COMMANDANT

BG Gregg F. Martin

563-6192

<gregg.martin@us.army.mil>

ASSISTANT COMMANDANT

COL Lou L. Marich	 	 	 	 	

563-8080

<lou.marich@us.army.mil>

REGIMENTAL COMMAND SERGEANT MAJOR

CSM Clinton J. Pearson

563-8060

<clinton.pearson@us.army.mil>

DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMANDANT–USAR

COL Loretta Deaner		 	 	 	

563-8045

<loretta.angela.deaner@us.army.mil>

DEPUTY ASSISTANT COMMANDANT–ARNG

LTC Steven K. Knutzen	 	 	 	 	

563-8046

<steven.knutzen@us.army.mil>

CHIEF OF STAFF

LTC Alfred Pantano

563-7116

<alfred.pantano@us.army.mil>

COMMANDER, 1st ENGINEER BRIGADE

COL Bjarne Iverson		 	 	 	

596-0224, DSN 581-0224

<bjarne.iverson@us.army.mil>

DIRECTOR OF TRAINING AND LEADER DEVELOPMENT

COL Jerry Meyer

563-4093

<jerry.meyer@us.army.mil>

DIRECTOR OF ENVIRONMENTAL INTEGRATION

Mr. Robert F. Danner

329-1942

<robert.f.danner@us.army.mil>

COUNTER EXPLOSIVE HAZARDS CENTER

COL Richard M. Hornack	 	 	 	 	

563-8142

<richard.hornack@us.army.mil>

HUMANITARIAN DEMINING TRAINING CENTER

Mr. Rodney A. Robideau

596-3870

<rodney.a.robideau@us.army.mil>

ENGINEER PERSONNEL PROPONENCY OFFICE

CW5 David D. LéVere

563-6137

<david.d.levere@us.army.mil>

MSG James L. Meriweather	 	 	 	 	

563-7232

<james.meriweather@us.army.mil>

MANEUVER SUPPORT ORGANIZATION

LTC Leonard E. Wells

593-6282

<leonard.wells@us.army.mil>

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573-563-8080 / DSN 676-8080
E R

DEPARTMENTS

02 Clear the Way

By Brigadier General

Gregg F. Martin

03 Lead the Way

By Command Sergeant Major

Clinton J. Pearson

12 Engineer Writer’s Guide

22 From The Archives - “Leadership: A Personal

Viewpoint”

By Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Larry Dandridge

(Retired)

Front Cover: Photos (clockwise) 

by Sergeant Mike Pryor, Captain

Ashley Dellavalle, and Staff Sergeant Michael Carden

Back Cover: Army Values Poster 

(updated 2007)

MANAGING EDITOR

Shirley Bridges

EDITOR

Rick Brunk

CONTRUBUTING EDITOR

Cheryl Green

GRAPHIC DESIGNER

Jennifer Morgan

COMMANDANT

Brigadier General

Gregg F. Martin

FEATURES

04 Like No Other: The Battering Rams in Operation Iraqi Freedom

By Lieutenant Colonel William H. Graham, Major Jason A. Kirk,

and Major Gary D. Calese

08 Full-Spectrum Bridging Operations in Iraq 

By Second Lieutenant Scott D. Eshom 

10 Breech From Kuwait to Iraq

By First Lieutenant Joshua Blalock

13 Planning a New FOB in Afghanistan

By Second Lieutenant Michael P. Carvelli

15 Knowledge Management for the Base Camp Community of Practice

By Major Travis (TJ) Lindberg and Mr. Albert. M. Vargesko

17 International Engineers Work Together in Afghanistan

By First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz

19 Developing Adaptive Leaders for Full-Spectrum Operations:

The Engineer Captains Career Course

By Major John N. Carey

25 Saving the Army Time and Money

By Lieutenant Colonel Bradley A. Duffey

28 Engineer Dog Handler Honored

By Captain Erik Karstensen and Mr. Luke Waack

30 Katrina Lessons Leave LSU Safer

By Dr. JoAnne Castagna

39 Mine Detection Moves Into the Future: The AN/PSS-14 Mine Detector 

Requires a License

By Mr. David Holbrook

42 Sapper Pac – The Tool Kit for Engineers

By Mr. Alan P. Schlie

44 Organizational Leadership at the Battalion Level

By Lieutenant Colonel Laurence M. Farrell

Volume 37 PB 5-07-4 Headquarters, Department of the Army October-December 2007

NGINEE

UNITED STATES ARMY

ENGINEER SCHOOL

The Professional Bulletin of Army Engineers

MANSCEN

DIRECTORATE OF TRAINING

October-December 2007 Engineer 1

32 Past in Review - “Fueling the Front Lines:

Army Pipeline Units - Part I”

By Mr. Thomas J. Petty

38 News and Notes

41 Dedication

48 Past in Review - “A Private’s Life: My Journey

Through the Second World War”

By Mr. Murray Mendelsohn as told to Dr. Christopher

Hennen

56 Engineer Update

Inside Back Cover:

Subscription Order Form
2 Engineer October-December 2007

By Brigadier General Gregg F. Martin

Commandant, United States Army Engineer School

Clear The Way 

Maggie and I are very excited to 

return to Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri. We relish the fact 

that we, once again, are serving with 

such an effective and enthusiastic team. 

I would like to thank Major General Jack 

Sterling and his wife Cathy for providing 

such a smooth transition, which enhanced 

our ability to pick up where they left off 

in affecting the matters most pertinent to 

our Regiment, especially our people.

I would like to focus for a moment 

on one of the keys to success within our 

Regiment— effective communication. I 

welcome and encourage members of the 

Regiment to provide direct feedback and recommendations 

to me that will increase my ability to affect matters. I greatly 

value your input. I am wholeheartedly and passionately 

committed to advocating for our Regiment. I can be most 

effective with your support and feedback. 

As you know, our Regiment is ascending from the 

trough of Transformation, to include addressing engineer 

support within the brigade combat teams (BCTs). An 

awesome amount of work has been done to ensure that we 

are providing relevant and responsive support to forces. 

We have an exceptional team of leaders involved who are 

absolutely the right people to address this difficult business. 

Please trust in them, as do I, to do the very best possible 

in support of our Regiment and the Army. I ask for your 

patience and commitment as we realize the effects of 

Engineer Transformation, especially within the engineer 

force pool over this next year.

I ask for the support of commanders and leaders to ensure 

that we maximize development and career progression 

opportunities for our Soldiers and leaders despite the 

demands of ongoing operations. It is imperative that we 

invest in them now to ensure our success today and in the 

future. Last quarter, Major General Sterling announced 

the addition of the Explosive Ordnance Clearance Agent 

(EOCA) Course to Fort Leonard Wood. The first course 

will graduate on 21 December 2007. Soldiers who attend 

this four-week course are awarded the E8 Additional 

Skill Identifier (ASI). Again, I very much recognize and 

appreciate the challenges of leaders and commanders as 

they prepare and care for Soldiers and 

Families preparing to deploy. It is my 

objective to facilitate your efforts to 

develop and train your Soldiers. I am 

committed to doing anything reasonably 

possible to help you to this end. 

Recently, I had the privilege of 

recognizing one of our outstanding 

engineer Soldiers, Corporal (CPL) Kory 

D. Wiens and his specialized search 

dog (SSD), Cooper (K-154), who made 

the ultimate sacrifice in defense of our 

great nation. The team deployed to Iraq 

on 31 December 2006 in support of 

Multinational Division–Central. They 

saved numerous coalition and Iraqi lives by detecting 

explosives and other improvised explosive device (IED) 

manufacturing materials in the streets of Iraq. Kory 

and Cooper were killed by an IED while performing a 

dismounted patrol on 6 July 2007 in Muhammad Sath, 

Iraq. The CPL Kory D. Wiens Veterinary Hospital 

and Kennel was dedicated at Fort Leonard Wood on 

4 December 2007. It will provide current and future 

engineer canine handlers with state-of-the-art facilities 

to support our teams. The facility provides 36 new 

kennel runs for these vital assets. This kennel increases 

the capacity of the engineer kennel space, making it the 

largest FORSCOM kennel.

 As we begin the new calendar year, I ask each of you for 

your renewed emphasis on safety. Sadly and inexcusably, 

Soldiers, civilians, and Family members of our Army 

are injured or killed by avoidable circumstances. It is 

incredibly disheartening to know that members of our team 

are injured or killed due to failing to wear seatbelts, driving 

at reckless speeds, using cell phones while operating motor 

vehicles, and driving under the influence. Collectively, we 

can reduce and eliminate our injuries and losses and redirect 

the available time to celebrating the service, sacrifice, and 

achievements of our people. 

Our deployed Soldiers and their Families are always in 

our thoughts and prayers. Thank you all for your service 

and sacrifice. 

Army Strong!
brigade combat team (BCT), interim brigade 

combat team (IBCT), and Stryker brigade 

combat team (SBCT) commanders and the 

modular engineer units. The engineer Advanced Noncommissioned Officers Course 

(ANCOC) and Basic Noncommissioned 

Officers Course (BNCOC) are continuing 

to provide the Regiment’s NCOs with the 

professional development and current taskbased rigid training needed to lead today 

and tomorrow. We continue to improve in 

our 72-hour situational training exercise 

(STX), which allows NCOs to share their 

deployment experiences with each other. 

The exercise serves as a culmination of 

all tasks covered during the course, with 

emphasis on troop-leading procedures (TLP) in the current and 

contemporary operating environment.

BNCOC also places a significant emphasis on TLP and the 

execution of route clearance, traffic control point, cordon and 

search, force protection, access control, and quick-reaction 

force (QRF) missions. All missions are enhanced thought the 

incorporation of improvised explosive device (IED) simulators, 

realistic training aids, and civilians on the battlefield.

The Counter Explosive Hazards Center (CEHC), the Army’s 

Center of Excellence for countering explosive hazards, is 

training and updating the force in current counter explosive 

hazards techniques and employment of commercial off-the-shelf 

(COTS) and contingency equipment. This instruction enables 

units to receive theater-specific training prior to deployment and 

allows them to focus on the mission during transfer of authority. 

To ensure that the training is up to date and relevant, the CEHC 

gathers the latest intelligence on explosive hazards tactics, 

techniques, and procedures (TTP) employed by the enemy 

as well as TTP developed by deployed units to counter that 

threat.

