In 1800, a mov ement began to separate the two branches. On 16 March 1802. 

Congress authorized President Th omas 

Je ffer son to establish a separate Corps 

of Engineers. Th e law also stated "That 

the said corps whe n so organized shall 

be statione d at West Point, in the Sta te 

of New York, and sha ll constitute a military academy .... " By this ac tio n. the 

Congress reco gnized that military engi ­

nee ring was a science and therefore requ ired formal educatio n and training. 

Initially, the Corps consisted primarily 

October 2000 

of officers and cadets. However, in 1803 , 

the commanding officer of the Co rps was 

authorized to enlist 18 men and I artificer 

to help co nd uc t ex perimen ts at West 

Point and for other purp oses. Th is constituted the first enlisted person ne l in the 

Corps since its separation from the artillery several month s before. During the 

War of 1812, a company of bombardiers, 

sappers, and miners served on the North ­

west Frontiers. For the next 40 years, the 

Corps's responsibilities centered around 

the construction of coastal fo rtifica tions 

and the exp lor ati on of the America n 

West. 

In 1838, Co ngress authorized the creation of a separate Corps of Topographical Engineers. Individual topographical 

engi neers had been serv ing und er the 

Chief of Engineers since 1816, and the 

topographi cal-engineering mission dated 

from the appoi ntme nt of Mr. Robert 

Erskine to be geographer and surveyo r 

of the roads. Much of the effo rt on the 

nation's internal development, such as 

road s and waterways, was done by the 

" topogs ." 

During the Mexican War, engi neer and 

topographical-engineer officers performed 

valuable services to the nation. Captain 

Robert E. Lee, Corps of Engineers . rece ived several brevets [or heroism and 

gallantry as General Winfield Scott's staff 

engineer. Significantly. Congress authorized the creation of a company of miners, 

sappers. and ponto neers for the Regular 

Army. Interestingly, these enlisted men 

were to be called engineersoldiers. Before 

this, the term engineer had generally been 

confined to officers. Followi ng the Mexican War, the eng ineers returned to their 

civil works, Iortifications, and exp loration 

projects. In the I850s, engineers surveyed 

several routes for the propos ed transcontinental railroad. 

In the first days of the American Ci vil 

War, Congress added thr ee add itional 

compa nies of engineers and one of topographical engi nee rs. Form ed into a 

battalion of engineers, they worked on 

field forti fications, co nducted terrain reconnaissa nce, and built numerou s fixe d 

and floating bridges (see article , page 42). 

In 1864 , the ba ttalion built a floatin g 

bridge over the James River that exceeded 

2,000 feel in length-a record that stood 

until 1945. Th e efforts of the regul ar battali on of enginee rs were supported by 

num erou s volu nteer engineer regiments, 

such as the 15th and 50th New York Volunteer En gineer Re gim ents. 

Followi ng the Civil War, the Corps returned Lo its peac etime missions. All of 

the work ofthe Topographical Engineers 

we nt to th e Corps whe n the topo gs 

merged with the Corps in 1863. Waterway s. co astal fortifica tio ns, and lighthouses were the most important peacetime respon sibilities. Th e structure of the 

Co rps remained relatively co nstant until 

1901 , when the companies were enlarged 

and reorgan ized into thr ee battalions of 

regular engineers.The Corps's expe rience 

with waterways was of great value when 

the Panama Canal Commission app ointed 

engineer office rs to direct the construc ­

tion of the canal (sec Engineer, Febru ary 

2000, page 28). 

In the years immediately precedin g our 

entry into World War I, the Army and the 

Corps underw ent expansion and reorganization.The Army adopted the divisi onal 

system, which constituted the combinedarms stru cture used today. Key to this was 

the creation of divisional engineer regiment'> that numbered almost I,SO{) officers 

and men. When the country entered the 

war, additional enginee r regiments Clppeared. Many of these worked on specific 

missions, such as ra ilway constructio n. 

forestry. and harbor development. 

The Co rps's record of accomplis hment during World War I established the 

general pattern of engineer op erations 

during World War II. General serv ice and 

combat regirnents built every conceivable structure or facility in the various 

thea ters or operation. Co mbat regim ents 

Enginee r 29 
and battalions supported the maneuver 

forces with roads, bridges. and mine warfare. At home , the Corps supervised the 

$15.2 billion defense-construction program. Included was the $2 billi on Manha ttan Project, which began the era of 

atomic warf are, 

The end of the war against the Axis 

powers ushered in the Cold War between 

the free world and the co mmunist states. 

The Corps responded with an intensive 

program of military construction that consisted of distant early-warn ing sites, military bases overseas, and missile installations. The Cold War turned hot in Korea 

between 1950 and 1954 and in South east 

Asia a decade later. Fo r both of the se 

co nfl ic ts , eng inee rs not only fou ght 

alongside maneu ver forces but also constructed countl ess support faciliti es. In 

the see saw battles in Korea, combat engineers demolished , rebuilt. and destroyed the same bridges as the tide of 

war moved across the Korean landscape. 

Vietnam posed an even greater probl em 

due to the nature of that insurgent con ­

tl ict and the lack of support fac ilities for 

troops in the fie ld. Fireb ases, airfields, 

heliports, harbor facilities, and major 

highw ays were among the tasks of builders and fighter s. All of this occu rred 

while the civil works side of the Corps 

continued with navigation , flood-control, 

]0 Engineer 

hydroelectric, and military-construction 

projects in the United States. 

The end of the Cold War did not brin g 

the dividends of peace that so many 

Americans desired. Contingency operations in Granada, Panama, and Kuwait 

brought comba t engineers into ac tion. 

Humanitarian efforts such as Provide 

Comfort and Restore Hope constituted 

yet anothe r mission for the Cor ps . Rebuilding Kuwait, providin g for relief of 

di spl aced refugees, and sup po rt ing 

United Nation s efforts in Som alia and the 

Balkans ca lled for both comb at and con ­

struc tion skills . Dis aster assistance for 

victims of hurricanes, floods, and ea rthqu akes cont inues to be a peacetime challenge of the Corps. 

Fo r more than 200 years, min ers. 

sappers, pon toneel'S , and topogs-engineers have con tributed to the development of this nation and of de veloping 

na tions. In wa r, eng inee rs have been 

fighters and builde rs of those things 

needed to sustain the battle . If the past 

is simply a prologue of the future, engineers must continue to hon e their ability 

to build and, if necessary, to fight. 

III 

DI : Roberts is the U.S. Army Engineer 

School historian at Forr Leonard Wood, 

Misso uri. 

(continued from page 28) 

provide junior officers with an end-state 

result in mind for each given mission. 

Platoon lead ers know how they fit into 

the big picture and how the big picture 

fits into their trainin g and performance. 

Conclusion 

While no one co uld win the 

argume nt th at eng in eer 

platoon leaders at the NTC 

receive better overall tra ining than their 

counterparts, it goes without saying that 

they devel op and master the co ncept of 

their combined-arms rol e on th e 

battl efield. The rea son is simple: Th ey 

do it the right way, all the way, all the 

time, every time. The Army depends on 

combat supporters to know and ma ster 

their trad e. When questioned about the 

use of engi neers in the complex Force 

XXI Army during a visit he made to the 

NTC, Major General George Harmeyer 

(fa nner commander of the Armor School) 

replied to the 58th CEC commande r that 

"the onu s would be on the maneuver 

commander to know how to use you." 

The truth is that only knowledgeable 

and agg ressive combat-support offi cers 

are going to get their assets integrated 

properly into the combined-arm s fight. 

Those who have served with the 58th 

CEC have had a good ta ste of that 

concept. Li eutenants should seek out 

this assignment if they want to really learn 

their profe ssion. III 

Captain Matlock, who is currently 

at Fort Carson, Colorado , spent thr ee 

years at the National Trainin g Center. 

A graduate ofthe U.S. Military Academy, 

he holds a master's in en gi neering 

managem ent from the Unive rs ity of 

Missouri-Rolla. CPT Matlock recently 

co m p le te d th e Engine er Cap tain 's 

Career Course and the CAS3 Course. 

Reference: 

Law, Leonard J. and Ferdon, Keith R. 

"Red Devils! The 58th Combat Engineer 

Company." Engineer, November 1999, 

pp.28-33. 

October 2000 

Colonel Brian E. Osterndorf, commander of the Corps of Engineers' 

New England District, salutes Colonel Richard Gridley, the first Chief 

Engineer, during a wreath-laying ceremony at the Canton Corner 

Cemetery, Canton, Massachusetts, to mark the Corps's 225th 

birthday, The New England District's Ranger Color Guard accompanied 

Colonel Osterndorf to Colonel Gridley's grave site. 
COL Richard Gridley 

COL Rufus Putnam 

MG L.L. Duportail 

LTC Stephen Rochefonta ine 

LTC Henry Burbeck 

COL Jonathan Williams 

COL J.G. Swift 

COL w.K. Armistead 

COL Alexander Macomb 

COL Charles Gratiot 

BG J.G. Totten 

BG Richard Delafield 

BG A.A. Humphreys 

BG H.G. Wright 

BG John Newton 

BG J.C. Duan e 

BG T.l . Casey 

LTG Raymon d A. Wheeler 

LTG Lewis A. Pick " 

LTG Samuel D. Sturgis Jr 

LTG Emerson C. Itschner 

LTG Walter K. Wilson Jr. 

LTG William F. Cassidy " 

LTG Frederick J. Clarke " 

LTG William C. Gribble Jr 

LTG John W. Morris " 

LTG Joseph K. Bratton 

LTG Elvin R. Heiberg III 

LTG Henry J. Hatch 

LTG Arthur E. Williams 

LTG Joe N. Ballard 

LTG Robert B. Flowers 

Chiefs of Engineers 

07 June 1775 - 05 April 1776 

05 April 1776 - 01 December 1776 

22 July 1777 - 10 October 1783 

26 February 1795 - 07 May 1798 

07 May 1798 - 01 April 1802 

01 April 1802 - 20 June 1803 

19 April 1805 - 31 July 1812 

31 July 1812 - 12 November 1818 

12 November 1818 - 01 June 1821 

01 June 1821 - 24 May 1828 

24 May 1828 - 06 December 1838 

07 December 1838 - 22 April 1864 

22 April 1864 - 08 August 1866 

08 August 1866 - 30 June 1879 

30 June 1879 - 06 March 1884 

: 06 March 1884 - 27 August 1886 

11 Octobe r 1886 - 30 June 1888 

" ." ." 06 July 1888 - 10 May 1895 

04 October 1945 - 28 February 1949 

01 March 1949 - 26 January 1953 

17 March 1953 - 30 September 1956 

01 October 1956 - 27 March 1961 

19 May 1961 - 30 June 1965 

" ." 01 july 1965 - 31 July 1969 

" 01 August 1969 - 31 July 1973 

01 August 1973 - 30 June 1976 

01 July 1976 - 30 September 1980 

" 01 October 1980 - 14 Septembe r 1984 

14 September 1984 - qs May 1988 

17 June 1988 - 04 June 1992 

24 August 1992 - 30 June 1996 

01 October 1996 - 2 August 2000 

23 October 2000 - Present 

October 2000 Engineer 31 
ScreamingEaglesBridgetheGap 

By Captain Jam es Handura 

Sp ecial-opera/ions fo rces f rom Cortina destroyed the last 

remaining bridge over the Mississippi River. Their riming could 

not ha ve been bette r, becaus e they successjullv stalled the 

joint task forc e 's most critical logistics push ofthe operation. 

This bridge was a vita l lin k in Mai n Supply ROUle Ford 's 

abi lity to pass traffic. The nearest ribbon-bridge assets were 

alm ost J00 kilom et er s to th e south. Th e j o in t-tusk-force 

commande r kn ew ther e Ivas only one unit that co uld move 

hridgin g equipme nt that [at: over that terrain, that quickly. 

The JOlst Airborne Division (Air Assault}, known as the 

"S creaming Eagles." was ca lled on to help bridge the gap 

until a mo re permanent bridge could be constructed. 

was the scenario under whi ch Cn-101 Aviation 

Regiment (C H-47), 159tl1 Aviation Brigade, 1Ols1 

Airbo rne Di vision , Fort Campbell, Kentucky, and the 

814th En gin eer Company (Assault Float Ribbon Bridge), Fort 

Soldiers from the 814th Engineer Company prepare 

to hook a ramp bay. 