We are continuing our efforts to bridge the gap with explosive 

ordnance disposal (EOD), as the Explosive Ordnance Clearance 

Agent (EOCA) Course moves to Fort Leonard Wood this quarter. 

This move will increase our ability to find new solutions and 

provide better training for engineer Soldiers.

Finally, continue to focus on the War on Terrorism, 

maintaining high standards and leading the way as engineers 

do. May God bless the fallen comrades and keep watch over all 

Soldiers, Families, and Civilians as we continue the fight.

October-December 2007 Engineer 3

Lead The Way 

By Command Sergeant Major Clinton J. Pearson

United States Army Engineer School

Greetings from Fort Leonard Wood! 

One of the most significant events 

here recently was bidding farewell 

to a member of our great command team, MG

John Sterling and his wife Cathy. I would 

like to express my sincere appreciation to the 

Sterlings for the positive impact they made 

on Fort Leonard Wood, the Regiment, and 

the Army. We welcome BG Gregg Martin 

as the new Commandant of the Engineer 

School, and his wife Maggie, and look 

forward to serving with him and his family. 

Our Regiment is experiencing one of the 

most challenging, dynamic, and rewarding 

periods in its history. The selfless service 

and sacrifice of our Soldiers, Civilians, and 

Families in support of the War on Terrorism is exemplary and a 

true testament to their commitment to defending freedom and 

our way our life.

The past year has brought huge positive impacts on our 

support of the Army’s missions. We have blended the powerful 

capabilities of the Reserves, National Guard, and Active Army 

to provide a very responsive capability and function for our 

nation. The success of the Engineer Regiment transformation 

to the modular force is mainly due to the aggressiveness of the 

leaders throughout the Regiment and our great Corps.

The entire Regiment is on schedule with transforming to the 

modular force. The Reserves and National Guard are on pace 

to transform years ahead of schedule, and the Active Army 

engineers have passed the halfway point toward transformation to 

the modular force. Recently, the 8th Engineer Battalion (Combat 

Effects), 54th Engineer Battalion (Construction Effects), and 

84th Engineer Battalion (Construction Effects) became modular 

units, which increases the capabilities available to the combatant 

commanders. Additionally, the activation of modular engineer 

units increases the opportunities for Soldiers throughout the 

Regiment. For example, the number of senior noncommissioned 

officers (NCOs) selected for promotion on the recent sergeants 

major list far exceeded previous years’ numbers. Congratulations 

to all on your achievement! 

The noncommissioned officers courses continue to focus 

on improving performance today while building tomorrow’s 

sapper leaders. We continue to aggressively support resetting 

Army Force Generation (ARFORGEN) units though a blend 

of resident, distance learning, and mobile training teams. 

We will continue to focus on building skills that support the
4 Engineer October-December 2007

The Battering Rams in Operation Iraqi Freedom

By Lieutenant Colonel William H. Graham, Major Jason A. Kirk, 

and Major Gary D. Calese

Like No Other:

An engineer from the 40th Engineer Battalion operates a 

Bobcat® in Ramadi.

Like no other. This phrase certainly characterizes 

the year-long tour that the 40th Engineer Battalion 

“Battering Rams” recently completed in Operation Iraqi 

Freedom (OIF). It was like no other in that this formation—

fighting organically to the 2d Brigade Combat Team (BCT), 

1st Armored Division (1AD)—is one of the Army’s last 

two maneuver BCT-supporting Engineer Reconstruction 

Initiative (ERI)–Modified Table of Organization and 

Equipment (MTOE) combat engineer battalions in the Army. 

(The other is the Schweinfurt, Germany-based 9th Engineer 

Battalion.) It was like no other in that the Soldiers of the 

battalion and brigade headquarters served the first half of 

their tour stationed at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, assigned 

as the first-ever Central Command (CENTCOM) “theater 

reserve brigade.” It was like no other in that the battalion 

spent time shepherding the sapper companies through their 

precommitment engineer-focused training as they deployed 

into Iraq attached to their habitually supported maneuver 

task forces. The battalion then evolved into a sort of brigade 

troops battalion, with administrative control (ADCON) over 

the brigade’s separate military intelligence, signal, military 

police, and reconnaissance troops. Finally, the battalion 

served in Baghdad with operational control over one of the 

modular “Echo” companies of sappers from a 4th Infantry 

Division combined arms battalion maneuver task force, 

a civil affairs company, the BCT’s reconnaissance troop, 

an explosive ordnance disposal (EOD) company, and the 

battalion’s headquarters company, while retaining ADCON 

of the military intelligence and reconnaissance troops. This 

like-no-other script was one that none of the Battering Rams 

could have written as they conducted their predeployment 

gunnery and mission rehearsal exercise in the fall of 2005. 

While much of the year that concluded in November 2006 was 

like no other, the experiences and lessons learned of the 40th 

provide valuable information for other engineer formations 

across the Engineer Regiment.

The 40th had three highly trained sapper companies that 

deployed ready to conduct engineer tasks across the full 

spectrum of combat and stability operations, and a proficient 

and flexible staff that could plan and command and control a 

variety of missions across their supported BCT’s battlespace. 

This article will detail the experiences and share the lessons 

learned by the 40th as it planned, prepared, and executed 

full-spectrum operations. The battalion’s guiding philosophy 

was to approach all missions in a disciplined and aggressive 

manner. The battalion’s motto—Constructio et Destructio

(Construction and Destruction)—characterizes the breadth of 

engineer and nonengineer missions its Soldiers would face 

during OIF.

Engineer LOOs

The 40th command group used its base missionessential task list to refine a template of engineer lines-of-operations (LOOs) to guide training efforts 

during the predeployment mission rehearsal exercise and 

the training time that presented itself when the battalion 

was designated as the CENTCOM theater reserve brigade in 

Kuwait. Nested within the BCT’s effects-based operational 

construct, the 40th prepared to conduct nine LOOs.
October-December 2007 Engineer 5

The 40th Engineer Battalion emplaces countermobility barriers in Ameriya, Baghdad.

BCT Effect No. 1—Promote a safe and secure environment.

Engineer LOO No. 1. Conduct counter improvised explosive 

device (counter-IED) operations. Finding and training ways 

to counter the IED threat—the primary killer on the OIF 

battlefield—was paramount. The summation of the 40th’s 

counter-IED lessons follows:

Make every Soldier an IED detector by training multiple

iterations with a variety of concealed IEDs.

Make sappers the counter-IED experts for the supported

maneuver element. During training time in Kuwait, 40th

Engineer Battalion noncommissioned officers (NCOs)

and lieutenants advised maneuver task forces on the

development of counter-IED training lanes. 

Develop a counter-IED “Red Team” to support training

at both the command and staff levels and at the crew and

platoon levels. The battalion dedicated an opposing force

element within the engineer reconnaissance platoon

to build and employ a wide variety of training IEDs

during counter-IED lane training for the entire BCT.

Synchronize, synchronize, synchronize. The 40th

provided command and control for the BCT’s EOD

response and escort operations.

Use Fort Leonard Wood’s Counter Explosive Hazards

Center and other “schoolhouse” training courses such

as—

■

■

■

■

■

The Route Reconnaissance and Clearance Course

for valuable hands-on time with Buffalo armored

personnel carriers, RG-31 mine-protected vehicles,

and Husky mine detector vehicles.

The Route Reconnaissance and Clearance Course–

Sapper for counter-IED TTP for units without the

clearance equipment package.

The Explosive Ordnance Clearance Agent (EOCA) 

Course to train NCOs and junior officers in

skills that help bridge the gap between sappers and

their EOD brethren.

The 40th had operational control of the 754th Ordnance

Company (EOD) and responsibility for EOD response

across the BCT area of operations (AO). This facilitated

the most expeditious response and a centralized means to

prioritize response to IEDs, weapons caches, and blast

crater analysis.

Engineer LOO No. 2. Collect, secure, and destroy unexploded 

ordnance (UXO) and captured enemy ammunition.

The 40th trained on the TTP for these engineer tasks. 

Though the two companies stationed in Al Anbar

Province completed a few disposal missions, the primary

lesson learned was that EOD forces took on the majority

of these missions. Related to LOO No. 1, the 40th

emphasized the utility of passing the details of all

recovered IED-making materials to the BCT’s

S2/counter-IED fusion cell.

►

►

►

■

■
Engineer LOO No. 3. Conduct 

force protection assessments, construction, and upgrades to critical 

coalition forward operating bases 

(FOBs) and combat outposts and 

to critical Iraqi municipal and 

other governmental facilities and 

infrastructure sites. 

All three line companies,

the battalion staff, and the

headquarters company engaged in this critical task.

As a “force protection planner,” the battalion S2 officer

conducted site assessments

across the BCT AO and made

detailed perimeter barrier

and entry control point upgrade designs for these sites.

Charlie Company and the

support platoon from Headquarters and Headquarters

Company designed and emplaced combat outposts for

use by American and Iraqi

security forces. 

Engineer LOO No. 4. Maintain 

trafficability of main supply 

routes (MSRs) and other critical lines of communication

(LOCs).

For this LOO, the 40th maintained the BCT’s situational

awareness of the status of MSRs and alternate supply

routes, then focused counter-IED route clearance

patrols, blast hole repair missions, and sometimes counterIED reconnaissance with the BCT’s reconnaissance

troop to address the most hazardous routes.

Both the S2/counter-IED fusion cell’s tracking

of IED hotspots and maneuver task force requests 

for support helped to focus support efforts for these

mobility missions.

Engineer LOO No. 5. Provide general engineering support 

to FOB life-support infrastructure and quality of life 

improvements.

The 40th learned two primary lessons in conducting this traditional engineer LOO. First, the

modernized KipperTM tool kits proved highly 

valuable. The MTOE should authorize not one,

but three Carpenter’s Power Tool Kits (Line Item

Number [LIN] (W34511) and three Pioneer Manual 

Labor Tool Kits (LIN W48074) per company.

The Kipper Plumber’s Tool Kit and Electrician’s

Tool Kit (LIN W49033 and LIN W36977) also

■

■

■

■

■

proved useful to combat engineers establishing

combat outposts (COPs) at austere sites.

The other lesson learned was that due to the

shortage of Army construction units, the high demand

for missions that civilian contractors couldn’t

perform, and the lack of general engineering

capability in the divisional (or BCT) engineer units,

many BCT-level general engineering missions were

delayed until sufficient division- or corps-controlled

assets became available. To fill this gap, some BCT

engineer units scrounged available theater-provided

equipment (TPE). The 40th’s recommendation is

to add a minimal level of general engineering

equipment, such as two bucket loaders, a D7

bulldozer with haul asset, and three 5-ton dump 

trucks (or palletized load system vehicles with

dump modules) to the combat engineer battalions. This would give the BCT tremendous

flexibility and serve as a base for additional

capability if sufficient TPE is available. These upgrades would allow the ever-flexible engineer

Soldiers to apply their skills to provide valuable

quality of life and force protection to forces at

FOBs and COPs.

BCT Effect No. 2—Promote Iraqi confidence in their 

government.

■

6 Engineer October-December 2007

A 40th Engineer Battalion Soldier distributes claim cards in southwest Baghdad. 

The cards allow Iraqis to seek reimbursement for damages caused by coalition 

forces.
October-December 2007 Engineer 7

Engineer LOO No. 6. Evaluate and improve Iraqi municipal 

infrastructure—sewage, water, electricity, academics, trash, 

and medical (SWEAT-M).

Engineer LOO No. 7. Enable and empower a capable and 

credible Iraqi government.

By conducting LOOs No. 6 and No. 7, the 40th played a

critical role in the BCT’s effort to build faith among the Iraqi 

people that their government can provide essential services 

such as clean water, electricity, andsanitation. The primary 

lessons learned follow:

Incoming units must understand the personalities

within the AO’s governance and public works

structure, the tribal leaders, the current status of

SWEAT-M services, and the status of ongoing

infrastructure projects. Civil affairs units—often on

staggered or “off-cycle” rotations from the maneuver

BCT’s—are an important source for this information.

The credibility of U.S. forces is diminished when

they are not familiar with the status of ongoing

projects and local priorities. While a new unit may

feel the urge to jump into its area with quick

solutions, it will be more useful to true progress to

spend time learning how systems operated under

the Saddam regime, what coalition efforts have

already been attempted, and what long-term solutions

are currently in the works.

The 40th Engineer Battalion commander, like most 

brigade troops battalion commanders in adjacent BCTs, 

served as the BCT commander’s lead agent for 

BCT-wide civil-military operations (CMO) efforts.

The lesson learned is that much will be gained

in establishing relationships with the interagency

players, especially the United States Agency for 

International Development (USAID) and the United

States Army Corps of Engineers® (USACE), that have

ongoing projects within the AO. 

The approach to CMO responsibilities evolved over

the course of operations. They found much success

by running a “nonlethal effects working group,” chaired

by the BCT executive officer (XO), to synchronize

CMO efforts along with information operations (IO),

psychological operations (PSYOP), public affairs,

and other non-lethal targeting operations. The brigade

fire support officer led the IO, PSYOP, and public

affairs sections while the battalion XO led the

brigade civil-military affairs section and the infrastructure project management section.

BCT Effect No. 3—Transition to a democratic and 

independent Iraq.

Engineer LOO No. 8. Train Iraqi army EOD personnel in IED 

defeat.

■

■

■

Engineer LOO No. 9. Train Iraqi army engineers.

The battalion’s Bravo and Charlie Companies conducted

a significant number of combined operations with Iraqi

Security Forces (ISF) from the National Police and Iraqi army. 

Contrary to their predeployment assumptions, the 40th was 

paired with standard “line formations” instead of Iraqi EOD 

or engineer personnel. All U.S. units in Iraq will work with 

ISF, applying persistence and patience as they work toward 

the objective of putting the ISF in the lead. Predeployment 

Arabic language and culture training and formal exercises 

working through interpreters helped prepare the 40th for 

these combined operations.

Summary

This LOO construct is similar to the one developed in 

2005 and details how the battalion’s initial planning 

and training efforts compared to the actual mission 

sets that the 40th was called on to execute.

While the battalion’s deployment met with successes 

and failures, it reports that having predeployment training 

guided by a broad set of engineer LOOs and supporting 

tasks was extremely valuable. Additionally, the engineer 

task proficiency focus provided by engineer battalion 

leaders during the predeployment and theater reserve status 

training time helped prepare the battalion for the broad 

spectrum of engineer and nonengineer missions it was called 

on to perform. All of these formations report that training 

for the counter-IED fight as an engineer mobility mission 

will make not only the engineer companies, but their task 

forces and the BCT, more successful. As the Battering 

Rams prepare for their next operational commitment, they 

will draw on the lessons of this most recent and like no 

other OIF rotation.

Lieutenant Colonel Graham served as commander of the 

40th Engineer Battalion “Battering Rams” during this OIF 

rotation. He now serves as Division Engineer for the 1st 

Armored Division (1AD) as he prepares for his third OIF 

rotation. His past assignments include tours of duty with the 

1AD Engineer Brigade; the USACE Pittsburgh District; and 

the 588th, 1st, and 23d Engineer Battalions. 

Major Kirk was the 40th Engineer Battalion executive 

officer during this OIF rotation and now serves as the 

2d BCT/1AD executive officer. He has also served with 

the USACE New Orleans District and the 299th and 11th 

Engineer Battalions.

Major Calese was the 40th Engineer Battalion operations 

and training officer during this OIF rotation and now serves 

as the battalion executive officer. He has also served with 

the Sidewinders Team at the National Training Center, Fort 

Irwin, California; the 52d Engineer Battalion; and the 505th 

Multirole Bridge Battalion.
8 Engineer October-December 2007

With Operation Arrowhead 

Ripper only weeks away, insurgents targeted and successfully rendered a key regional bridge 

impassible with a vehicle-borne improvised 

explosive device (VBIED). Located north 

of insurgent hotbed Baqoubah, the bridge 

had served as a passageway over the

Diyala River. Operation Arrowhead 

Ripper, part of the larger Operation 

Phantom Thunder, was an overall offensive 

to clear insurgent-held cities, maximizing 

the surge capabilities of coalition forces. 

With passage over the Diyala River 

limited, elements of Task Force Lightning 

and other forces preparing for cordonand-search operations in Baqoubah could 

not effectively carry out their mission. 

The 502d Engineer Company (Multirole 

Bridge) and elements of the 92d Engineer Battalion (Combat) 

(Heavy) answered the call for assistance.

The mission was simple: deploy an assault float bridge 

(AFB) and improve the near- and farshore approaches to 

permit traffic access to the temporary bypass. Knowing the 

urgency of the mission, elements of the 92d prepared for the 

movement and site work during the night. The operation was 

broken into three phases: movement to the site and nearshore 

preparation to provide access for the 502d bridge assets; 

bridge emplacement; and farshore preparation, roadwork 

completion and testing, and movement back home. 

Although the 502d emplaced the bridge, the most 

demanding phases of the operation required the improvement 

of both shores and the construction of a roadway. Soldiers 

By Second Lieutenant Scott D. Eshom

Part of the Mabey-Johnson bridge is pulled down with two D7 dozers.

Soldiers from the 502d 

Engineer Company use a 

bridge emplacement boat 

to stabilize the new bypass 

bridge while it is being 

anchored. A HYEX on the far 

shore works to improve the 

approach. 

Photo by Second Lieutenant Nicholas Soroka
October-December 2007 Engineer 9

from the 92d Headquarters Support Company, the

502d Support Platoon, and Bravo Company provided construction and earthmoving assets and immediately started 

work on the nearshore approach. D7 dozers and graders 

worked nonstop for 24 hours to improve the trail running 

parallel to the existing highway and the bridge structure. After 

several hours of hard work, the noncommissioned officer in 

charge deemed access to the near shore of the existing bridge 

sufficient. Hydraulic excavator (HYEX) operators began 

improving the slope and approach of the river bank to provide 

502d bridge assets ample room to maneuver and launch their 

improved ribbon bridge (IRB) bays and boats.

Soldiers from the 502d’s 2d Platoon, worked overnight to 

emplace the IRB bays needed to bridge the gap. Once ready 

to cross, D7 dozer operators began 

work on the far side to complete 

access to the highway. The skilled 

HYEX, grader, and dozer operators 

of the 92d worked around the clock 

to clear concrete debris off the dirt 

path, widen and fill areas with 

several dump truck loads of gravel, 

and level out the approach from the 

bridge on the far shore. 

To ensure that the new road and 

bridge were effective, site leadership required a test run. Operators 

loaded up heavy equipment pieces 

to mimic the standard convoy that 

uses the bridge. With successful 

passage across the intersections 

leading off and onto the highway, 

the improved road, and the bridge, 

the Soldiers who contributed to 

the mission knew they had done 

something special. Military convoys immediately began to use the new road and bridge, and 

days later, Operation Arrowhead Ripper kicked off.

Coordination with the 92d’s engineer assets was an 

important factor in mission success. With knowledge of 

the bridge site needs of the 502d, site leaders effectively 

directed ground operators on worksite priorities. Knowledge 

of military vehicle turning requirements led to a successful 

test run with sharp turns off and onto the highway. And when 

the initial mission was complete, the 92d responded to an 

urgent order to clear the damaged Mabey-Johnson bridge 

from the existing concrete bridge. Winched to the hulking 

70-ton Mabey-Johnson bridge, two D7 dozers successfully 

cleared the roadway, and the 502d’s 1st Platoon replaced 

the Mabey-Johnson bridge. The implementation of fullspectrum bridging operations by the 

502d Engineer Company and the

92d Engineer Battalion enabled both 

the successful execution of Operation 

Arrowhead Ripper and the long-term 

assured mobility needs of the region. 

Second Lieutenant Eshom is the 

support platoon leader for the 502d 

Engineer Company (Multirole Bridge), 

Hanau, Germany. He completed the 

Sapper Leader Course in February 

2007 after the Engineer Officer 

Basic Course at Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri. He holds a bachelor’s in 

international relations and French 

studies from American University, 

Washington, D.C. 

A D7 dozer clears the roadway, pushing the damaged Mabey-Johnson bridge into 

the Tigris River.

The 502d 1st Platoon bridges the gap of the damaged Al Taji Bridge, pushing 

the damaged Mabey-Johnson bridge 45 meters across the Tigris River.

Photo by First Lieutenant Brad Stubblefiel
10 Engineer October-December 2007

Engineers must solve many problems before any project 

or mission can start. The 186th Engineer Company’s 

Task Force Denali overcame a unique problem during 

a mission to clear the new convoy route from Kuwait to Iraq 

during April and May 2007. The problem was that the task 

force needed to cross a 39-inch pipeline that runs the entire 

length of the border between Kuwait and Iraq. The Kuwaiti 

government owns the pipe and would allow it to be cut the 

day traffic started moving on the new route, but no earlier. 