32 Eng ineer 

Po lk, Lo uisiana, recently co nduct ed trai ning . Th e genes is of 

this training event was de rived from a corps-leve l simulation 

exercise in which the 10 Ist A irborne Division had a "beprepared" mission for j ust such a co ntingency. The training 

took place fro m 31 Janu ary to 4 Febru ary 2000, alon g the "oldriver" portion of the Mississippi, with the hel p of the New 

Orlea ns District of the US. Army Corps of En gineers (see map, 

page 33), 

T

The Training 

he stated trai ning objectives were to train aircrew s 

and engineers to sling load ribb on- bridge eq uipme nt 

and to construct a ribbon-b ridge raft properly. 

Day One 

The 814th Engi nee r Co mpany co mma nder and the Cn -IO I 

flight- operat ions officer held a meeting to discuss the loca tion 

and layout of the pick up and landing zones, bridge components 

and cha rac teristics, load-h ook-up traini ng, aircraft familiarization, day time and nightt ime picku p- and landin g-zone opera tions, load ins pec tions. proper rigging techn iqu es, the 

situational trainin g exercise (STX) and, mosl importantly,safety. 

Day Two 

Hooker trai ning- the req uir ed process o f ma in ta ini ng 

proficiency in the perishable ski ll of hooking rigged loads to a 

hovering rotary-wi ng aircraft- was conducted . In the 101s1 

Airborne Division, soldiers must have actually hooked a load 

under an airc raft withi n the past 90 days to be qualifi ed , unless 

they are rece nt Air Assault Schoo l graduates, One CH-47D 

Chinook landed at the pickup zo ne at 1300 hours, where it was 

greeted by an enthusiastic crew and the unique pieces of 

equipment from the 8 14lh Engine er Company-an interior bay, 

a ramp bay, and a bridge-erec tion boat. The Chinook company 

commander co nducted a class with the engineers on aircr aft 

October 2000 
charac teristics, aircraft safety, and actions of the hooker teams 

working underneath the aircraft. Th e daytime hooker training 

began at 1400 hours. Both bridge platoons had already rigged 

and positi oned load s of all three types of equipment in the 

pickup zone and had rotated their personn el throu gh the actual 

hoo king of the loads under the aircra ft. Many of the soldiers 

had ne ver e nc oun ter ed th e tre m endo us po wer an d lift 

capability of the Chin ook nor experienced its accompanying 

ga le-force rotor wash. 

Wh en this training was completed , the Chinook picked up 

each load to verify the riggin g, or the "link count," and then 

deli vered it to the landing zone. which in this case was the 

Mississippi River. Nighttime hooker training began shortly after 

sundow n, with the aircrew s hooking the load s while wearing 

night-vision goggles (NV Gs). 

Day Three 

This train ing consisted of slinging the bridge components 

and constructing a six-bay raft. The daytime portion began 

early, with both platoons riggin g and positioning components 

of a six-bay raft along with one bridge-erection boat on the 

pickup zone. The plan was to sling bridge bays to the rivel' (the 

landing zone} , where the awaiting bridge crew s in brid geerection boats would assemble the sec tions into a six-bay-raft 

co nfiguration. This raft is capable of transporting the heaviest 

_--.--: ......,.....---,._-

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.. ... 

I IE" 

.-

f··-

\ '-, 

J 

, . 10 . " \ .. ,.·... ;. : 

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vehicle in the IOlst Airborne Div ision's inventory. 

While eng ine ers prep ared the load s, the flight cre ws 

practiced their hoverin g position over the river and rehearsed 

ingress and egress from the pickup and landing zones. When 

rehearsals we re comp lete d, the individual trainin g events were 

meshed and the collective training began . During this phase, 

the brid ge crewmen assembling the raft s learned a valuable 

lesson: They mu st ensure that the sling legs were clea r of the 

bay hin ge points before the sections we re unfolded or the 

section would remain in the folded position. 

Once aga in. the nighttime tr aining followed the same 

sequence as the daytime training, with the aircrew s wearing 

NVGs. Aircrews are requ ired to remain current and qualified 

while wearin g NVG s, which is a challenging task. But flying 

wit h NVGs over water is even more cha llenging, espec ially 

when the landin g zone must be shared with river barges that 

occasionally pass through the area . 

T 

The Exercise 

he trainin g event culminated with an STX , whic h 

began at 1100 hours. The flight-operation s officer 

co nducted the air-mission briefing, which included the 

overall enemy and friendly situation and the aircrew's role in 

the operatio n. Afte r recei ving the order, leaders fin alized plans 

and co nducte d troop-leadin g procedures. 

The STX focu sed solely on Phase II (Assault Acros s the 

River) of a deliberate river-crossing operation. Acco rding to 

Field Manu al 90-13, River-Crossing Operations, the conce pt 

of this phase is to "rapidly place combat power on the far shore 

to eliminate the enemy 's direct fire onto the crossing sites and 

secure terr ain for attac k positi ons." 

Th e previou s three days o f tra ini ng paid off when the 

operat ion began in earn est and the e ngineers rapidly and 

expertly co nstruc ted six-bay rafts, wh ich- in an act ual 

operation-would have been used to shuttle significa nt combat 

power to the far shore. The mission was clearly a success. 

The Results 

This unique training event, 'Which coupled the mobility 

of Army avi ation with the capability of the engineer 

float -bridge equipment. was significa nt in man y ways. 

Perhaps mo st impor tant wa s that the event proved that the 

10lst Airborne Division not only has the tactical mobility and 

lethal ity that sets it apart from other di visions, but it also has 

the flexibility to react to situations such as that in the opening 

scenario and quickly overcome it to accomplish the mission. 

Although the stated trainin g objectives were to train aircrews 

and enginee rs to sling load ribbon -b rid ge eq uipment and 

con struct a ribbon-bridge raft properly. the engi nee r company 

also learned to set up and run pickup and landin g zones properly. 

In add ition, soldiers ga ined co nfidence working und er the 

aircraft, and aviators were abl e to hone their over-water skills 

for both daytime and nighttime operations. 

Captain Handura is a recent graduate of the Engine er 

Officers Advan ced Course at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 

He was previously assigned to the 326tl1 Engineer Battalion, 

101st Airborne Division, Fort Campbell, Kentucky. 

October 2000 Engineer 33 

III 
, Junl nicer 

Iisir Cllnl nPIlrlm 

By Lieut enant Colonel Christopher J. Toomey. First Lieutenant Jeff Qualteri, 

lind First Lieut enant Kevin Truesdell 

The 14th Combat Engineer Battalion's Offi cer Professional Developm ent Program engage s the unit's junior officers at multipl e levels- from very specific, 

short-horizon , mission-essential-task-list (METL)-driven tasks 

to long-term exposure to the opportunitie s afford ed through a 

career in the Army and the Engineer Reg iment. One of the 

program 's recurring components is visits to the neighb oring 

Seattle and Portland U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) 

Districts, whose headquarters are close to Fort Lewis, Washington . The se tours arc alway s interesting, and most or the 

battali on 's lieutenants and captains- particularly those with 

engineering and construction backgro und s-find work in the 

districts intriguing and a source of inspiration to remain on 

acti ve dut y. Recognizin g the phenomenal diversit y of the 

Regiment, many are excited about the prospect of serving in 

USACE Distri cts following successful company commands. 

In an effort to enhance the bread th of junior officers' 

understanding o f wor k within the USACE and devel op 

construction management skills, the "Rugged" 14th Battalion 

developed a partnership with seve ral of the districts in the 

lJSACE's Pacific Northwest Division, Modeled after the Cadet 

Distri ct Eng inee r Program sponsored by the Unit ed States 

Military Academy' s Department of Civil and Mech anical 

Engineering, the Rugged Junior Officer District Intern Program 

(JODIP) places selected junior officers in local districts at the 

project-engineer level for two to four week s. 

Followin g the de velopment of the initial concept with 

comm anders of the Pacific Northwest Division and r on Lewis' 

555th Comba t Engineer Group, the 14th Battalion approached 

the Seattle, Portland, and Walla Walla Districts with the idea 

and met positive responses. The ens uing process invo lved 

orchestration around four basic considerations. 

•	 Assignment. The battalion asked the LJS ACE Districts to 

place the officers in project-engineer positions on current 

construct ion proj ects. This do es not preclud e a district 

orientati on, which is bene fici al, but the intent is to place the 

juni or officers in "m uddy-boo ts" positions and expose them 

10 construction and construction management in the field , 

to include quality assurance and safety. 

•	 Officer Se lec tion . Th e batt alion looks [or solid per ­

form ers, typically first lieutenants and junior captains, 

1LT Jeff Oualterl served his intern ship at the Portland District's Bonneville 

Lock and Dam. He is shown in specting recently installed ductwork, 

34 Engineer October 2000 
with an interest in serv ing wit h the USACE. A desirab le 

criterio n is an academic background in engi neering or 

construc tion mana gement. 

•	 Timing. A bala nce must be achieved between timi ng the 

officer 's assignm ent with meaningful on-site construction 

and whe n the officer can be spared from the unit (norm ally 

during a post-support or "red" cyc le). In addition, it is recommend that the dur ation bc from two to four we ek s 

with the latter bein g optimal. 

•	 Funding. Th e unit must deci de wha t it can fund and what 

the dis tric t ca n fund in terms of tra vel and pe r diem, 

particul arly if the project site is far from the horne sta tion. 

Selecting USACE-managed const ruct ion projects on the 

install ation can mitigate this cost. To date. USACE Districts 

absorb all TD Y costs. 

Two first lieutenants recently participated in the lODIP. One 

officer spent his assignment at the Portland District's Bonneville 

Dam. Following a briefing at the district office, he was assigned 

as a project engineer at the dam, where he completed a qualityassurance plan for rebuilding a 300-ton crane. He also attended 

a half-day co urse based on marine-construc tion cost estimating 

an d learned abou t and wor ked wit h change orders and 

submittals fro m the contractor to the engineering dep artment. 

While at the dam , he Obse rve d a fina l exciter test and an 

alignment test on a hydropowered generator before it was 

place d on-line for commercia l use. The generator is part of the 

first pow erhouse restoration being completed at the Bonn eville 

Dam. Fro m start to finish, the office r was actively employed, 

with each day 's events scheduled for maximum opportunities. 

The re wa s an eq ua l balance of educa tional tr aining an d 

employment on various tasks. 

For his internship, the second officer worked for the Sea ttle 

District Corps of Engineers at the Fort Lewis Area Office, which 

is primari ly respo nsible for constructio n on Fo rt Lew is and 

nearb y McChord Air Force Base. Assigned to the project site 

of a new medical clinic at McChord, the officer's responsibilities 

included proc ess ing requests fo r information and cond ucting 

Octobe r 2000 

1LT Kevin Truesdell, while working in the 

Fort Lewis Resident Office , Seattle 

District, conducts quality-control and 

safety inspections at the McChord Ai r 

Force Base Medical Clinic. 

qu ali ty-control and safety in spect ions. Wh ile pro cessin g. 

requ ests for information, he worked with the superintende nt 

and qua lity-assurance officer to determine ways to adjust the 

design of the buiIding. The quality-assurance inspections we re 

an exce llent oppo rtunity to observe the construc tion trades in 

action. The safe ty inspecti ons consisted of daily wa lks through 

the project site to ens ure that the subco ntractors were following 

both Occ upatio na l Safely and Health Adminis tration and 

USACE guidelines. Th e o ffice r also had the opportuni ty to use 

his technica l degree by designing a foo ting for the clin ic's 

entrance sign . 

Th e JODlP is makin g a positive impact on the participating 

officers and the sponso ring USACE Distric ts. For the officers, 

the program provides a valuable look at the remar kable diversity 

of assignments within the Regimen t and the Army and allow s 

the officers to get actual hands-on , project-engineer exp erience. 

The program also benefits the host district by providin g it an 

opportunity to work and train future project engineers, dep uty 

commanders, and commanders . The program is now broadened 

to all enginee r units at Fort Lewis and is adm inistered under 

the guidance of the 555th Combat Engineer Group.A third officer 

recently interned with the Walla Wall a District. 