Even though the government had approved the route, it did 

not want the pipe cut prematurely, and coalition convoys 

could not roll on the new route until two turnarounds were 

built and eight culverts had been cleared. The 186th would 

be responsible for breeching the border and meeting the route 

clearance requirements. The bulldozers, scrapers, and graders 

needed by Task Force Denali to clear the new route had to 

cross the border, but could not simply jump

39 inches to get across the pipeline. A delay 

in opening the new route would have meant 

five more months of using the previous 

convoy route, which travels near two cities 

in Iraq that pose a tremendous and constant 

threat to U.S. forces. A delay would mean 

putting Soldiers in undue danger. 

Several solutions were considered. One 

option was to build an earth ramp that 

would cover the pipe and road and slope 

enough to allow vehicles to drive over it. 

This would call for a bulldozer to push dirt 

high enough on the road to clear the top of 

the pipe. A second option involved backing 

two M870 lowboy trailers against each 

By First Lieutenant Joshua Blalock

Two lowboy trailers, each loaded with 

another lowboy trailer, were hauled to 

the site. 
October-December 2007 Engineer 11

other over the pipeline. A third option was to take one M870 

lowboy trailer and back it against the pipe while building an 

earth ramp on the other side. The fourth option was to cross 

into Iraq on Main Supply Route Tampa and take a long detour 

to get to the new route. 

With each potential solution came additional problems. 

Earth ramps on both sides of the pipe would use a crane to 

place a bulldozer on the far side of the pipe to push dirt. The 

amount of dirt required would leave large holes. This option 

could also leave holes in the asphalt when the bulldozer was 

working to build the ramp, and all the dirt from the ramp 

would have to be removed before the route opened. The third 

option would also use dirt that would need to be removed. 

The last option would take too much time and would also 

put the engineers on the much more dangerous route. Thus, it 

was decided that the best option was to use the M870 lowboy 

trailers to form a bridge into Iraq.

The noncommissioned officer (NCO) in charge of the 

mission used 16 Soldiers from 2d Platoon for the breeching 

mission. The idea for using the trailers still needed to be tested 

to make sure it would work. With help from the maintenance 

platoon, the NCO and his team measured the height of the 

trailers to ensure that they would sit high enough to clear the 

obstacle. The Soldiers backed two trailers against each other 

and took measurements—each stood exactly 39 inches at 

its crest. The next step was to ensure that the trailers could 

withstand the weight of the engineer equipment being driven 

across them. The trailers would have to hold the weight of the 

equipment plus the weight of the truck hauling the equipment. 

The test proceeded without a hitch. 

Now other problems came to light. The engineers did not 

want to disturb the pipe at all, but the trailers backed against 

the pipe left a gap. They used rubber matting, sand bags, and 

3⁄4-inch steel plating to cover the gap across the pipe. The 

next problem was the fact that the trailers would be sitting 

directly on the asphalt. Rubber matting was placed beneath 

the drop necks of the trailers to protect the road. Wood braces 

sat directly underneath the trailers to prevent their suspension 

system from giving under the weight of the equipment. The 

last concern was that the trailers themselves might shift and 

roll into or away from the pipe. A trailer’s brakes will lock 

once the trailer is detached from a truck, but they are only 

designed to hold as equipment is driven onto the trailer, not 

while having that equipment loaded onto another truck and 

driven across. The Soldiers for the breeching mission used 

chains to hold the trailers in place against each other and 

the pipe.

The first convoys on the new route were scheduled for 

15 May, so the breeching mission was set for 16 April to make 

sure the engineers crossing the border would have enough time 

Cranes set HMMWVs on the Iraqi side of the pipeline for the security platoon.
12 Engineer October-December 2007

to construct the turnarounds and clear the required culverts.

Four lowboy trailers were placed to ensure that there would 

be enough room for traffic to cross. The two cranes for the 

mission were a military 22T crane and a civilian 50T crane. 

Two lowboy trailers, each loaded with another lowboy trailer, 

were hauled to the site. Cranes set high-mobility multipurpose 

wheeled vehicles (HMMWVs) on the Iraqi side of the pipeline 

for the security platoon. Then the cranes moved two lowboy 

trailers to the Iraqi side of the pipeline and set them as close to 

Braces underneath the trailers prevented their suspensions 

from giving when traffic crossed.

the pipe as possible without damaging it. Rubber matting was 

placed beneath the trailers, and sandbags, matting, and steel 

plates were set into place on the pipe. The crew left a 1-foot 

gap between the side-by-side trailers to give them room to 

shift safely. Chains were attached only to the outside portions 

of the four trailers to help the brakes hold them in place. Steel 

plates covered the holes in the trailers where the hookup and 

chains are kept. Braces underneath the trailers prevented their 

suspensions from giving when traffic crossed. Sandbags were 

placed at the bottom of each ramp to allow the equipment an 

easier way to drive onto the bridge. The completed bridge 

measured 106 feet long and 17 feet wide, which was enough 

space for any equipment to cross. The breech took two hours 

to complete and allowed the security platoon to cross back 

into Kuwait without having to be picked up by a crane.

The Soldiers crossed the border and completed the safer 

route for convoys going in and out of Iraq. The pipe was then 

cut, the temporary bridge removed, and the new route opened 

on time, thanks to the leadership, teamwork, and the “never 

quit” attitude of these engineers.

First Lieutenant Blalock was deployed as a platoon 

leader with the 186th Engineer Company (Combat Support 

Equipment) in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. He 

holds a bachelor’s in physical education, teaches physical 

education at Headland Elementary School, and coaches high 

school football and baseball in Headland, Alabama.

Engineer is a professional-development bulletin designed to 

provide a forum for exchanging information and ideas within the 

Army engineer community. We include articles by and about officers, enlisted Soldiers, warrant officers, Department of the Army 

civilian employees, and others. Writers may discuss training, current operations and exercises, doctrine, equipment, history, personal viewpoints, or other areas of general interest to engineers. 

Articles may share good ideas and lessons learned or explore 

better ways of doing things.

Articles should be concise, straightforward, and in the active 

voice. If they contain attributable information or quotations not 

referenced in the text, provide appropriate endnotes. Text length 

should not exceed 2,000 words (about eight double-spaced pages). Shorter after-action-type articles and reviews of books on engineer topics are also welcome.

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from a website must be accompanied by copyright permission.

Provide a short paragraph that summarizes the content of the article. Also include a short biography, including 

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Articles submitted to Engineer must be accompanied by a written release by the author’s unit or activity security manager prior to 

publication. All information contained in the article must be unclassified, nonsensitive, and releasable to the public. Engineer is distributed to military units worldwide and is also available for sale by the 

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Therefore it is important to keep us informed of changes in your 

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Send submissions by e-mail to <leon.engineer@conus.army.

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The Engineer Writer’s Guide
October-December 2007 Engineer 13

Moving a unit to a new forward operating base (FOB) 

requires extensive logistical coordination that must 

be in place before the move can occur. Classes of 

supply, services, and contracts have to be extensively planned, 

pre-positioned, and synchronized in order to expose Soldiers 

to the minimum amount of risk with the greatest probability 

of success. The commander and staff must balance residual 

risk with the effects achieved. 

At the staff level, the executive officer coordinates between 

all staff sections—to include the operations and training (S3) 

section and a representative from the occupying company 

or platoon—in order to achieve this coordination and solve 

preoccupation issues. Each section has an important role 

in assisting with assessing the terrain, forecasting classes 

of supply with an emphasis on construction materials, 

coordinating ground and air movements, and emplacing the 

necessary contracts to achieve success. 

The intelligence officer and topographic engineers have a 

wide array of intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance 

assets, giving the commander a template to plan the footprint 

of the FOB or combat outpost. Some of these assets not only 

display the topographic map but also assist in range fans, 

observation post emplacement, and other vital areas typically 

forgotten during staff planning. Also, the S3 air should be 

included in the map reconnaissance to suggest possible 

landing zones and drop zones for container delivery system 

(CDS) bundles, medical evacuation, and rotary-wing resupply 

operations.

If the site has already been selected by the unit on 

the ground, an initial physical reconnaissance should be 

conducted. Suggested personnel for this reconnaissance 

include engineers, the unit supply (S4) sergeant or

S4 representative, and current pathfinder- or jumpmasterqualified Soldiers or Airmen familiar with the certification 

paperwork for landing zones and drop zones. This allows 

the initial setup of the landing zone and drop zone; logistical 

forecasting emphasizing construction materials; a tentative 

outline of force protection measures; and some staff-level 

familiarity with the soil conditions, water table, and terrain.

After the initial site has been selected, a contingency real 

estate support team (CREST) needs to be coordinated to 

legally secure the land. However, in the reconnaissance of 

this site, the reconnaissance team must set the conditions 

for success through negotiations with the local leaders and 

populace. Initial discussions with the local populace can 

provide the CREST with a toehold from which to launch their 

operations. 

Once the initial reconnaissance has occurred and the land 

has been approved, the S4 and engineers need to generate a 

supply request for triple-strand concertina, HESCO Bastion 

By Second Lieutenant Michael P. Carvelli

“The intelligence officer and topographic 

engineers have a wide array of intelligence, 

surveillance, and reconnaissance assets, 

giving the commander a template to plan the 

footprint of the FOB or combat outpost.”
14 Engineer October-December 2007

Concertainers®, dimensional lumber, plywood, sandbags, 

tents, and power generators, which are needed immediately for 

the Soldiers or engineers performing the initial construction. 

These materials allow a perimeter, observation posts, 

entry control points, and a tactical operations center to be 

constructed. And due to the current operating environment, 

bunkers to protect Soldiers from indirect fire and small arms 

fire should be incorporated into the initial construction phase. 

In addition, meals, ready to eat (MREs); bottled water; and 

fuel need to be requested for the occupying unit.

The engineer is responsible for determining where the 

fill material will be obtained for the HESCO barriers and 

sandbags. Since not all engineer units in Afghanistan are 

used in their typical roles, the brigade engineer company or 

attached engineer units may not be available to perform these 

construction tasks. If the soil conditions prevent the use of insitu soil due to its poor characteristics, or if there is a lack of 

engineers or heavy equipment, the unit’s contracting officer 

will not only have to coordinate the fill material requirements 

but may be required to contract heavy equipment such as 

bucket loaders, hydraulic excavators (HYEXs), and dump 

trucks. 

If these contracts cannot be immediately attained, the 

money needs to be dedicated. Under the supervision of a 

contracting officer, a field ordering officer (FOO) can use 

cash to make small purchases locally, which can help offset 

the lack of contracts. Large amounts of fill material (over 

1,000 cubic meters), heavy equipment contracts for extended 

periods of time (over 10 days), and dimensional lumber and 

plywood cannot be purchased from the local economy. After 

spending the money for local purchases, there is a one- to 

two-week process to clear the paperwork, fund, and redraw 

money.

Once the staff has completed the reconnaissance and a 

logistical forecasting and contract process has been initiated, a 

realistic occupation timeline can be created for the occupying 

unit. These three elements provide the commander with a 

feasible, realistic plan to construct and occupy a new FOB. 

However, coordination of ground and aerial resupply routes; 

movement of construction materials; and contracts for local 

labor, equipment, and fill material must be coordinated and 

synchronized for the unit’s occupation. 

Second Lieutenant Carvelli is the Task Force Engineer, 

Special Troops Battalion, 173d Airborne Brigade. He was 

previously assigned to Alpha Company, 554th Engineer 

Battalion, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. He is a graduate of 

the Engineer Officer Basic Course and the United States Army 

Ranger School and holds a bachelor’s in civil engineering 

technology from the Rochester Institute of Technology.

 

Afghani contractors fill sandbags for use at the new FOB.
October-December 2007 Engineer 15

“A good company idea in tactics is likely to remain 

confined to one company indefinitely, even though it would 

be of benefit to the whole military establishment...” 1

—S.L.A. Marshall, 1947

“...whereas the flow of knowledge within a business 

process is (1) easier to determine and (2) easier to optimize, 

it is the flow of knowledge between business processes, the 

interfaces between different organizational units and topics 

that might provide the highest potential for innovation and 

competitive advantages.” 2

—Ronald Maier, 2004

There are a handful of well-known and widely used 

standards and references to manage the design, 

construction, operation, maintenance, and retirement3

of base camps4 (such as Red Book, Sandbook, Assistive 

Technology [AT] Planner, Theater Construction Management 

System [TCMS], and Geographical Base Engineer Support 

Tool [GeoBEST]). However, there is no single Department of 

Defense (DoD) standard or authoritative body that addresses 

the life cycle tasks or funding issues related to base camps, 

and if you visit 20 forward operating bases in Iraq, you will 

find 20 different designs. For efficiency and standardization, it 

makes sense to share knowledge of construction, operations, 

and maintenance of base camps. This article describes the 

initiative started at the United States Military Academy 

(USMA), West Point, New York, and how it progressed to 

the creation of a knowledge management (KM) collaboration 

website that is now maintained by the United States Army 

Engineer School.

Building Knowledge

The Department of Systems Engineering at USMA 

became interested in studying military base camps 

as a real-world example of a system students would 

be immersed in early in their military careers. After the fall 

of the Berlin Wall and the collapse of the Soviet Union, the 

U.S. military increased the pace and reach of its operations. 

Military units now routinely deploy worldwide to fight wars, 

participate in peace enforcement and peacekeeping missions, 

train foreign armies, and respond to humanitarian crises. To 

support these operations, the military develops temporary 

base camps, which are complex systems with many integrated 

components that follow a life cycle pattern and thus provide 

an excellent educational opportunity for students of systems 

engineering.

Base Camp Workshops

Between 2001 and 2005, the USMA Department of 

Systems Engineering and the Department of Civil and 

Mechanical Engineering—in conjunction with the 

United States Army Corps of Engineers® (USACE) Engineer 

Research and Development Center (ERDC)—conducted a 

series of annual workshops to bring together practitioners 

from the Base Camp Community of Practice (CoP). The 2001 

workshop identified that the CoP was indeed wide and varied 

and that the issues facing it were extensive.

The next workshop was held in March 2004, and the 

theme was “Base Camps of Today and Tomorrow.” The 

workshop forum solicited input from the diverse Base Camp 

CoP regarding these fundamental domains of base camp 

study: initial planning, site selection, environmental issues, 

structures, power supply, and force protection. The forum 

was useful for information sharing; however, the lessons were 

short-lived because there was no continuous means to keep 

the Base Camp CoP together. 

At the third workshop, held at West Point in May 2005, 

researchers and practitioners with recent field experience in 

developing and running base camps focused on sharing best 

practices among the Base Camp CoP. Three key issues were 

identified:

Knowledge Management for the 

Base Camp Community of Practice

By Major Travis (TJ) Lindberg and Mr. Albert M. Vargesko
16 Engineer October-December 2007

DoD needs to simplify the funding processes for base

camp development.

DoD and the Services need to establish organizations as

proponents for the Base Camp CoP.

A system is needed that allows Base Camp CoP members

to share knowledge related to the life cycle management

of base camps and Joint forward operating bases

(JFOBs). 

To address the third issue, USMA initiated a study to 

determine the requirements for a KM system that could be 

used by the larger Base Camp CoP to help military units 

better understand base camp life cycle management-related 

tasks. The intent was to complete the study before the fourth 

workshop in May 2006 in order to present the findings and 

begin the implementation of the KM system at that time.

At about the same time, the Engineer School volunteered 

to host the 2006 workshop in St. Louis, Missouri, as part of 

the 2006 ENFORCE Conference. And the School offered to 

serve as the Army’s proponent for base camp-related issues, 

thereby effectively addressing the second (and probably 

most significant) issue affecting the Base Camp CoP. Three 

important results came from the 2006 workshop:

The Battle Command Knowledge System (BCKS), an

existing Army system, was chosen to host a Base Camp

CoP or “forum.”

The name of the collaboration site, “ArmyBaseCamp/

JFOB.net,” was chosen.

The Engineer School was identified to provide the leaders

and administrators to populate the database and maintain

the website.

Collaboration Site

Becoming a member of the ArmyBaseCamp/JFOB.net 

professional forum is simple, although it requires an 

Army Knowledge Online (AKO) account. Logon to 

the BCKS website at <https://bcks.army.mil > and use your 

AKO account to enter. Click on the Professional Forums tab 

on the bar across the screen, and select Participate on the left 

to create a BCKS account. Select the ProtectionNet forum 

at the left of the screen, and there you will find a forum for 

ArmyBaseCamp/JFOB.net.

The site currently has 13 topics that contain a lot of 

information on base camps. Briefings, interviews, documents, 

books, best practices, or policies can be placed under any one 

of the 13 topics. What makes this more than just a database 

is that real collaboration is possible. Collaboration can begin 

by any member starting a discussion or making a comment. 

Contributions can be made at any time, and uploading 

documents is easy. Basic administration of the website is 

performed by BCKS contractors, and site maintenance 

is performed by the Engineer School Directorate of 

Environmental Integration.

■

■

■

■

■

■

Promoting and advertising the system is necessary to 

make it well known throughout the Army, and conducting 

assessments is necessary to ensure that it’s worthwhile and 

provides value. So logon to BCKS, become a member of 

the ArmyBaseCamp/JFOB.net professional forum, and start 

contributing.

Major Lindberg recently served as an instructor in the 

Department of Systems Engineering, United States Military 

Academy, at West Point, New York. He served in various 

engineer command and staff positions prior to his assignment 

at West Point and is currently attending the IntermediateLevel Education (ILE) program at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas, 

during the 2007–2008 academic year. He can be contacted at 

<travis.lindberg@us.army.mil>.

Mr. Vargesko is the Training Division chief, Directorate 

of Environmental Integration, United States Army Engineer 

School, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. A retired engineer 

officer, he is the forum leader for the ArmyBaseCamp/JFOB.

net professional forum on BCKS.

Endnotes

1

S. L. A. Marshall, Men Against Fire: The Problem of Battle 

Command in Future War, Washington: Infantry Journal; New 

York: William Morrow, 1947.

2

Ronald Maier, PhD, Knowledge Management Systems: 

Information and Communication Technologies for Knowledge 

Management, 2d Edition, Springer-Verlag, 2004.

3

The tasks of design, construction, operation, maintenance, 

and retirement are referred to collectively in this article as the 

base camp life cycle.

4

The term “base camp,” although widely used, is not a 

doctrinal term. Some of the corresponding (and also frequently 

used) doctrinal terms for a base camp are forward operating 

base, forward operating site, intermediate staging base, and 

contingency operating base.
Afghans and multinational forces are working hand-inhand on a variety of expansion construction projects 

for Forward Operating Base Sharana in Afghanistan. 

Soldiers from Task Force Pacemaker, Headquarters 

Support Company, are not only engaged in supporting the

864th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy) but also manage 

the missions of the multinational forces. Soldiers from the 

864th; the 1st Construction Company, Korean Engineering 

Group; and the Polish 1st Engineer Brigade are teaming to 

construct metal building systems (K-Span buildings), roads, 

ditches, culverts, and sewage lagoons.

The Polish engineers provide additional leadership and 

manpower to multiple horizontal construction projects and 

are improving the roads by ensuring that proper drainage and 

sewage structures are constructed before the 

rainy season begins. Although they didn’t 

know what to expect or what missions 

they would perform, their leaders stated 

that working with multinational forces has 

been a great experience. According to their 

commander, he learned different training 

techniques from the American Soldiers, 

compared them to their own techniques, 

then used the technique that worked best 

to accomplish the mission. The Polish 

army has been deployed in places such as 

Lebanon, Syria, and Africa to support many 

humanitarian missions since the War on 

Terror began in 2001.

The Korean engineers focus on K-Span 

construction. They are especially meticulous 

October-December 2007 Engineer 17

By First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz

International Engineers Work Together

in Afghanistan

A Polish engineer completes the final 

touches on a culvert as a scoop loader 

hauls away the rest of the dirt.

Photo by First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz

Photo by First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz
and brought a vertical construction capability that the task 

force does not have. Once completed, the K-Span buildings 

will enhance maintenance operations and provide more space 

for supply support activity. Even though K-Span buildings 

are not common in Korea, the soldiers had been trained by 

civil engineers in their country. Their main goal was to bring 

proper engineering assets for future coalition forces. Even 

with the challenges of the language gap and different working 

systems, the construction progress and the relationship with 

multinational forces is going well. 

18 Engineer October-December 2007

The addition of Polish and Korean engineers, along 

with Afghan contractors, gave the task force a tremendous 

capability that it normally would not have—engineers of 

four nationalities working together toward a common goal. 