At this time, it is difficult to gauge the long-term benefit of 

the intern program as a vehicle for officer retention. Yet, it clearly 

wilt contri bute to further educating our junior officers to the 

vast assignment op portunitie s avail ab le and will serve as 

ano the r "arrow in the quiv er" in making the decision to remain 

a part of our Army. W 

Lieutenant Colonel Toomey, a graduate ofthe United Stat es 

Milita ry Academy, commanded the 14th Combat Engineer 

Battalion from 1998 to 2000 . 

First Lieutenant Qualter i, a graduate of Colorado Stat e 

Univers ity with a degree in civil engineering. is a pla toon 

leader in Char lie Company, 14th Combat Engineer Battalion. 

First Lieutenant Truesdell, a graduate 4 the United States 

Military Academy with a degree in civil engineering, leads a 

pl atoon in Alpha Company, 14th Combat Enginee r Battalion. 

Engineer 35 
COSTA RICAN PORTIS FACILITIES:
 

By Captain. Tim Sca rb roug h. 

Since Hurrican e Mitch de vastated much o f Central 

Ame rica ne arly tw o years ago , th e United Stat e s 

Southern Command (USSOUTHCOM) has co ntinued to 

task United States Army Reserv e (US AR) eng ineers with the 

assessment and man agement of theater en gineering missions. 

The so urce of this co llection of expertise is housed at the 4 l6th 

Enginee r Co mmand (ENCOM) of Darie n, Illinois. a suburb of 

C hi cag o . T he 4 l6 th EN COM speciali z es in techn ic al 

engineering and eng ine e ring managemen t, with are as of 

respon sib ilit y that include Southwest Asia and Cen tra l ancl 

South Am erica. USSOUTHC OM relies he avily on the 416th 's 

drilling reser vists and its full-time staff to pro vid e the best 

eng ineering expert ise the USAR ca n mu ster. 

Survey Background 

L ate in 1999, the 41 6th ENCOM was tasked to conduct 

several pr ed epl oym ent site surveys to asse ss futur e 

construction projects. Sit es in Costa Riea came to the 

fo refront for analy sis in January 2000. An assessme nt of the 

co st regardin g new construc tion versus ren ovation of ex isting 

facilities wa s needed acc ording to bilateral ag reeme nts between 

the United States and Costa Rica. Abo needed were detail ed 

engineer surveys to help the Co sta Rican Coast Guard combat 

dru g smuggling . 

Th e 4 16th ENCOM se lected a team of three prof ession als 

from its reser ve and ac tive-duty staff months ahead . Th e team 

members' backgrounds coll ectively reflected a vast knowledge 

of arc hitectur e. building ren ovati on and construction, pier 

analys is, soils suitability, and survey ing . Th e team arrived in 

Costa Rica in lat e January to begin the ex tensive site surv ey s 

required by USSOUTHCOM's taskin g. 

Coordination with host-nation authorities is essential TO any 

OC ONUS mission. The 416th EN COM's team met with general 

contractors the night before they left for the survey sites to 

determine short -term material issues and other related topics. 

Issues included Costa Ric an building codes compared to those 

in the Unite d States. joint usage of American Concrete Institute 

(ACT) manuals, and comparison of host-nation material s and 

construction practices to those used in CONUS. The team found 

that con stru ction costs in Costa Rica were 20 percent higher than 

those in the United States and concluded that lab or costs were 

60 percent low er, including social security and taxes. 

Surve y Sites 

of the six sites for use by the Costa Ri can Coast Guard . One of 

these four sites was to be establi shed as the main station. two 

sites were to be se condary sites, and on e site was to be a 

substation . 

Golfi to. For any predepl oyrnent site survey. an asse ssment 

of surro undings en route to the site is oft en more imp ort ant 

th an the proposed constru ction site itsel f. The sur vey team 

members rea lized this imp ortant fact when they arri ved at Site 

1, the port of Golfito. Th ey noticed that the port took up a 

lon g, narrow area on the Pacific Co ast and that there was very 

little sp ace availabl e for building or expan sion. The team 

lea rned that Cos ta Rica had e xport ed ban anas th rou gh this 

central par! approxim ately 60 years ago. Over time, the large 

e xp ort companie s pulled out of the ar ea and mo ved their 

ope rations to the Atlantic Coast at Lim on. To kee p the business 

at the port of Golfito, the Costa Rican gov ernment made all 

local products lax-free so that pe ople would co ntinue travel ing 

there to shop . 

This site enco mp asses a still-use d, 60- year-old pier. whi ch 

wa s being res urfac ed by the Nation al Port Aut ho rity for 

anticipated commercial traffic. A steel wa rehouse. in critica l 

need of repair" adj oined the pier and was being con verted into 

ad ministrative offices and livin g quar te rs. Co lloc ated on th is 

site were 50,OOO-gallon, gasoline-storage tanks and a boatretrieval facility. 

Quepos, On e hu ndred mile s north of Golfitu is Quepos, a 

sma ll community port u sed primaril y for fishing. wh ich was 

designat ed as Site 2. Th ere, unlike at Golfito. a person mu st 

cross a peninsula to get to the Coast Gu ard facility. The 50­

year-o ld facility, primarily made of wood, was unse rviceabl e. 

The two-story structure , which had 500 square feet of space 

per story, had a separate latrine on each level. Next doo r to this 

facilit y wa s a struc ture, similar in design and age to the Coast 

Gua rd fac ility, th at housed the Natio nal Port Auth ority. 

Accessibility to the pier from this area wa s a problem because 

it required crossing an aging steel-trestle bridge that was in 

very poor co ndition and heavil y used by spo rt fishermen. At 

the pier, Coast Gu ard and commercia l ves sel s share d mooring 

space . and the height of the fi xed pier var ied 12 feet between 

high tide and low tide. Att ached to this pier were floating piers 

used to moor onl y the fishin g boats. 

Puntarenas. At Site 3, Pun tarenas, it app eared that no land 

was availabl e for constructio n, because every square inch was 

The 4 16th ENCOM 's team assessed six ports along the . utili zed in some wa y or ano the r. Now, cruise ships doc k ther e 

Pacific Coast: Golfito . Qu epos, Puntarenas, Caldera, frequently. and tourists parti cipate in inland tou rs. but there 

Flamingo, and Cu anjigil . Th e intent was to identi fy four are plans to rel ocate such ope ralion s to Caldera. 

36 Engineer October 2000 
The substructure of the wharf was 

in extremely poor condition and unsafe. 

Most of the facility was mo re tha n 70 

years old and built on steel and concre te 

piers, which were more than 80 percen t 

dete riorated. Stru ctural failure seemed 

imminent unless extensive repairs were 

ma de to the undercarriage. Signific ant 

problems were noticed, such as ships 

being stuck in the mud for four hour s a 

day due to the low tide. 

Ca ld er a . At Site 4 . the po rt of 

Calde ra, surveys showed that much 

derailed wo rk would be required before 

rel o ca tin g o pe ra t io ns th er e from 

Puntarenas, Caldera is the largest commerc ial port on the Pacifie Coast of 

Costa Ri ca . Each day, large, oceangoing ships handle vast quantiti es of 

import and export goods at this facility. 

Po rt authorities ex p ressed a great 

Flamingo Marina (Site 5)
 

Minor Station
 

C a n tJb fNH l 

100 -foot Pier Sea 

1 Small boat 

5 to 7 Personnel Barra e Colorado 

Nic""'" Sfation ~" '.. Pu&rto 

Caldera ...... unta r ,,_ .Ala!u,,"la >-.llm6n (Site 4) - - - _ _ +-_-.::::-.P:::--.. :::;.:;:::.:.::.: ld %}SAN Mo ",- ... Primary Station '\.J .( JOSE Port of

. 

~.oin

3 Stet! to 5 Patrol boats PuertCt.., . San fsToro 

2 Small boats Ocepce 

60 Personnel 

F~onit < , " Quepos (Site 2) ".- Z

Secondary Station (J 30 60"'1') 

{I 30 fj.()n 1 Patrol boat 

2 Small boats 

25 Personnel 

Golfito (Site 1) 

Second ary Statio n 

1 Patrol boat Costa Rican 2 Small boats 

Coast Guard Sites 25 Personnel

inte rest and need for Coast Guard port 

sec urity and protection. 

Th e ream assessed the main co mmercial pier, three large 

wareho uses with offices, and the parkin g areas. The port is 

used for commercial fishing and tourism and would provide a 

goo d working pl arform for material storage and equipment 

staging. Well suited for maintenance, refueling. and construction 

opera tions, th ere wa s eve n room for offshore equipment 

mooring. Very accessi ble for engineering operations, thisfacility 

had all the amenities of an American port. 

Flam ingo . Th e tea m traveled from Caldera through the 

mountains to Flamingo (Site 5), which has the first marina built 

in Costa Rica. Used primarily by the sport-fishing industry, the 

area was bein g upgraded by a U.S. developer, who planned to 

more than double its size and include repair faci lities. However, 

he still had to mee t government requirements and obtain the 

necessary perm its. Plans also were bein g made for a dry dock, 

a petroleum storage and issue area, and pier space for one 

hundred add itional boats. Part of the expansion will include 

100 fee t of pier space devoted tn Coast Guard vessels. 

Cuanjigil. Four miles up the coast, the team reached Site 6. 

Cuanjigil, a very small fishin g village about 20 miles from the 

Nicaraguan border, had constructed a 290-foot pier and a small 

fish-processing plant. Fac ilities included 440-volt electrical 

power, diesel fuel, and water. Th is was a small fishing-boat area 

with a low volume of sea traffic. 

A

Survey Results 

fter tour ing all of the sites, the predepl oyment site 

survey team traveled to San Jose to summarize the 

dat a it had co llected for a bri efi ng to th e U .S. 

Ambassador an d rhe Ame rica n Embassy sta ff. The team 

conc lude d that most of the "over-the-water" con structio n 

Octo ber 2000 

should consist of buil din g the new fac ility in Caldera . All of the 

othe r sites were considered "secondary" and should have some 

type of simple, floating pier system. AJI existin g struct ures, 

both on land and over the water, appeared to need majo r repairs 

or, in some cases, were beyond repair. However, with careful 

management. significa nt improve me nts could be made to the 

ports with a modest amo unt of funding. 

At all of the sites. the survey team observed significant 

environmental problems, which included sewage systems being 

discharged directly into the ocean and vehicl e batteries being 

dumped on bare soil, causing contamination. 

In the most important part of the asse ssment-the bottom ­

line cost estimate- the team co ncluded that because of high 

cos ts, the proje cts sho uld be prioritized and co nstruc tion 

ph ased in o ve r se vera l ye ar s. If tr oop cons truction is 

considered, the ava ilability of U.S. troop lab or shou ld be 

evaluated and properly coordinated. The initial estimated cost 

for the four sites selected for Costa Rican Coast Guard use 

ranged from $2 million for renovatin g the existing facilities to 

$5 million for new construction. At Caldera, the site selected 

for the main Cuast Guard station, new construction- estimated 

at $ 1.9 million- will be required. Whether U.S. or Costa Rican 

design standa rds are used will also ha ve an impact on the 

project 's cost. Additionally, a detailed study of the underwater 

subsurface will be required before the fin al design of the piers 

is determined. w 

Capta in Scarb rough is an active-duty project engineerfor 

the 41 6th Engineer Comma nd. Previously the 4 1Sth 's Public 

Affair s Officer, he is the point of contact for issues on 

militar v water well s, alternative construction technology, 

th eatre co nstruction -ma nagem ent sy stem s, and training 

management. 

Engineer 3 7 
Enha ce Offlllt e-She f
 

Technolog-es
 

Help Engineers Prepare for Future Operations
 

By Major Barrell W Larwin 

Never before in our nation's history have engineer 

mission s in Europe been as complex . vaned , and 

d e mand i n g as th ey a re tod a y. F acilit atin g 

operations throughout th e Balkans , co nducting Partnersh ip 

for Peace and other support missions , facilitating ex ercises, 

e nte rtain ing and resol ving readiness iss ues, and be ing 

ac tiv e ly e ng aged in con tinge ncy pl annin g pro vide th e 

ingredi ents for excitin g times. Wh ile these mission s offe r 

us nume rous cha lle nges , we tak e great pride in know ing 

th at we are di rectly linked to the role our nation is pl aying 

in he lpin g shape the internati on al environment whe re ou r 

nati on al stra teg ic interests are at stake. 

A vex ing issu e th at o ur United States Army -E uro pe 

(USAREUR) en gin eer staff recentl y entertained was how to 

improve the level of support we provid e for current and futu re 

mission s. While no one on the engin eer staff wo uld deny the 

import anc e of this issue, there was certainl y deb ate over wh at 

we could possibl y do wh ile our OPTEMPO rem ains so high . 

After discounting a number of ideas , we decided to tak e on 

projects that we knew we cou ld ge t approve d and see throu gh 

to completion . 

This article pro vides a retrospect of two projects that our 

Engineer Opera tions Division undertook to put its information 

and communi cations architect ure on the right glide path for 

the twent y-first cent ury. It describes the capabi lities of our 

new Co ntingency Operation s Center currently in use at our 

fac ility on Campbell Barracks, Heidelberg, as we ll as provide 

inform ation on the new Engineer Information Repository 

which is currently available for your use. 

Contingency Operations Center 

After ye ars of stru ggling to perform engin eer op ­

e ra tions in a facilit y with in adequat e com mu ­

nications and a layout that didn 't foster an effic ient 

opera ting environment , the staff set out in July 1999 to give 

our faci lity a face -lift. Our goa l was to complete a world-class 

engineer ope rations center in three month s-before our next 

anticipated continge ncy operation. 

An image of the front of the De Fleury Center. The two forward flat screens and multiple overhead screens give engineers the ability to present as many as four product s at one time. 

38 Engineer October 2000 
WELCOME TO THE DCSENGR 

.A. INFORMATION REPOSITORY	 III 

On Poirllforth", N3Iion FACILITATIN G ENGINEER TEAMWORK ACROSS THE THE/HER 

rr."P'r.'Il lEI 

130th Engr Bde 

1 . , 

1st AD Engr 8de USAES! 

MANSCEN 

Ft 10 Engr Bde 412t11 

E NCOM 

.Jt 	 Double Click ."it~. The Country,
 

NMCB -3& 1 Unit. or Link You'd
 41 6t l1 like Info 0 n E t\J COM 

60th TORO Link	 Other Link • t;~~ ""'>'3'~'~

Search Engine 

A model ofthe opening Engineer Information Repository screen . As you scroll your 

mouse over a country in the USAREUR area of responsibility, the country's name will 

pop up. Then follow the instructions on the screen . 

We identified the location for the center and created a 

conceptual design using ideas from existing war rooms, local 

co ntrac to rs, co m m unicatio n ex pe rts , and o the rs wi t h 

experience in developing similar projects. Like most unfinanced 

rcqui rem ents that are pulled together near the end of the fiscal 

year, we scrambled to def initize the design requirements, 

acquire the funds, and get the contrac t awar ded before the 

end of the fiscal year. 

After considerable effort, the contract for the DeFl eury 

Continge ncy Operations Center was awarded on 30 Septembe r 

1999 with work starting on 10 October. Three month s later, 

most of the con struc tion was complete, and the center was 

officially opened. It is filled with the latest hard ware and 

co mmunicatio ns off -the-she lf tec hnolog ies . Some of its 

noteworthy attributes are­

•	 A completely integrated worldwide architecture entailing 

voice, video , and data-communication links. 

•	 Eight classified an d uncl assified workstat ions with a 

capability to surge to twenty. 

•	 A TeleEngineering video teleconference (VTC) for pointto-point communicati on s and a multisystem VTC for 

worldwide comp atibility. 

October 2000 

•	 A rotating overhead-projec tion system with three motorized 

screens for projecting dig ital maps and other geos patial 

imagery. 

•	 Two 60-inch, Oat-screen T Vs and two multis ystem TVs Cor 

displaying briefs, CNN, and numerous other produ cts. 

All of these features-including the lights, sound system, 

and ambient contro ls-are integrated into one touch panel . 

whi ch gives the operator com plete control ove r all the systems 

in the room. The operator can control and tran sfer data from 

any workstation to any one of the projection or displ ay device s 

or VTC systems. Although this was an enor mous challenge to 

pull together, we all agreed when it was complete that the 

headaches were worth the effort. We had effectively modified 

a twentieth-centu ry structure and created the facili ties we need 

to be an engineer multiplier in future operations. 

A

Engineer Information Repository 

nother project, which serves as a compleme ntary 

initiative to the DeFleury Co ntinge ncy Ope rations 

Cent er, is the Enginee r Information Repository. The 

goal for this project was to develop a user-friendly inform ationmanagement database that is capable of storing, linking, and 

(conti nued on page 46) 

Engineer 39 
The Thompson Bend RiParian-Corridor Proieu:
 

An InnovativeEnvironmentalSolution
 

to aMajor Navigation andFlood-Control Concern
 

B}' Terrie J. Hatfield 

At a bend in th e Mi ss issippi 

River , south of Cape Girardeau, 

Missouri , and north of Cairo. 

Illinois. the riv er flow s in a b ro ad , 

sweeping, reverse curve . This larg e, meandering loop ha s created an agriculturally rich , IO,OOO-acre, peninsula-like 

land ma ss known as Dry BayouThompso n Ben d, located ju st abo ve the 

Mississippi River 's confl uence with the 

Ohio River. 

At first glance, this bend would not 

appear to present any major problems 

hut. over time , the Dry Bayou-Thompson 

Bend reach of th e Mi ssissippi has 

experienced such severe and damaging 

erosio n that, during and after flooding, 

the river ha s begun to scour and cut a 

new channel across the penin sul a in an 

attempt to change its course. Now, this 

change has yet to cause the mighty li ver 

to go off in a different direction but , if it 

were left alone and allowed to have its 

way and continue this cut-off formation , 

navi gati on would bec om e imp ossible 

along this 17-mile reach of the river. A 

new channel, cut across the neck of the 

peninsula, could not support even the 

smallest of lOWS. and the existing channel 

would be too shallow for navigation most 

of the lime. The velocities would increase 

manyfold. due to the increased slope 

up stream and downstream of this reach 

of river , as the Mississi ppi would attempt 

to regain an equilibrium state. 

It wa s evide nt that if an e fficient 

solution were not soon de velo ped , it 

navigati on c risis- po te ntially catastrophic to navigation, agri cu ltural , and 

flood-control concern s-would occur. 

Southbound traffic would come to a halt 

at th e be ginning of th e bend, and 

northbound traffic from New Orleans, 

Louisiana, could not progress north of 

Cairo. This midpoint 17-mile reach, if 

destroyed, would cause a break in the 

continuous 2.300-mile navi gation 

channel. Na vigation on the "Mighty 

Mississippi, " the inland w aterway 

system's busiest highway, would become 

nearly impossible for transporting a 

variety of products from the north ern 

United States to the European market. 

Channel d ev elopmen t would be an 

extremel y tim e-consumin g and very 

costly effort. The magnitude of the scour 

was such that it was also threatening the 

inte grity of the mainline, Commerce to 

Birds Point Federal Levee, which protect, 

hun dreds of thousands of squa re miles 

of property. 

A ncnstructural , en vironmen tally 

beneficial way to stop the erosion and repair 

the damage was need ed, b ut the 

technology to rcsolve this kind of problem 

did not exist. So a l4- ycar period of trial 

and error and innumerable experime nts 

began.During thistime, the Great Flood of 

1993 occurred,in addition to the major fl ood 

October 2000 

The Thompson Bend project area during the 1995 flood 
of 1995, plus many other high-water events 

of varying duration . AlLhough these 

ev ents caused setbacks, th ey also 

provided valuable opportunities to collect 

data and eva luate the work that is now 

known as the Thompson Bend RiparianCorridor Projec t. 

The re sult of these man y years of hard 

work was the successful creation of the 

tree-screen/riparian-corridor co nc ept, 

whi ch con sists of a buffer strip of tree s 

planted between the riv erbank and the 

floodplain. This methodology at this 

mag nitude is a re volution a ry and 

unprecedented bl ending of various 

scie nces and techn ologies in an enviro nmenta lly se ns itive and fri endly, 

cost-e ffec tiv e, and mission- essential 

manner. The project included obt aining 

permanent e asements fro m the landowne rs; planting cottonwood clone s and 

oth er hardwoods specifically br ed for 

their fast gr owth and water-resistant 

a ttribu tes; a nd strate gi c ally pl acing 

va rio u s [a rms of oth e r typ es of 

vegetation. Th e tree s will be sele ctively 

h a r ve sted, in agreement wi th an 

arra ngeme nt with the landowner s and 

loc al levee board, so they do not cause 

too much shade and preve nt unde rgrowth . (A major side benefit of this part 

of the process is that it also provides 

timbe r a s a c ash c ro p for the landow ners.) Con sistent and continuing appli cation of this technology, including 

ongoing tree planting, has maintained the 

ri ver in its natural , ori gin al channel, and 

navigation has been sustained around 

Thompson Bend. 

Thi s erosion-control meth od has been 

so successful that it is co nsidered by the 

Co rps of En gineers' Mississippi Valley 

Division to be a prototype demonstration 

for the e ntire Corps. The con cept is 

changing the way the Corps deals with 

se ve re eros ion probl ems al ong the 

nat ion's wat erways, w hile providing 

benefit to the environment. 

The inn ovative con cept was severely 

tested by the Great Flood of 1993. Even 

though approximately 40 percent of the 

trees were killed in the flood, they stayed 

anchored in pl ace. The idea worked far 

beyond ex pec tations. No one realized 

when they started that a IOO-foot wide 

October 2000 

\ 

,I \ I 0 \ 

\ % \ .\I ~t~

\ \ '\

~--'-

".of'..Y
 

Map of Thompson Bend 

tree screen would cut flood velo cities in 

half. However, whe n measured with a 

Global Po sitioning System and an 

Acoustic Doppler CU1Tcnt Profil er,flow s 

measuring 8 to 8 1/2 feet per sec ond 

going into the screens measured 4 to 

4 1/2 feet per second coming out. This 

led to far less erosion and sco ur, in ­

creased dep osition and , eventu ally, 

healing. The tree screens planted in the 

original Dry Bayou high ban k in 1986 

held even throu gh the 1993 and 1995 

floods. 

Projects such as the Thompson Bend 

Riparian-Corrid or Project are essential to 

continue the Corps of Engineers' mission 

of maintaining a safe and dependable 

navigati on channeL while working with 

the en vi ronment in such a w ay that 

everyone benefits. The Mi ghty Mississippi has been around for a long time 

and will be aro und for a longer time than 

any of us can imagine. It is a very big 

river and , if we all work together to 

develop viable solutions to the problems 

it causes, everyone will benefit. W 

Ms. Ha tfield ha s h een with th e 

Defense Department f or more than 35 

years, most of that time spent as 

a position classification specialist. 

She learned of the Thompson Bend 

i Riparian -Corrido r Project whil e 

conduc ting classification reviews in the 

En gi neering D ivi si on 's Hydrauli cs 

Branch. Currently serving as a public 

affa irs sp eci alist and ed ito r or the 

dist rict newslette r, Terri e now ha s the 

opportunity and the vehicle TO translate 

some rd the distri ct 's most outstanding 

eng inee ri ng succe sses in to fe a tu re 

sto ries as a very effective Ivay to con vl'y 

these ac hi evement s to both tec hnic al 

and nontechnica l audiences. 

Note: The hyd raulic en gineer who 

develop ed the inno vati ve so lut io n to 

this erosion problem was Jerry Rapp. 

His technical paper "Preventing a CutOffof a Missis sipp i River Bendway With 

Tree S creens " was a fin alist in th e 

Permanent Internati onal Association of 

Navigation Con gress competition and 

was publish ed in 1989. His technical 

expertise has become widely recognized 

in the development of various vegetative 

solutions fo r a wide rang e of ove rbank 

and ban k-line e rosion problems. His 

research and inn ovative an d en viron ­

mentally benef icial designs have earn ed 

him " expe rt " status throu gh out th e 

Corps S Mississippi Valley Di vision and 

with other eleme nts of the Corps and a 

number of environmental agencies and 

in terests, includin g tho se in for eign 

countries. 