In addition, common understanding and respect for safe 

operations kept them accident-free despite the communication 

difficulties.

First Lieutenant Saenz is the public affairs officer for 

Task Force Pacemaker, 864th Engineer Battalion (Combat) 

(Heavy), from Fort Lewis, Washington.

A Korean engineer welds a K-Span building that will support the expansion of 

the forward operating base.

Photo by First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz

Polish soldiers work on a culvert that will prevent flooding during the next rainy 

season.

Photo by First Lieutenant Kenya Virginia Saenz
October-December 2007 Engineer 19

Success in full-spectrum operations requires several 

things: resourcefulness, knowing the enemy, determination, and leadership. From a training perspective, 

the challenge is to infuse these interdependent attributes into 

future commanders. How do we develop officers to be adaptable, creative, and intuitive? The Engineer Captains Career 

Course (ECCC) Division at the United States Army Engineer 

School, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, provides military education for full-spectrum operations (see figure, page 20). This 

article provides an overview of the current structure of the 

ECCC and how it develops captains for the contemporary operating environment (COE). We believe we are developing 

engineer commanders who are better prepared for the fight.

During the 21-week ECCC, the focus is always on quality and the individual. The teaching of doctrine emerges in 

an environment where “ideas are discovered and shared, 

not invented and arbitrarily imposed.”2 The course encourages systemic thinking, emphasizing the “whole” over the 

“parts.” Students are taught how to think and are encouraged 

to experiment with doctrine, task organization, and decisionmaking strategies. The staff introduces warfighting theories 

using case studies from history and insists that students understand the maneuverist approach. Complex learning scenarios based on the modular force construct are volatile, 

indecisive, and ambiguous, ensuring that students attack the 

enemy’s will to fight rather than just his physical ability to 

fight. Key objectives emphasized during the training include 

prompt analytical and intuitive decision-making, the ability 

to present clear verbal orders, the appropriate use of terrain, 

technical competence, independent initiative, and the ability 

to deal with uncertainty. 

Changes in the course’s subject material include greater 

emphasis on urban operations (UO), foreign internal defense 

(FID), counterinsurgency (COIN), information operations, 

and air-ground integration. The instruction was developed 

in coordination with the Maneuver Captains Career Course 

at Fort Benning, Georgia, to ensure that engineer officers 

can “talk the talk” in a combined arms (CA) environment. 

Students receive one day of media awareness training with 

professional civilian journalists and university interns. They 

continue to receive instruction on explosive hazards management from the Counter Explosive Hazards Center at Fort 

Leonard Wood. General engineering instruction remains 

at a technical level, but focuses on subjects relevant to engineer captains. Training includes base camp design; teleengineering; project management; contracting; force protection (FP); infrastructure reconnaissance; field force

engineering (FFE); and joint, coalition, and interagency operations. The use of war games and simulation has increased. 

Students fight a battle on the Janus combat simulation

Developing Adaptive Leaders

for Full-Spectrum Operations:

The Engineer Captains Career Course

By Major John N. Carey

“The essential thing is action. Action has three stages: the decision borne of thought, the order or preparation for

execution, and the execution itself. All three stages are governed by the will. The will is rooted in character, and for the man 

of action, character is of more critical importance than intellect. Intellect without will is worthless, will without intellect is

dangerous.”1

—General Hans von Seeckt . . . . . . . .
20 Engineer October-December 2007

program, receive focused feedback, and immediately fight 

the same battle again. Throughout this deliberate practice,

students are actively coached by senior mentors. 

The course promotes critical thinking by allowing students 

to examine different approaches and solutions to tactical 

problems without the fear of being criticized or ostracized. 

Throughout the training, they complete a professional reading program across the spectrum of operations. They brief 

peers and instructors on their findings and must be prepared 

to answer questions. Generic cultural awareness training and

ethical decision-making includes historical case studies; 

quick-decision exercises (QDE); and visiting lecturers, including civilians and international officers. This is reinforced 

with daily briefings on current affairs and read-ahead discussions. Students also complete unscheduled quizzes, capstone 

events, and multifaceted final exams.

Students are encouraged to study military history to develop a greater understanding of the military art. Each module 

is introduced using historical examples, and instructors use 

vignettes to demonstrate the practical application of theories. 

Legend:

BCT	 = 	 brigade combat team

CAB 	 = 	 combned arms battalion

CG 	 = 	 commanding general

CALL	 = 	 Center for Army Lessons Learned

CO 	 = 	 company

EBA = engineer battlefield assessment

EBO 	 = 	 effects-based operations

FLW 	 = 	 Fort Leonard Wood

FRG 	 =	 family readiness group

IPB = intelligence preparation of the battlefield

ISR 	 = 	 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance

LOC 	 = 	 line of communication

OPD = officer professional development

OPSEC 	 = 	 operational security

RDO 	 = 	 rear detail operations

TCMS 	 = 	 Theater Construction Management System

TDE 	 = 	 tactical decision-making exercise

Engineer Captains Career Course
Students are required to research historical battles and develop a thesis. The best academic paper for each course will 

be submitted to the Engineer Professional Bulletin <www.

wood.army.mil/engrmag/default/htm> for publication. The 

students attend a two-day staff ride to expand their technical knowledge and support professional and personal growth. 

They conduct site visits and terrain walks to develop their 

awareness. Lessons learned from combat are rapidly included 

in training to ensure the relevance and currency of the subject 

matter.

Training media to develop adaptive thinking are diverse 

and include model and map exercises, QDEs, and tacticaldecision games. These test the students’ decision-making 

abilities in a time- and information-constrained environment. 

Examples include search, raid, quick-reaction force, and 

route clearance missions. With training such as river-crossing 

operations, students experience the problem first and learn the 

theory afterward. This ensures that the students have some 

understanding of the operation to reflect on before they receive the formal instruction.

During the appreciation process, the officers use troopleading procedures; mission, enemy, terrain, troops, time 

available, and civilian considerations (METT-TC); the military decision-making process (MDMP); and the rapid decision-making and synchronization process (RDSP). They 

are introduced to international methods such as “The Seven 

Questions,” from the British Army, and the “Combat Military Appreciation Process,” from the Australian Army. Students also conduct tactical exercises without troops (TEWTs), 

which involve examining a tactical problem, conducting an 

appreciation, and producing a solution for the ground where 

the problem is set. The practical application of the plan is emphasized. Assessment is based on whether the student made a 

timely decision in keeping with the commander’s intent and 

the changing situation. Problems and terrain are selected to 

encourage discussion and highlight selected issues. 

Professional mastery is built on constant training, peer 

and instructor feedback, and assessment. Everyone, including cadre, receives evaluations. Senior mentors support

instructors by providing guidance and effective feedback that 

focus on adaptive thinking, innovation, and outcomes rather 

than on performance to standard. The small-group leader performs the role of instructor, coach, and mentor, determining 

when each role is required and should take primacy in the 

relationship with each student. Physical fitness is stressed and 

greatly improved. Students conduct combatives training and 

plan and execute physical training schedules for their team. 

Rigorous self-examination is encouraged through command 

philosophy development, effective counseling, after-action 

reviews (AARs), media awareness training, and vigorous and 

open debate. 

Finally, the course leverages technology—particularly distributed learning techniques—using the Blackboard 

Learning SystemTM. The Engineer Leader Smart Book and 

a community site for alumni have also been developed in

coordination with training developers to ensure that course 

updates are available in the field. The cooperative degree program continues to be a significant aspect of the ECCC. This is 

an excellent opportunity for students to gain a master’s degree 

with one of the universities that partners with the Engineer 

School. More importantly, the cooperative degree program 

fosters intellectual autonomy and confidence in reason.

The ECCC is leading the rest in developing Army leaders 

for the 21st century. Recent graduates have informed instructors and training developers that they are better prepared for 

fighting full-spectrum operations. They are able to look at a 

problem from various perspectives, assess the risks, and make 

timely decisions. The recent changes in the course address the 

gaps in mental agility and tactical and technical proficiency. 

The ECCC teaches students how to think, not what to think, 

and encourages future commanders to dedicate themselves to 

lifelong learning.

Major Carey, a member of the Australian Army, is the Division Chief, Engineer Captains Career Course, at the United 

States Army Engineer School, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. 

He has experience in providing engineer support to jungle, 

airmobile, and amphibious operations. He has commanded 

an engineer squadron in East Timor, taught tactics at the Royal School of Military Engineering in the United Kingdom, and 

served as an adviser on peace operations in Israel, Jordan, 

and Bougainville. He is a graduate of the Australian Defence 

Force Academy; the Royal Military College, Duntroon; and 

the Australian Command and Staff College. 

Endnotes

1 Hans Von Seeckt, Thoughts of a Soldier, E. Benn Ltd., 

Berlin, 1930.

2 Major Don Vandergriff, “Raising the Bar – Creating 

Adaptive Leaders to Deal With the Changing Face of War” at 

<http://www.d-n-i.net/vandergriff/rotc/rotc.htm>. 

October-December 2007 Engineer 21

“The ECCC is leading the rest in 

developing Army leaders for the

21st century. Recent graduates have 

informed instructors and training

developers that they are better

prepared for fighting full-spectrum

operations.”
22 Engineer October-December 2007

Leadership is taking the point position when your 

unit or flight is expecting contact with the enemy. 

Leadership is flying a crippled bomber to the ground 

when one of your wounded crewmembers cannot bail out. 

Leadership is keeping your young Soldiers, Marines, Airmen, 

Sailors, and Coast Guardsmen alive and never leaving your 

wounded behind. Leadership is writing a dead trooper’s 

family a personal letter immediately after the battle.

Leadership is not glorifying war. Leadership is not doing 

“anything” just to get promoted. Leadership is not winning 

the battle at all costs, nor is it losing a war to avoid casualties. 

Leadership is not found in the security of a well-fortified command bunker, nor is it found in a plush officers’ field mess. 

No compromise of the integrity of one’s word, deed, or 

signature is leadership. Setting high standards and seeing 

that they are met is leadership. Intelligence, dedication, 

creativity, and selflessness are leadership. Stamina, vigor, 

and commitment are leadership. Spontaneous, contagious 

enthusiasm is leadership. Initiative, self-improvement, and 

professionalism are leadership.