Engineer 41 
-----------Past in Review
 

onfit.Certde P",sJneeu in the 

~erictm 't;ivil1Y'tIT 

By First Lie utenan t Shaun Ma rtin 

On 16 March 1802, the Congress of the United States 

authorized President Thoma s Jefferson to orga nize a 

Corps of Engineers, which "shall be stationed at West 

Point , New York," and "shall constitute a military academy," 

with classes beginning in April 1802. 1 The academy progressed 

from a disorganized and largely unkno wn institute to one with 

a record of high academic excellence, producing officers who 

wo uld make a name for themselves in milit ary and civil affa irs. 

While the graduates of West Point distinguished themsel ves 

in different branches within the Army, attesting to the qua lity 

of their milit ary education, the curriculum was designed to 

provide an engineering education to supply the United States 

with trained engineers. 

Jefferson Davis summarized a widely held opin ion of the 

value of West Point graduates in a report made to Congress: 

Nea rly all great pu blic works of the country, the river 

and harbor works, the lighthouses, and eVeil the public 

bu ild ings, have been direc ted by its graduates; they 

were the pioneers in the construct ion of railroad, and 

among the teachers ofthat art; and the great scientific 

works of the governmen t ha ve been chiefly conducted 

by them. The military services ofits gra duates hav e been 

eve r more conspicuous tha n those in engin eeri ng and 

scien ce . The fo rtifica tions, the improvements in 

42 Engineer 

ordnance and small a rm s, the con du ct of the 

geographical and other scientific lab ors carried Oil in 

connection with the operat ion of troops, equally attest 

the character ofthe instruc tion impa rted at West Point. 

Eve r since the organization of the governme nt, pe rpetual 

Indian warfare has kept the larger part of the Army in 

active ope ration on the fro ntier and in the barren plains 

and mountains ofthe interio r. The du ties are ha rassing 

and entail great pri vation and exposure: they call for. 

the exercise ojall the best qualities ofthe soldier which, 

tried by this severe test, the graduates have been found 

to poss ess in an eminent degree.2 

Choosing Sides 

On 6 March 1861, after the Sou th seceded from the 

Unite d States, the Pr o vision al Con gre ss of the 

Confedera te States of America passed "an act for the 

establishment and organization of the (Confederate) Army." 

Among other provisions, it called for the establishment of the 

Confederate Corps of Engineers. ' 

Since the primary source of men trained in the skills of artillery 

and engineering for the United States was West Point, those 

who attended classes together, as well as those who provided 

the instructio n, chose sides when the Civil War began. (For 

example, in Janua ry 1861 , the superi ntende nt of West Point 

October 2000 
was Captain P.G.T. Beauregard .Four months later- as a newly 

promoted general-his troops opened fire on South Carolina 's 

Fort Sumter (see phot o at left), a Union fort commanded by 

Major R. And erson , who years earlier had been the artill ery 

instru ctor for cadet Beauregard at West Point.') 

The Union Army received the greater share of these officers 

and the exp erience they brought with them. Of the 65 cadets 

who had resigned from West Point and accepted commissions 

in the Confederate Army by May 1861, only seven were in the 

Corps of Engineers. An additional 13 officers were inherited 

from the academy faculty, but seven of them were soo n 

detached outside the Corps of Engin eers. 

With its limited cadre and without a source of training for 

new engineers, the Confederate Army, like the Union Army. 

would suffer from a critical shortage of engineer officers. The 

Confederate Anny, however, did a better job of overcoming 

this shortage. Its establishment of an Engineer Corps and an 

impro vised organization of dedicated engineer troops gained 

the Co nfe de racy numeri c supe rio rity with regard to its 

engineers. 

In 1863, the Confeder ate Congress pa ssed legi slation 

assignin g a company of engineer troops to eve ry division in 

the field. The troops were to be drawn from each division and 

selected based on their experience in the mining or construction 

trades. Eac h company consisted of [00 men commanded hy a 

captain and three lieutenants. The newly formed comp anies 

(4,000 soldiers, who were dedicated to engineer operations) 

were superior to the Union Army's ad hoc system, which relied 

on employing soldiers as engineers as needed.' 

By 1865 , the Confederate Army had many more engineer 

officers in the field than the Union Al1l1Y. The Confederate 

Engineer Corps had [3 regular officers, I 15pro visional officers 

dr awn mostl y from civilian engineers, and an 

additional 188 nonengineer officers assigned to 

engineer troops . This compared to the Union 's 86 

engineers." 

The engineer troops of the Confederacy were 

generally committed to constructing and improving 

field fort ifications depl oyed to the coastal and 

interior defen ses. and it was in this capacity that 

they were superior to their Union counterparts. At 

times, engineers were used to maint ain and improve 

the Confederate rail system, but here the Union 

Army excelled, both in its utilization of the engineers 

and its logistical support of the rail system.' The 

creative use of the resources available was what 

set the Co nfederacy apart from the Union. Another 

lasting contribution of the Confederate engineers 

was the development of new weapons systems. 

Field Fortifications 

T he innovati on s empl oyed by th e 

Confederat e engineer units durin g 

the Civil War were remarkabl e. Field 

fortifications dominated the Confederate defen sive operations 

and were extensively employed in their offensive operations, A 

zigzag system of trench es, whi ch had never been used in field 

operations , protected the approac h. Such e ntrenc hme nt 

methods previously had been used exclusively for sieg e 

operation s." 

Union Captain Orlando Poe, General William T. Sherman's 

chi ef en gineer, admired on e particul ar innovat ion he had 

observed- the "head log," which was invented to cope with 

the deadly accuracy of sharpshooters. The he'll! log wa s 

described as "a stout log, of hardwood if possible , which is cut 

as long as possible and laid upon blocks placed on the superior 

slope for a foot or two outside the interior crest. The blocks 

supp ortin g the head log raise it sufficiently from the parapet to 

allow the musket to pass throu gh underneath it and steady aim 

to be taken , while the log covers the head from the enemy 's 

fire. Frequently, the blocks are replaced by skids which rest on 

the ground in the rear of the trench so that if the head log is 

knocked off the parapet by artillery fire, it rolls along these 

skids to the rear without injuring anyone ."? 

The Con federate Arm y ofte n demon strated its skill at 

strategic defenses in the tactics used by Ge neral Joseph 

Johnst on. His troops would construct as many as three lines 

of field works, including one to their rear. Johnston attended , 

with meticulous detail , to the general organization and detail of 

the entrenchment, while the engineer officer of each unit was 

in charge of the entr enchment , selecting the line s and placing 

each unit in position." Th e Union Army routinel y left this 

function to the troop s themselves. Poe reported, " The con stant 

practice of our troops has made them tolerabl y good judge s of 

what constitutes a good defensive line and lightened the labors 

of the eng ineer staff very materiall y." II 

Interior view of Confederate works 

October 2000 Engineer 43 
Confederate fortifications at Petersburg 

The Un ion was slow to appreciate the effective ness of the 

Confederate defensive tactics. In June 1862, the defense of 

Vicksburg, Mississippi, under the command of General John 

Pemb erton , was under way. The Co nfederates threw up two 

circular field work s that were connected by rifle trenches. The 

Union Army's General Ulysses S. Grant failed to entrench his 

offensive line or even to entrench his camps. The Union forces 

staged three assa ults, the first on 29 December 1862 with force s 

comm anded by General Shennan. The second and third assaults 

by Grant'sforces were on 19 and 2 1 May 1863. this time after a 

six-hour artillery bombardment by land and from the river. Grant 

captured a few works but could not hold them. On 4 July1863, 

Pemb erton, who was short of food and ammunition,surrendered 

afte r defend ing for 21 3 days. Grant had employed 220 artillery 

pieces, while the defenders hardly used any artillery, Pemberton 

had defended Vicksb urg with a force of 18,SOO men and lost 

about 800 durin g the siege. Grant had engaged about 30,000 

men , and his force was almost decim ated .11 

In June 1864, near the end of Grant 's Ove rland Campaign, 

the Confedera te Army aga in demonstrated the power of its 

engineers at a crossroads in Virgini a known as Cold Harb or. 

General Robert E. Lee had lost the crossroads while fightin g 

General Gran t's forces durin g the preceding days. Early on 2 

June, Lee's soldiers began to erect a defen sive works. Although 

Grant wanted to attack immediately and roll over Lee 's force s 

before they could compl ete their efforts, his units were unable 

to complete necessary preparation s in time for the sunri se 

assault. So Grant resch eduled the attack on Lee for daw n on 3 

June, 

Me anwhile , Lee 's men du g fr anti call y thr ou ghout the 

day on 2 Jun e . Co nfe dera te eng inee rs from Richmond used 

lon g co rds mark ed with sma ll strips of white cloth, expe rtl y 

laying out the lin es to ma x.imize the fiel ds of fire." Th e 

earthworks were low-lying and did not look at all impressive . 

A Unio n officer reco llected, "The country bei ng generally 

level and only slig htly undul ating, the sharpes t eye co uld 

44 Enginee r 

perceive th rou gh the woo ds and fi elds not hin g but faint 

lines of rifl e tren ches." f J 

A little before OSOO on 3 Ju ne. after a brief bom bardm ent, 

Grant's forces began their assault on the Confederate positions. 

The mass charge of nearly 60 ,000 Union soldiers was shattered 

in less than an hour. Major Gene ral Andrew Humphreys. the 

Union Army's chief of staff, later tallied the Union losses for 

the day at 4,S17 wounded and 1.100 dead.15 After the war, Grant 

wrote, "I have always regretted that the last assault on Cold 

Harbor was ever made.?'?The Overland Campaign wasfinished 

and Grant now focused on taking Petersburg, Virginia, a siege 

that would last nine and a half months. 

A new philo sophy had emerged within the Union rank s, 

After Cold Harbor, General William F.Smith said, "It had become 

an axiom among both officers and men that a well-defended 

line trench could not be carried by a direct attack without the 

most careful preparation, nor even then witho ut fearful loss.'" ? 

On 18 June 1864, Union forces tried once more to storm an 

entrenched Confederate line at Petersburg.Within ten minutes, 

24 I Union soldiers were killed and 371 were wounded ." The 

message at last penetrated to the highest echelons of the Union 

command. Unti12 April J86S. when the war was almost over,the 

mere sight of Confederate field entrenchments ahead termin ated 

many offen sive operations at Petersburg.19 

The Confederacy pursu ed a strategy of waging a defensive 

war " but, in the offe nse . its engi neer for ces wer e both 

innovative and highly effec tive. One especially successful 

technique invol ved crea ting a skirmish line that moved 

increasingly closer to the enemy 's works. Th e line protected 

itself by digging individual rifle pits. Working parties then joined 

the chain of pits into an ordi nary rifle trench , which they later 

strengthened. By this means , entire eart hworks could end up 

within 200 feet of each other." 

A numb er of items for use in the offense were invented out 

of necessity. One such innovation was the sap roller, a large 

October 2000 
cylindrical basket that wa s closed at both ends and filled with 

rock s and soil. "Suppe rs' would roll the basket until they were 

directl y in front of the Union positions. The advantage to this 

was that troops could move onto enemy defensive works while 

under fire and prepare a ritle trench almost on top of the enemy 

and be relatively free of the murderous fire the enemy could 

deliver." 

B

Rail Systems 

esides field fortifi cati on s and trench warfare. engineers were responsible for the rail systems that 

provided tran sportation for sup plies needed by the 

armi es. Dominance of both the rail and waterw ay transportati on 

systems would contribute greatly to the ultimate victo ry of the 

Unio n forc es, but the Confederate forces often mad e good use 

or the rail resources avai lable to them throughout the duration 

of the war. 

Like Grant, Lee understood the importance of the rail system 

during the war and had empl oyed his engineers in the system's 

maintenance and expansion. Alth ough Lee did not have the 

use of the waterways that the Uni on enjoyed. he still needed to 

move troop s and mat erials. At his disposal, Lee had the Oran ge, 

the Alexandria. and the Virginia Centra l Railroads.The combined 

sys te m ex tended from Ri chmond to within 40 miles of 

Washington, D.C. Howe ver, compared to the Union' s Baltimore 

& Ohio Railroad , the Con federate rail system was very limited 

in the number of miles of track and the general quality. 

Th e Union dominance of rail tran sportation was actually 

strengthened by the decisions of the Confederates regarding 

their existing system. First. the tracks for the southern rail 

systems were laid in a north-south direction and were not 

inter conn ected-a problem that could have been overcome by 

laying new tracks. But Congre ss was slow to respond to Lee 's 

requ ests, and he expressed his co ncern in a letter written on 27 

April 1861 ju st after assuming field command." In addition, 

southern railroads were not subordinated to military needs, in 

contrast to r.he organi zation and admi nistra tion of railroads in 

the North." This was a continuous logi stical hindrance as Lee 

anx iously waited for subsistence, fodder, animals, and wagons 

to arriv e via an undependable rail system . 

Another shortcoming in the so uthern rail system was the 

ga uge of the rails. They were not a standard gauge, which 

meant that troops had to unload materials at junctions and 

reload them. As the Union Army captured these secti ons, it 

upgraded the track to the standards of the existing northern 

rails. This involv ed repl acing rails with the standard gauge 

used by the northern rai I system and layin g new tr ack to 

co nnect previously unconnected sec tions. 

In spite or not developing their own rail system adequately, 

Confederate engineers contri buted to pioneering uses of the 

railroad. For example, they adopted an effective railroad 

mobili zati on strategy. In the sp ring of 1862, Gram threatened 

the town of Corinth , Mississippi. A significant feature of this 

battle wa s the Confederacy' s ability to qui ckl y move troops 

to contes t Grant's presence . In an unprec ed ented rapid 

Octo ber 2000 

conce ntration of troop s, the rail system brought several armies 

to Corinth, pin s newly mobilized regiments from othe r states. 

The Co nfede rates lost the battle for Corinth, but the y had 

show n the importance ofthe rail system in delivering troops to 

battle..!.i Grant wa s quick to see this importance and would usc 

it effectively against the Confederates in the future . 

C

Weapons Systems 

onfederate engin eers were also employed in dcveloping new weapons in hopes of gaining an advantage on the battlefi eld. Amo ng these was the 

introdu ction o f a railroad artillery battery. Durin g the Penin sular 

Campaign of 1862, General Lee suggested that a railroad battery 

be built for the Confederates . It would be used on the York 

River Railroad to ha lt the ad van ce of General George B. 

McClellan along this line . 

On 5 June 1862, Lee wrote h is chief en gineer, Major W. 

Stevens, and suggested that th e Con fede rate engineers 

"construct a railroad ... plated and protected with a heavy 

gun. "" He also suggested that mortars be used in a similar 

mann er. Lee hoped the gun would be in acti on by 6 June; 

however. it wa s not available until 22 Jun e. Th e 32-pound gun 

was ritl ed and banded and wei ghed 5,700 pound s. Mounted 

on a railroad flatcar, it was prote cted in front by a sloping iro nplated shield throu gh which a porthole had been cut for the 

mu zzle of the gun. The sid es of the car were protected with 

timbered walls that were lined with iron. The basic ammunition 

load consisted of 200 rounds, including a number of IS-in ch 

solid bolt shot. The gun was first used at Savage's Station, 

Virginia, on 29 June during the Sev en Da y's Battles. The gun, 

under comma nd of Lieutenant James E. Barry, was pushed near 

a rail brid ge near the depot. He was to clear an obstruction 

empl aced by the Uni on troop s and rake the infantry in the 

valley belo w with fire. He accomplished his mission with a 

terribl e effect. Th e Union infantry's attempted assault on the 

gun was repul sed , and the Union suffered heavy losses.'? 

Conclusion 

The Confederacy was never abl e to gain dominance in 

rail transportation, and the new breed of weapons and 

tactics introduced by the ill-fated nation's engineers 

did not provide the edge they need ed to win the Civil War. 

However, the Confederate engineers' battlefield tactics changed 

the face of warfare, forever allowing co mmanders to mass and 

redeploy troops and tran sp ort supp lies with pre vi ously 

unim agined rapidity and effectiveness. On the battle field , the 

engineers demonstrated with gory clarity the contributions they 

co uld make. The innovati on s th ey introduced were the 

foundation of warfare of the future. 

First Lieutenant Martin is a suppo rt platoon leader with 

the 162d Engineer Company, Oregon Army National Guard. 

A mechani cal engineer, he is pursuing an ad vanced degree in 

design at Oregon State University. 

Engineer 45 

III 
Endnotes: 

I Steph en Ambrose, Duty. Hon or, Country: History of West 

Point, Baltimore: Th e Johns Hopkins Press, 1966, p. 22 . 

2Report of the Commission , Sen ate Document No. 3, 36th 

Congress, 2d Session, Washington, 1860, 1'1'.56-57. 

3 Richard P. Weinert, " The Confederate Regular Army." 

Military Analysis of the Civil War, ed. Mi litary Affairs, New 

York : KTO Press , 1977, p. 17. 

"Ambrose. p. 22 . 

5 John H. Westervelt, Diary ofa Yankee Engineer, ed. Anita 

Palladino, New York: Fordham University Press, 1997, pp. 47-59. 

b Edward Hagerman, The Am erican Civil War and the Origins 

of Modern Wmfare, Bloomington and Indianapolis: Indiana 

University Press, 1988, pp, 236-239. 

7 John Prados, "How Many Roads to Richmond?" The 

Quarterly Journal ofMilitary History, Vol. 12, No.2, 2000, p. 

55. 

8 Ibid., pp. 54-55. 

9 W.T. Shelman, Memoirs, Bloomington: Indiana University 

Press, 1957,pp. 117-118 . 

10 Fitzhugh Lee, General Lee, New York: Gr eenberg D. 

Appleton and Co .. 1894 , 1'.138. 

II Shennan, 1'1'. 38-39 . 

12 Noah Andre Trudeau , "The Walls of 1864," The Quarterly 

Journal ofMilitary History, Vol. 6, No.2, 1994 , pp . 24-26. 

13 Ibid., pp, 29-30. 

P Barron Deaderick, Strategy in the Civil War, Harrisburg: 

The Military Service Publi sh ing Company, 1946 , p. 103. 

)5 Trudeau , p. 30. 

16 Ulysses S. Grant, Personal Memoirs, New York : World 

Publishing Co., 1952, 1'.96. 

"Deaderick, p. 122. 

18 Ibid., p. 147, 

19 Trudeau, p. 31. 

20James M. Mcf'herson , "Failed Southern Strategies," The 

Quarterly Journ al ofMilitary History, Vol. II, No .4, 1999 ,p. 62. 

21Hagel1l1cm, p. 199. 

22 fbid ., p. 330. 

23 Moxley G . Sorrel, Recollection s of a Confe de rate Staff 

Officer, New York : Neal Publishing Co. , 1905, p. 784 . 

24 Hagerman,pp. 146-]47. 

25 Prados, p. 55 . 

16 Le e, p. 288. 

27 Stansbury H aydon, "Confederate Railro ad Battery," 

Military Analysis of the Civil War, ed . Military Affairs, New 

York: KTO Pre ss, 1977 , pp .29 1-294. 

(continued from page 39) 

retri eving a wide ran ge of information products on both the 

sec ure and non securc Internet protocol routing (SlPRJNIPR) 

networks.The need for this project was identified afte r realizing 

that years of hard work had been elec tronically filed and boxed 

with little or no cataloging system for future retrieval. As a 

result, p lanners have spent hours digging through old boxes 

and scanning various disks and hard drives trying to locate 

good historica l prod ucts they knew ex isted. Wh en produ cts 

weren't found, planners we re forc ed to work from scratch and 

duplicate th e efforts expe nded by their predecessor s. This 

predicamentserved as a powerful motivator to get this en gineer 

management system and rep ository desig ned and in place as 

rapidly as possible. 

To assist in the devel opmen t of this repository , we turn ed 

to th e Waterways Experim ent S ta tion's (W ES 's) TeleEngineeri ng se rvices in Vicksburg, Mississippi, for tech nical 

ass ista nce. In short, our eng inee r pla nners devel oped the 

objec ti ve sy stem and fu nctio na l requirements, and W ES 

succes sfully turned these requireme nts into a user-friendly 

engineer-information appli cation . 

The repo sitory is designed with drag-and-drop functionality 

and drop-down menu s, which will provide users a means to 

find and dow nload vario us e nginee r product s quickly and 

easily. It is be ing developed as a Web browser usin g Microsofte 

Access 2000 and is organized by each country in the USAREUR 

area of operation. 

Th e opening menu portrays a map of the Euro pean geographical regi on. Each country on the map has a trigger symbol 

linked to the primary table for that country. The primary tables 

have information organized into a minimum of 18areas, to include 

military capabilities, U.S. military ope rations, topography, rout es 

and brid ges, ports, airports and airfields, power and water, useful 

Wcb sites, and other engineer-related topics. Subordinate tables 

have various form s of informational products, internal links to 

products in the databa se, or external links to Web sites where 

products you are interested in exist. Th e rep ository is also 

designed with a search engine to guide users directly to all its 

available products. This repository will be open for outside use 

in October 2000, The secure and nonsecure Web sites are available 

from the USAREUR ODCSENGR's home page . 

Working Together 

he DeFleury Contingency Operations Ce nter and the 

Engineer Information Repository reflect two initiatives 

that the OD CSENGR personnel took on to supercha rge 

their e ngineering capabilities and help them pro vid e better and 

faster support to future operations. Th ese projects illu strate 

wh at we, as ind ividual staffs or units, can accomplish when we 

take the time to identify wh at' s trul y vital to our mission and 

then work togeth er to make it happen . W 

Maj or Larwin is Chiefof Plans and Exercises, DCSENGR . 

Heidelberg, German». 

46 Eng ineer Octobe r 2000 
------ ---=
 

Ir~-

! P&RSCOM Notes 

BoY Se rgeant Major Theressa 1. Fillmore 

Communication 

Co mm unic ation is th e key to 

work in g w ith th e En ginee r 

Branch on as sig nm e n t a nd 

profess ional-developme nt issu es. It is 

c ri tic a l to ke ep an a ctive dialogue 

between you, yo ur command, and this 

branch. Comm unication gives us adva nce 

noti ce o f yo u r conc ern s, s uc h as 

readiness, pending opera tional del etions 

and deferments, commanding-general! 

ge nera l-o ffice r in te rest, str uc tu re 

change s, personal wishes, and anything 

else that coul d have an impact on the 

assign me nt process. 

There are man y ways of communica ting with your assignm en ts br anch: a 

teleph one; per sonal letter s: the In teractive Voice Resp onse Syste m (IVRS); 

bran ch field visits; e-mail, newsletters; a 

[ax ma chine ; personal visits; PER SGRAMs; PERSCOM Online; and the 

Department of the Army (DA) Form 4187 , 

Req uest f or Personnel Actio n . All of 

these methods help us stay in tou ch, but 

some are better than others. 

The best way for a soldier to co mmunicate with the Eng ineer Bran ch is to 

submit a DA Form 41 87 with the re ­

com me nda tio n or co ncur re nce o f the 

chain of command. We require tha t most 

4l 87s be processed through the entire 

chai n. Wh ile we appreciate courtesy 

cop ies, they only provide advance notice 

o f a pendin g acti on and add to our 

paperwork. Alth ough we do accept faxed 

re qu e sts when op e ra tin g within a 

sho rte ned timeframe, most per sonn el 

actions do not require fax ing. Remember, 

faxed personnel requests must include 

the rec ommen dations and co ncurrences 

I from the required level of command, or II we will not take final action. 

e-mail OPri while often used, 

Octohe r 2000 

does not keep the cha in of co m mand 

informed of a soldier's ac tions. For this 

reason , we do not consider e-mail requests official exce pt in ce rtai n cases, 

such as replies to Ho rnebase/Advance 

Assignm ent Program CHAAP) changes 

generated by the branch. However, we 

do repl y to e-mails as quickly as possible. 

These inquires mu st include yo ur full 

name , ra nk, and primary military oc ­

cupational specialty (PMOS), but do not 

include your social security number. 