Leadership is rewarding a Soldier, Sailor, Airman, 

Marine, Coast Guardsman, or Civilian with the appropriate 

recognition immediately after exceptional service. Leadership 

is commanding and managing. Leadership is establishing 

and meeting, by priority, specific objectives. Leadership is 

managing by exception, using job enlargement, and seeking 

job enrichment.

Believing in God, family, and country—in that order—is 

leadership. Being humanistic is leadership. Trusting the ideas 

and decisions of well-trained troops is leadership. Knowing 

where the mission is, when the troops and material are to 

be there, and how many troops and systems are needed to 

win is leadership. Blocking out periods of “private time” to 

accomplish creative work and recharge is leadership.

Leadership is treating men and women equally without 

regard to race, color, creed, religion, age, or custom. Leadership 

is visiting your wounded and sick frequently. Leadership is 

knowing and living by the Constitution, the Code of Conduct, 

the Geneva Convention, and the basic human rights of all 

mankind. A leader is assertive, but not aggressive. Leadership 

is neither ruthless nor mindless discipline, but the ability to do 

the right thing at the right time, by putting the whole before 

the parts. Leadership is not a good efficiency report, nor is it 

paper readiness. Leadership is not a court martial for every 

mistake or leniency for serious violations. A leader is fair, 

predictable, and consistent.

Giving sound professional advice to a superior, even when 

you know he or she does not want to hear it, is leadership. 

After you have given your best advice, following all legal, 

moral, and ethical orders—even when you do not agree 

with them—is leadership. Leading when you can, following 

when you should, and getting out of the way when you have 

nothing to offer is leadership. Learning the language, culture, 

and customs of a host country is leadership. Staying in top 

physical condition is leadership.

Leadership is a general who knows the friendly and enemy 

situation, knows the immediate action sequence for the M16 

rifle, knows his driver’s first name and family, and can recite 

the Lord’s Prayer. Leadership is a private who knows that 

he or she is in the chain of command and may have to take 

over when senior in rank. Leadership is knowing that a water 

truck in the desert is worth more combat power that an extraarmored cavalry regiment.

Not forgetting that the past is our heritage, the present is 

our challenge, and the future is our responsibility is leadership. 

Not being overweight, not smoking, saying no to drugs, and 

not drinking alcohol in excess is leadership. Delegating 

authority, commanding confidence and respect, and accepting 

full responsibility for your actions is leadership. Ingenuity, 

sociability, tact, and tenacity are leadership. Cross training is 

leadership. 

 Leadership is not being right all the time, and it is 

certainly not being wrong most of the time. Leadership fixes 

problems—not blame. Leadership is adaptability, appearance, 

cooperation, and decisiveness. Leadership displays knowledge, manages resources efficiently, and plans beyond the 

immediate requirements of assigned duties. Leadership creates 

an organization of mutual respect. Leadership is building an 

organization and environment where it is not necessary to tell 

troops what to do. Leadership knows that combat without 

conscience is evil.

A leader knows why there are air, land, and sea forces; 

why there are cavalry, infantry, armor, artillery, aviation, 

amphibious, special operations, pre-positioned, recon, and 

logistical forces; and why combined arms and concentration 

of combat power are important. A leader knows about netcentric warfare and defense in depth, civil affairs, urban 

operations, the advantages our forces have at night, and how 

to use them. A wise leader knows that young Soldiers spend 

most of their time worrying about and planning tactics, while 

older more experienced Soldiers spend the majority of their 

time worrying about planning logistics.

By Lieutenant Colonel Wayne Larry Dandridge (Retired)

A Personal Viewpoint

Leadership:
October-December 2007 Engineer 23

Leadership can be good or bad, centralized or decentralized, warm or cold, offensive or defensive, macro 

or micro, expensive or free. Leadership can be Catholic or 

Protestant, Jewish or Moslem, Hindu or Mormon, Atheist or 

Agnostic. Leadership prevents overmobility of junior leaders 

and troops, by keeping them in their jobs long enough to 

really learn their jobs and common and collective tasks and to 

work as team members. Establishing and promoting worker 

and troop certification and team certification programs are 

leadership.

Leaders hope and pray for the best and plan for the worst. 

Leaders know about the need to wage “total war” to win and 

the special advantage the defender has in cities, mountains, 

and jungles. Leaders know how to “own the night” and take 

maximum advantage of all of the combat arms team and 

are skilled in the use of snipers, attack helicopters, counter 

artillery, naval gun/missile fire, and close air support. Leaders 

know not to keep troop weapons locked up and away from 

them, but rather train troops to live with a clean weapon that 

they are an expert with.

Leadership is embodied in Martin Luther King Jr., Abraham 

Lincoln, Pope John Paul II, Robert E. Lee, Mohammed, 

Irwin Rommel, Jesus, Joan of Arc, John Paul Jones, Winston 

Churchill, Sister Teresa, Margaret Thatcher, and many other 

well-known figures. Leaders are also Robert Lightle, J.C. 

Dandridge, Sam Deloach, Bubba Segrest, Lee Thompson, Val 

Berger, Earl Erickson, Luther Bergen, Judi Dandridge, Rick 

Maull, and thousands of other unknowns.

Commitment to the team and a participatory form of 

leadership that draws on every troop’s knowledge and skills—

at every level—is leadership. Encouraging and rewarding 

suggestions and complaints is leadership. Having an “open 

door” and “open mind” policy is leadership. Empowering 

troops, civil service employees, and support contractors with 

the tools, responsibility, authority, and “accountability” to get 

the tough jobs done is leadership. Making troops multiprocess, 

multiweapon, and multifunctional experts is good leadership. 

Good leaders practice servant leadership.

Leaders know that “the bitterness of low quality remains 

long after the sweetness of low price.” Leaders allow talented 

soldiers “long tethers” for experimenting. Leaders find ways to 

satisfy the essential dualism of troops and civil servants to be 

both part of a team and be recognized as individuals. Leaders 

know how to use “internal and external benchmarking,” 

observations, and inspections to rate their organization’s 

readiness, products, services, and processes against those 

front-runners in their specialty.

Leadership is guiding. Leadership is legendary. Leadership is foresight. Leadership is absorbent, abstinent and, 

unfortunately, at times it is abominable. Leadership is 

baccalaureate, balance, basic, and too frequently backward 

and barbaric. Leadership has saved lives, killed, stopped wars, 

and started wars. Leadership has walked softly and carried a 

big stick, but it has also been loud and nonviolent.

Saying what you do (in clear, concise standard operating 

procedures, plans, and operations orders) and doing what you 

say is leadership. Breaking down communication barriers 

between staffs, line units, support organizations, and sister 

units is leadership. Asking deep probing questions and 

finding root causes is leadership. Changing problems into 

“Leaders know about the need to wage ‘total war’ to win and the special advantage the defender has in cities, mountains, and jungles.” (Combat engineers with Special Troops Battalion, 2d Brigade Combat Team, 

82d Airborne Division, prepare to enter and clear an “enemy” compound during an exercise.)

Photo courtesy of U.S. Army 
24 Engineer October-December 2007

opportunities is leadership. Knowing that you can seldom wait 

until you have all of the answers is leadership. Repeatedly 

doing simple things that demonstrate sincerity is leadership.

Leadership is honesty, enthusiasm, loyalty, courage, and 

wisdom. Taking care of your Soldier’s, Civilians, Sailors, 

Airmen, Coast Guardsmen, and Marines and their dependents 

is leadership. Leadership includes being a good boss, comrade 

and friend, father or mother, son or daughter, sister or brother, 

and husband or wife. Knowing that the profession of arms is 

much more than just a job is leadership.

Being an unquestionable friend to the environment is 

leadership. Basing decisions on facts is leadership. Promoting 

and rewarding continuous improvement is leadership. Being 

a champion of safety and quality is leadership. Staying 

focused on internal customers, external customers, and the 

enemy is leadership. Performing preventive maintenance, 

knowing what cellular techniques involve, being skilled 

in setup reduction, understanding mixed-model methods, 

understanding rocks-in-the river inventory management, 

knowing how to level and balance workload, understanding 

that distance (to supplies, replacements, ammunition, fuel, 

etc.) is usually evil, and ensuring that things are at least “in 

time,” not “just in time.”

Leadership is enthusiasm, optimism, helping, training, encouraging, understanding, motivating, disciplining, crying, 

laughing, standing firm, giving way, counseling, correcting, 

giving a second chance, and trying again and again. Leaders 

are tall, short, thin, heavy, male, female, black, brown, white, 

yellow, old, young, and naturalized and unnaturalized. Leaders 

are from the city and from the farm. Leadership works hard 

to close the gap between the potential and the performance 

of a Soldier.

Knowing how to use teams, flow charts, simple—yet 

powerful—statistical methods, simplification, continuous 

improvement, complaint and suggestion programs, and 

standardization to get the tough jobs done is leadership. 

Leadership makes quality easy to see, feel, smell, taste, 

and hear, by finding root causes and permanently fixing the 

problem. Leadership is clarifying processes, flow-charting 

complex processes, and making every troop an expert at 

Soldier common tasks—everyone should be an infantryman 

first!

Leadership is caring, compassion, understanding, and 

leading by example. Leaders look you in the eye, kick you 

in the butt, cover your flank, and take your place on the most 

dangerous mission. Knowing there is “a place for everything 

and everything in its place” is leadership. Leadership is 

admitting mistakes and learning from them. Eating last is 

leadership. Practicing servant leadership and sharing the 

pains of heat, dirt, sand, cold, wet, insects, and other harsh 

environmental conditions is leadership. “Packing your own 

roll and digging your own hole” is leadership. 

Leadership comes from experience, but experience comes 

from making mistakes. A leader changes the odds and knows 

the risks. Leaders develop teamwork. The tides, the channels, 

the seasons, the winds, the hazards, the weather, and the 

best forecasts are all known by leaders. Leadership knows 

that the one most important word is “we” and the least most 

important word is “I.” Leadership knows there is no end to 

change, except failure. Leadership knows that if you treat 

every customer like your last or first, you will never have to 

worry about repeat business.

Leaders often make good grades in school and have many 

years of formal education and numerous important degrees. 

But they also have been known to fail math, English, and 

other equally important subjects. Leaders make sure the 

enemy gives his life for his cause. Leaders ensure that their 

troops always have the tactical advantage, the best training 

and equipment, and the highest morale, as well as plenty of 

water and hot food. Leaders work hard at ensuring that the 

workload is distributed equally among all troops.