We we lcome person al v is its to 

PERSCOM . Althoug h adva nce notice is 

not requ ired , it is helpful to ensure 

tha t yo ur a ssi gn m ents man a ger o r 

p rofe ssi onal-dev el opment nonc ommissioned officer (PDNCO) is ava ilable. 

We also enco urage telephone ca lls 

and pe rso na l letter s. In th e Eng ineer 

Branch, we believe that soldiers should 

have input in their future. When calling, 

we need your name, rank , and PMOS to 

quickly connec t you with the correct 

assignments manager and/or PDNCO. 

Soldiers primarily use the IVRS (1-800­

FY I-EPMD [394-3763)) to determine if ' 

th e y are on assignmen t in struction s. 

However, it also gives information all 

sc hools, ret ention man a gement, and 

other enlisted topics. You need a touchtone teleph one to use the IVRS and must 

provide your social security number. 

Bran ch field visits usuall y a re 

sch edu led a t th e requ e st of the 

in st all ati on or maj or command . We 

co nduc t these visits to keep the field 

inform ed of enginee r and Army issues 

and to co nduc t face-t o-face interviews 

with the soldiers we serve . 

PERSC O M Online (h ttp ://www­

.perscom.rarmy.mili is a PE RSCOM Web 

site. The Engi neer Br anch maintains a 

portion of the si te with ass ig nme nts, 

promotions, and other data available for 

engineer soldiers. It is a good source of 

in formati on on sp ec ia l a ssi gnment 

qu alificati on s- such as drill se rgeant, 

r ecruiter, Acti ve Compo ne nt/ Reserve 

Component-and where enginee r MOS s 

are authorize d. The site also includes the 

telephone numbers and e-ma il addresses 

of all bran ch personnel in the Enliste d 

En gineer Bran ch . The m aj o rity or 

PERS C OM Online has in f ormation 

relevant to all soldiers, not just engi neers. 

L ast , but not least , is the HQD A 

PERSGRAM , which is used to noti fy 

soldiers of PERSCOM-genera ted action s 

such as assignments and schoo ls. 

As you can see, there are many ways 

to co mm unicate with your branch . Th ese 

avenues are open to leaders and soldiers, 

and we highl y e nco urage yo u to use 

them .We ca n' t know everything that may 

impact on your next assignment or school 

unle ss yo u or your leaders tell us. The 

so oner we kn ow, the better. You do not 

have to wait unt il you are on assignme nt 

instructions to get in touch with us. 

MYTH: If you ca ll DA , your next 

or ders will be to Korea. 

FACT: While Korea is a valu able 

assignme nt, we do not pla ce soldiers on 

any particular assignment just because 

they called . 

You r voice in th e profe ss ion aldevelopment and assignment process is 

important to us. Th e fo llowi ng site on 

PERSCOM Onli ne pr ovides the tel ephone numbers and e-ma il addresses to 

co ntac t your branch assi gn me nt 

managers and PD NCOs: http://www.­

perscom.army.mil/El'eng/e ngdi rhtm. 

I 

I 

I 

I 

I 

Se rgeant Maj· o r FI '11 m o re IS . tJne II Ii 

m g,an' majo' h~ B'"

Eng ineer 47 
Combat Maneuver Training Center
 

Product-FocusedPlanning
 

By Captain Ted Read and Major Tom Smith 

During re cent rot ation s to the Combat Maneuver Training 

Ce nter (CMTC), engineer battalion s ha ve shared the tr ain in c

'" objective of "s urging" the battalion staff during the brigade 's 

~ilit ar decision -making process (M DMP) and also improvin g 

its own MDMP. However. the ba ttalions typ ically do not arrive 

with tactics, techniques. and pr ocedures (TTP) o n how to 

accompl ish this go al. By the end of a rotation , the battalio n 

staff reach es a norm on ho w to pian, but it may be inefficient 

and limit the positi ve impact of the eng inee r battalion staff. A 

technique to address this problem is for the battalion to arrive 

at the CMTC with an MDMP SOP. A simple way to develop 

this SOP is to use a product-focused matri x that iden tifie s 

products required from ea ch sta ff member by tim e/pha se ofthe 

e ngineer- and maneu ver-bri gades ' MDMPs. Th e matri x fixe s 

the respon sibility for specific pr odu cts, by ph ase , and ensures 

that the staff acts within the brigade combat te am 's decision 

cycle. 

Th e first step is for staff members to re vie w task s and 

responsibilities for each step o f the MDM? Whil e Field Manual 

(fM) 101-5, Staff Organizati on and Opera tions , is the Army 's 

capstone manu al for MDMP, staff members should also revi ew 

key manuals for engineer int egration into the bri gade com bat 

team-FM 5-7-30, Brigade Eng ineer and Engin eer Company 

Combat Operations (Airborne, Air Assault, Light), and FM 5­

7 1-3 , Brigade Engin eer Combat Operations (A rmored)-as 

we ll <J S fu nc t io na l m anuals such a s FM 20 -32, M in e! 

Counte rmin e Ope rations; FM 90-7 , Combined-Arms Obstacle 

Integration; and FM 3.34.2 (formerly FM 90-13-1), CombinedArms Breachin g Operations. Th e goal is for eac h staff member 

to answer five question s: 

48 Engin eer 

1. What products do l o we the engineer and maneu ver 

commanders') 

2. What products do I owe the eng ineer and man eu ver 

sta ffs? 

3. Wh at products do l owe subordin ate comma nds ? 

4. When do lowe these products ? 

5. Wh o sy nchro nizes production and reviews the product 

before publication? 

Note that FMs 5-71-3 and 5-7-30 crosswalk the maneuve rbrigade and eng ineer-battalion actions during eac h step of the 

MDMP but do not fix re sponsibilities for product, from specific 

staffme mbers. 

Th e second step is to synchronize task s and responsibilities 

by time and staff member.Th e battalion executive office r is the 

key player in delineating the level of staff pa rticipation and the 

breakd own by phase. During this step . challenge the availability 

of staff personnel and the timing of pr odu cts. As conflic ts 

develop . weigh the criticalit y ofthe information or product and 

possibl e alt ernate staff members or me ans to pro vid e the 

information . Th e end state is a matrix th at lists critical ta sks and 

products by staff section with a no-l ater-than (NLT) time of 

prod uctio n. Th e matrix becom es a livin g document read y Ior 

execution, preferably at a command- post exercise before the 

ro ta tio n . M ore d etails c an be add ed by in creasing the 

specificity of tasks, incr easin g or furth er defini ng the staff 

participation to sta ff NCOs and below. and ivi ng he times/ 

ph ases into small er ste ps. Anot he r le vel of rennemcnt is 

possible if the matri x becomes mission -specific (fo r example. a 

different matri x for defend. movement-to-contact, or deliberateatta ck mission s). 

Pro vided on page 49 is a simple example of the plann ing 

matri x, intention ally limited to thre e ph ases (rece ive mission , 

issue warning order rWARN O) # 1, and brief the en gin eer 

mission analysis). It is not definitive! The unit matrix SOP should 

be the result of indi vidual staff analys is by phases defined by 

the ex ec utive office r. It shou ld acco unt for yo ur tactic alopera tions center's (TOC) orga nization and the bri gade co m bat 

tea m's likely battle rhythm. 

A primary benefit o f this format for developing an MDM P 

SO P is flexibility. As the staffrefines tasks and responsibilities, 

the matri x easily expands. It also trains a syn ch ronization 

technique common ly used in tactical units. Used prop erl y, it 

accomplishes the go al of surg ing the staff on the brigade' s 

MDMP and improving the battalion's MDMP processv 

Captain Read is the engineer obse rve r/controller (OIC) 

for The Armor Task Force OIC Team at the CMTC in Hoh enfels, 

Germany. He was previo usly assigned 10 the 9th Engineer 

Battalion. l SI b !fulltry Division. 

Major Smith, the senior engineer OIC ill the CMTC, was 

previo usly the exe cu tive offi ce r fo r the 54 th Enginee r 

Battalion, Bamberg, Germany. 

October 2000 
Product-Focused Planning Matrix 

• Analyze mission. • Issue commander's guidance. 

CDR • Provide initial guidance. • Direct focused precombat inspections 

on misson-critical equipment. 

• Develop timeline. • Issue WARNO #1. • Coordinate the mission-analysis 

• Prioritize planning assets. • Consolidate products for briefing to the commander. 

• Send a l.ogistics planner to the mission-analysis briefing. • Nest timeHne within the brigade's 

xo assistant brigade engineer (ABE). timeline.

• Focus rear-command-post • Receive commander's guidance . 

planning tasks. • Issue WARNO #2. 

• Verify current status. 

• Prepare operation portion of • Brief operational piece of the missionbrigade S3/XO. 

• Verify initial guidance with the 

the mission-analysis briefing. analysis briefing. 

• Identify operational tasks. • Prepare mission statement. • Be prepared to send a planner to the 83 

• Identify operational shortfalls. • Approve ABE portion of the brigade's course-of-action (COA)­

brigad e's mission-analysis development meeting. 

briefing. 

• Identify critical tasks. 

• Copy order for battalion. • Receive products from staff • Attend engineer battalion's missionanalysis briefing.
 

estimate.
 

• Develop a friendly engineer for brigade's missionanalysis briefing. • Receive engineer commander's 

• Identify engineer tasks. • Work to get brigade guidance. ­

• Incorporate the commander's guidance 

information requirements. 

• Submit engineer-specific priority specific release authority of 

SCATMINEs. into the brigade's mission-analysis 

ABE briefing. 

and have it available for mission­

• Update the Dirty Battlefield Overlay • Work with S2 on R&S 

routes. 

analysis briefing. • Work with S2 on engineerspecific named areas of 

from the brigade command group 

• Pass specific verbal guidance 

interest (NAls). 

to the engineer battalion's TOe via 

the S3 or XO. 

• Identify combat-service-support • Prepare CSS portion of • Brief the ess portion of the mission­

(CSS) tasks. mission-analysis briefing. analysis briefing (focus on mission­

• Identify CSS shortfalls. • Receive status from rear critical supplies and equipment). 

81/84 • Identify critical log task. command post. • Receive commander 's guidance on 

• Update Class IVN status. priorities of supply and maintenance. 

• Update equipment status and 

project the mission's NLT time. 

• Develop TerraBase shots of key • Work with brigade S2 for NAI • Brief enemy portion of mission-analysis 

terrain and objectives. TerraBase products. briefing. 

• Review and update the modified • Prepare enemy engineer • Receive TerraBase guidance. 

combined obstacle overlay portion of the mission82 (MCOO). analysis briefing. 

• Conduct NAI analysis with the 

brigade S2. 

• Develop an enemy engineer 

estimate. 

October 2000 Engineer 49 
GINEER UPDATE
 

Commercial numbers are (573) 563-xxxx and Defense System 

Netwo rk (DSN) numbers are 676-xxxx unless otherwise noted. 

Directorate of Training (DOT) 

Active Duty Service Obligations (ADS O) Change to Partially Funded Degree Programs. If a prop osed cha nge to AR 350­

100, Officer Active Duty Service Obligations , is appro ved , the ADSO will increase for UMR gradua tes for an additional 12 months 

after the y receive tuition assistance. Th e change indicates that office rs who participate in a partially funded program will incur a 

three-for-one ADSO for time spent in ci vilian edu cation with a minim um ADSO of two years. Currently, the ADSO does no t 

sign ifica ntly extend an officer' s commitme nt after degree completion. O f the officers polled who are current UMR stude nts, 94 

perce nt said they would still use tuition assistance if this change were in effect today. Th e effective date of the new policy is to 

be determined , 

pac is CPT David Cushen, (573) 596-0131 ext. 3-723 1, or DSN -723 1, or e-mail cush endtewood.army.mil . 

New EngineerBranch Video for ROTCIUSMA Cadets. The Engineer Branch recently completed a new video, which is being 

distributed to ROTC detachments and the USMA. The updated video includ es illustrations of our di verse missions and inform ation 

conce rning in-service and postservice be nefi ts and portrays the current status of the Engineer Regiment. 

pac is CPT David Cushen, (573) 596-013 1 ext. 3-723 J, or DSN -7231, or e-ma il cushendtiewood.a rmy.mil. 

Reserve Engineer TASS Battalion In structors Needed. Resourcin g of the TASS battalions by the instituti onal training 

divisions and bri gad es continues to be critical. Instructor strength is the prima ry challenge. All training battalions continue to 

need additional engi neer instructors. If a quality engineer NCO (E6 or E7 ) is lea ving active duty, he is needed as an instructor in 

the U.S. Army Reserve Engineer TASS Battalions. 

POC is MAJ James Avants, -41 14, or e-mail avantsj @woo d.army. mil. 

Engineer Officer Adv a nced Cour se. The construction module ofthe adv anced course is bei ng upd ated with a new ca pstone 

exercise base d on the Bosni an theater of operations. Also, a quality-c ontro l/qua lity-assuranc e class is und er developmen t, 

which will be incorporated int o the existing project-m anag eme nt lesson . 

roc is CPT Tim Scholma, (573) 596-013 1 ext. 3-5372, or DSN -5372 , ore-mail scholmatticwood.army.mil. 

Mine Awareness/Unit Mine-Advisor Train-the-Trainer Course.The Countermine Training Support Center (CTSC)fHumanirarian 

Demining Tr aining Center (HDTC) projects that the pilot for this co urse will be in July 200 I. The intent of the cours e is to teach 

se nior NCO s and junio r officers to dev elop and conduct unit mine-awaren ess training properly and to serve as unit mine advisors 

during deployments. Co urse grad uates will be designated " trainers" from activ e and reserve engineer batt alions and brigades 

thro ughout the force. The CTS C will teac h th is five -day course at Fort Leonard Wood on a cyclic basis, prioritizing instruction 

for those designated to deploy to mine-cont aminated regions such as Bosnia and Kosovo, We anticipate space for up to 30 

students, so please ca ll to reser ve positions. Units will be req uired to fund associated TDY costs. For mo re informati on , visit our 

Web site at http.Z/www...vood.army.m il/C l'S'C. 

POC is Dr. Steve Grzyb, -6199, or e-mail grzyhst@wood.arm.v.mil. 

Directorate of Training Development (DOTD) 

Field Manual Update. The following field manuals ha ve recently been printed and distributed: 

• FM 3-34.2 (formerly FM 90 -13- 1), Combin ed-Arms Breachi ng Operations , dated 31 August 2000. 

• FM 3-34.230 (forme rly I'M 5-105), Topographic Operations, da ted 3 August 2000. 

These manu als also are availa ble for view ing and downloading from the Reim er Training and Doctrine Digital Library. To 

acc ess the library, go to http://www.adtdl.anny.mil/utdls.hl n1 and click on "Enter the Library." Select (highlight) "Field Manuals" 

on the left drop-dow n menu and "Engineer" on the right dro p-dow n menu. Click on "S ubmit." 

50 Engineer October 2000 
FM 3-34.33 1, Topographic Surveying, will be sent to print within the next 30 days. Look for it on the MANSCEN Publi cations 

Page at htrp://,vww.wood. army.mil/P UBS/n ewpubs/htm. This ma nual combines FM 5-232 and TMs 5-23 2 and 5-23 7 and is a 

guide for military occupationalspecialty (MOS) 82D (topographic surveyor).It provides techniques not found in any comm ercial 

text concerning the precise determinatio n of position, azimuth, or elevation of a poin t. Additionally, this publi cation describes 

and standardizes procedures for performing recons, preparing station description s, and reporting and briefin g survey projects. 

POC is Sandra Gib son, ·4 100. 

2000 Engineer Unit Directory. The directory, which is upd ated periodically, is available at http ://www.wood.army.miIIPUB S/ 

dsd/dsd.htm. Units may submit chan ges/corrections at any time via e-m ail toJennife rMorgan atmorganj @lvoodarmy.mil. 

poe isJennifer Morgan, (573) 596-0131 ext. 3-7644, or DSN -7644. 

News and Notes 

MOS 52E Prime Power Production Specialist. The U.S.Army Prime Power Sch ool is looking forself-motivated soldiers who 

mee t the follow ing prerequi sites: 

•	 Be an E-5 (nonpromotable) or an E-4 or E-4 (promotab le) (subject to ca ree r-field requirements). 

•	 Hold a high school or a General Education Development (GE D) diplom a. 

•	 Score at least 110 on the Armed Services Voc ational Ap titude Bat tery (ASVAB) in the electronics (EL), general techni cal 

(GT) , and skilled technical (ST) areas. 

•	 Score at least 70 percent on the Basic Mathematics and Science Proficiency Test (BM ST). 

Located at Fort Belvo ir, Virginia, the school teaches the skills asso ciated with installing, operating, and main taining the 

Army's largest electrical-power plants. The one-year Prime Power Productio n Spec ialist Course is among the Army's most 

technically challen ging train ing. The ben efi ts inclu de earned college credit, great assignments, promotion opport unities , and 

worldwide travel while co nducting prime-power missions. The sched ule for the course is as follows: 

Class 01-1	 Report date : 26 February 2001 Class 01-2 Rep011 date: 27 August 200 1
 

Start/Cl ass date : 12 March 2001 Start/Class date: 12 September 200 1
 

End date: 0 1 March 2002 End date: 30 Augus t 2002
 

poe is Dennis Cal am ita or N ilia Ko ndratiuk , (7 03) 80 6-3904/37 48 , DSN 65 6-3 90 4/ 374 8 , or e-mail 

249PPSDEADM1N @EN249.usace.army. mil. 

Defense Mapping School Courses. The Defense Mapping School, located at F0l1 Belvoir, Virgini a, is offering the following 

FYOI resident cou rse s. More information about resident course offerings can be found at http.r/www.nima.mil. 

Geospatiallnformation and Services Staff Officer Course 

001 16 October 2000 20 October 2000 

002 04 December 2000 08 December 2000 

003 22 January 2001 26 January 2001 

004 19 March 2001 23 March 2001 

October 2000	 Eng ineer 51 
Geospatial Digital Data Users Course 

001 23 October 2000 27 October 2000 

002 13 November 2000 17 November 2000 

003 29 January 2001 02 February 2001 

004 09 April 2001 13 April 2001 

005 07 May 2001 11 May 2001 

Topographic Operations Management Course 

001 26 February 2001 09 March 2001 

002 13 August 2001 24 August 2001 

Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems 

001 06 November 2000 20 November 2000 

002 12 March 2001 23 March 2001 

003 18 June 2001 29 June 2001 

004 20 August 2001 31 August 2001 

poe is Ms. Lynn Keleher, (703) 805-32 13, or DSN 655-3213. Alternate poe is at (703) 805-2237, DSN 655-2237 . 

Defense Technical Information Center (DTIC) 2000 Conference. The DTIC will host its annual users' meeting and training 

conference from 6 to 9 November 2000 at the DoubleTree Hotel,Rockville, Maryland. This year 's theme is "Information Solutions 

for the Twenty-First Century." 

DTI C 2000 provides a unique opportunity for atte ndees to explore in deta il new deve lopments not only at the DTIC but 

throughout the federal technical-inform ation network. As in past years, the conference will feature a number of presentations and 

sessions that foc us on the most curre nt issues relative to the research , development, and acquisition com munities. Th ese 

sessions are designed to acquaint the participants with the latest policy and operationa l developments and will prov ide practical 

details on valu able and diverse domestic and foreign information resources . The sessi ons will also address security issues, the 

World Wide Web , co pyright laws, and the storage and disseminatio n of electronic docu ments. 

pac is Julia Foscu e, (703) 767 -8236, or e-mailjfoscue@dtic.mil. The DTIC home page is at http t/Zwww.dtic.mil. 

22d Ar my Science Conference. Sponsored by the Assistant Secretary of the Army (Acquisi tion, Logistics, and Techn ology), 

the 22d Army Science Conference will be held at the Renaissance Harborplace Hotel, Balti more, Maryland , 11 to 13 December 

2000. The co nference theme is "Accelerating the Pace of the Transformation to the Objective Force." The confere nce will feature 

presentations of papers and posters judged best among those submitted by Army scie ntists and enginee rs. Authors of the most 

outstanding papers will be sele cted to receive special recognition and awards. 

pac is at (757) 357-40 II or e-mail asc2000info@Qol. co morv si econfere nce Webs teat h!tp://wlV \~ as -2000.com

Web Site for Company Commanders. Eight Army officers have founded a Web site that is dedicated to improving companylevel leadership in the Army. Th e site, http://www.COInpanyCommand.com. is a user-dri ven forum in which form er and current 

company commanders share their best ideas, products, and lessons learned to benefit current and future company commanders. 

The goa l of the Web site is to imp rove institutional knowledge at the company level of Army leadership by improving the latera l 

flow of information. 

The eight officers, who are assigned to the staff and faculty at the U,S . Military Academy, run the Web site during thei r offduty hours without remuneration. Their sale focus is on helpin g leader s to grow great units and soldi ers. 

poe is CPT Peter G. Kilner, (845) 938-4764, or e-mail cpkilner tieaol.com . 

52 Eng ineer October 2000 
S Lead the Way 

Command Sergeant Major Arthur Laughlin 

U.S. Army Engineer School 

I recently wen.t to a conference at FOl.1Monroe, Virginia, 

on the transiti on of TRADOC. The conference was a 

planning/brainstorming meeting.It dealt with everything 

in TRADOC from how the schools are organized to how the 

Army grows and trains leaders, what is taught during Initial 

Entry Trai ning (lET), and what the schoo l requirement';will 

be for soldiers in their careers. There were a lot of ideas 

with no final decision s being made. Change, however, is not 

far off. 

I consider this one of the most important times in our 

Army and our branch . Everything is on the verge of change, 

and not since the elimination of the horse has there been 

such dramatic turbul ence in the structure of the Army. You 

may well have to serve in three types of force structure: the 

legacy force, the interimforce, and the objective force. These 

are all going to be around at the same time until the transition 

is finished and , for many of you, that will take until the end 

of your career. Each structure may give you a different 

relationship with the maneuver force and the logistic chain 

and a different mix of soldiers and equipment. The training 

requirements will be different from unit to unit, and the 

OPTEMPO will vary. 

The Chief of Staff of the Arm y tasked the EPMS XXI 

Task Force to conduct a comprehensive study of the Enlisted 

Personnel Management System and recommend changes to 

ensure continued readiness into the twenty-first century.The 

idea is to create better ways of managing the force so that 

soldiers are not stranded in their careers with no way to 

progress. The different force structures may require you to 

have different skills for the same MOS. The equipment wiII 

be different, the soldier mix will be different, and the support 

relation ship wiII be different. Therefore, your skills will also 

have to be different. These changes mean that each of you 

has to be ready to change. These changes mean that you will 

have to learn new conc epts and new ways of getting the 

mission accomplished.This will be an Army for people who 

are serious about soldiering and fearless in the face of the 

unknown. Th is will be an Army for engineers. 

What will not change are the values that we live by and 

the requirement for leadership. The force will still be made 

of people expec ted to come toge ther to accomplish the 

mission of defending the nation. Engineers will still be a 

vital part of that mission , and each one of you will be 

expected to carry more than your share of the load ,just like 

engineers hav e always had to do when the Army wa s 

changing. I know that the easy thing to do is to say enough 

is enough and go do something else before the wave of 

change washes over you. But before you decide that enough 

is enough, remember that your leaders will stay and help 

mold this new force. Your leaders will embrace the change 

and make a difference. 

.This will be my last article to the Regiment and Engine er. 

I will be replaced by a very capable Command Sergeant 

Major-Robert R. Robin son II, who is coming from HHC 

555th Combat Engineer Group, Fort Lewis, Washington . I 

know that you will provide the same outstanding support to 

him that I have experienced while serving as your Command 

Sergeant Major. 

In leaving I would like to thank all of you, the soldiers 

and noncommissioned officers, for all you have done. By 

giving me your concerns and feedback, we have been able 

to continue doing something very important-making a 

differenc e. 

NCOs, you must continue to lead and train our soldiers 

as we have done for so long. Do not be afraid of change; 

embrace and master it. You and your subordinates will be 

better for it. If called upon to assume a position of greater 

responsibility, do so gladly. Someone has faith in your 

abilities-be proud of that fact. 

Take care; I will not soon forget the adventures so many 

of us have lived. 

October 2000 Engineer 53