Leadership comes from family, friends, teachers, coaches, 

and pastors. Simple, easy-to-understand orders come from 

leaders. Complex tasks are changed into short and accurate 

plans through leadership. Leadership can be learned and 

taught, but it cannot be forgotten nor bought. Leadership 

can be seen, tasted, smelled, felt, and heard, and it can come 

from a blind person with no hands who cannot hear, speak, 

or walk. 

Finally, a leader is so in love with life that he or she is 

willing to die to ensure that others’ lives—and our great 

nation—will go on!

Lieutenant Colonel Dandridge (Retired) is a certified 

Business Process Reengineering Specialist as well as the 

East Region Manager and a Senior Engineer with WESTAR 

Aerospace and Defense Group, Incorporated, Field Services 

Division, and the CEO of CLC Hospice, LLC. He is an Army 

ex-enlisted infantryman; ex-aviation warrant officer; combat 

attack, utility, and scout helicopter pilot; fixed-wing pilot; 

flight examiner; instructor pilot; and a retired Army Master 

Aviator. An FAA-certified flight instructor in airplanes, 

helicopters, instruments, and basic ground, he has worked 

as a multi- and single-engine commercial pilot. A graduate 

of the Armed Forces Staff College, he holds a bachelor’s 

in aeronautical science and a master’s in transportation 

management. Lieutenant Colonel Dandridge, a member of 

the West Point Logistics Hall of Fame, has had professional 

articles published in more than 16 U.S., German, and British 

professional journals, magazines, and newspapers. 

Note: Beginning with this issue, Engineer will include an 

article from a previous issue of the bulletin, which has published 

continuously since the premiere issue in Spring 1971. When 

Lieutenant Colonel Dandridge recently submitted this article—

an update of one that was selected as the first of a new feature 

called A Personal Viewpoint in the Winter 1983-84 issue, it 

seemed like an appropriate first article for our new feature called 

From the Archives.
October-December 2007 Engineer 25

I

n a growing military community like Grafenwoehr, 

Germany, balancing housing and community needs with 

training requirements is complex. Sometimes, ensuring 

that both areas of need are covered requires some out-of-thebox thinking.

Back in March 2007, the 7th United States Army Joint 

Multinational Training Command (JMTC) Safety Office had 

no choice but to shut down a critical ammunition holding area 

because it was too close to new housing construction. Without 

the use of that holding area, units training at Grafenwoehr 

would feel the impact immediately. Faced with an already 

demanding and rapidly increasing operations tempo, JMTC 

began sorting options to resolve the issue. There were three 

possible avenues to be evaluated:

The first option—contract development of a new

ammunition holding area—was quickly ruled out. The

contracting process would be too time-consuming and

would directly impact operations on the ranges and

training sites. A faster solution was needed. 

The second option was to negotiate with the German

government, which was willing to allow continued use of

the holding area, but at greatly reduced tonnage.

That would also impact operations and slow down

■

■

training for the units as they took valuable time to

readjust ammunition receiving and distribution plans

instead of putting rounds downrange.

The third option, which JMTC chose, was to request that

Army National Guard engineer assets come to

Grafenwoehr for overseas duty training, with a goal of

having the new site built within 21 days. With that plan in

hand, the command invited the 631st Engineer Company

from Lawrenceville, Illinois, to train at Grafenwoehr.

This mission closely resembles combat operations in Iraq

or Afghanistan, since units in both places are working

similar issues regarding ammunition holding area

construction. As the theater matures and neighborhoods

in such places as Balad and Baghdad improve, ammunition holding areas will ultimately have to be

moved and rebuilt.

JMTC still faced another problem—money. Fiscal year 

2007 funds were earmarked, and even though bringing in 

National Guard Soldiers for construction saved the Army 

nearly $185,000, still more dollars needed to be saved. Time 

and dollars were both tight, and it would take lots of both to 

bring the unit to Germany, conduct a reconnaissance, obtain 

data, return home, and then prepare to deploy to Germany for 

■

By Lieutenant Colonel Bradley A. Duffey

Saving the Army 

Time and Money

Soldiers from the 

631st Engineer 

Company build 

concrete walls 

for the ammunition holding area.
26 Engineer October-December 2007

the mission. To offset some of these costs, the United States Army 

Corps of Engineers® (USACE), Europe District, was called for 

design assistance. The chief of operations, plans, and security 

for the district sent a forward engineer support team-advanced 

(FEST-A) to Grafenwoehr to conduct the site plan survey.

This mission was a great training opportunity and the type 

of mission the FEST-A was designed to accomplish. The 

team, combined with reachback support, provided a great 

resource. The team conducted an area assessment, compiling 

data and sending it to the USACE TeleEngineering Operations 

Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi. The center analyzed the 

data and forwarded the mission to the USACE Ordnance 

and Explosives Center of Expertise in Huntsville, Alabama. 

There, using the data from Grafenwoehr and analysis from 

Vicksburg, experts in the explosives storage field were able to 

create a design, develop a scope of work, and determine the 

bill of materials needed. JMTC used the design to coordinate 

with the 631st and determine the number of personnel and 

amount of equipment needed for the project. The design 

created was used as the centerpiece of the master plan to 

execute the mission.

Faced with a limited budget, JMTC had to phase in the 

project over two years. The minimum standards for an 

operational ammunition holding area were gravel pads, 

protective berms, and lightning protection poles. The 

engineers had to be creative with the design of the berms 

in order to save money on fill material. There were three 

variations of the berm, but the design agreed on by agencies 

within JMTC was the one that saved the most amount of fill, 

thus saving more money. 

Because of other construction projects in the JMTC area 

of responsibility, equipment was limited. The 631st had the 

following assets for the construction project:

(1) Roller

(2) 21⁄2-yard scoop loaders

(1) 917 dump truck

(1) 5-ton dump truck

(2) D7 dozers

(1) Grader

(1) Small Emplacement Excavator (SEE)

The purpose of the overseas deployment training was not 

only to augment the Active Army in mission accomplishment 

but also to allow the unit to think outside the box and work 

around its own strengths and weaknesses to complete the 

mission. Unit leaders received a cookie-cutter Program 

Evaluation Review Technique (PERT) chart as guidance; 

however, the unit had to shape the project chart for rain delays 

and equipment deadlines. For instance, the 631st spent an 

entire day analyzing the terrain for grading activities because 

increased grading and dozer activities would eventually 

change the direction and flow of rainwater on the site. As a 

result, an extra day was planned to improve drainage. Also, 

the unit leadership decided to sequence construction activities 

so fill material was not exposed to excessive rainwater for 

long periods of time.

The 631st encountered several other minor problems that 

caused it to think outside the box to find a feasible solution to 

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

The Soldiers begin site preparation and conduct new operator training.
meet the standards of the mission. For instance, the unit had 

a D7 dozer that was not running at full capacity. To prevent 

pushing it to its limits and hastening a deadline status, the 

dozer was used in its limited capacity as a D5. This limited 

the D7’s production, but having the extra lag time was worth 

more than losing the dozer to maintenance downtime. The 

company constrained the project by choosing the activities 

that had the most total float, such as berm construction. 

The 631st also had to conduct a concrete mission for 

this project. The unit received support from three members 

of the 368th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy) from 

Londonderry, New Hampshire, who provided oversight for 

the form construction and concrete installation. After the 

concrete was poured on the first pad site, members of the 

631st completed the rest of the concrete work needed for 

the pads. An added feature to the concrete edging was metal 

bands installed inside the formwork to connect to the lightning 

protection poles. 

New lightning protection poles were not going to arrive until 

long after the 631st had returned home. Faced with not being 

able to use the ammunition holding area until late August, the 

decision was made to salvage the poles from the old site and 

develop a workable plan. However, the lightning protection 

poles ordered to specification were taller and had two loops at

90-degree angles for feeding wire cable through to connect 

the poles. The 631st adapted the plan by turning the existing 

poles so that the single loop faced into the pad at a 45-degree 

angle, allowing the cables running around the top to be 

connected to each pole by one loop instead of two. 

After the 631st installed lightning protection poles and 

grounding wires to the first pad with the concrete edging, the 

Grafenwoehr Department of Public Works came to the site 

and conducted an ohm test. The test results were well within 

the acceptable range. It is necessary for the pad to have less 

than 10 ohms, since more than that would require additional 

grounding rods placed below the pad. 

As time constraints became a larger issue and materials 

in the original design were not going to be available for the 

unit to complete the project as originally designed, the 631st 

broke the plans down into mission-essential elements and 

nonessential elements. If the unit found that a nonessential 

element was going to delay the completion of the project, the 

Soldiers developed alternate courses of action that achieved 

the same end state. The ingenuity of the Soldiers from the 

631st Engineer Company kept the project under budget and 

on time. And of equal importance, maneuver training went 

ahead seamlessly, without interruption. 

Lieutenant Colonel Duffey is the Reserve Component 

Liaison Officer and Troop Construction Officer in Charge 

for the 7th United States Army Joint Multinational Training 

Command, Grafenwoehr, Germany. His past assignments 

include Operations Officer, Facility Engineer, for Headquarters, 416th Engineer Command, and Operations 

Officer, Battle Projection Group, for the 1st Simulation 

Exercise Group, 75th Division. He holds a bachelor’s from 

the University of Central Oklahoma in Edmond, Oklahoma, 

and a master’s from Central Michigan University in Mount 

Pleasant, Michigan.

October-December 2007 Engineer 27

Army National 

Guard Soldiers 

from the 631st

Engineer Company install a 

lightning protection pole next to 

a pad for the ammunition holding 

area.
October-December 2007

On 4 December 2007, the 

Army’s newest and most 

modern veterinary hospital 

and military working dog kennel, 

located at Fort Leonard Wood, 

Missouri, was dedicated to a fallen 

Soldier, Corporal (CPL) Kory 

D. Wiens. A member of the 94th 

Engineer Detachment (Canine), 5th 

Engineer Battalion, 1st Engineer 

Brigade, Fort Leonard Wood, 

CPL Wiens and his specialized 

search dog, Cooper, were killed in 

July by an improvised explosive 

device (IED) while on patrol near 

Baghdad. They had been in Iraq 

since January. 

Dozens of family members, 

friends, and Soldiers attended 

the dedication ceremony, and the 

memory of CPL Wiens was honored 

with words, song, and actions. 

Brigadier General (BG) Gregg F. 

Martin, United States Army Engineer School commandant, 

addressed the Wiens family directly, saying, “We will never 

forget your son. We will always 

remember him as the great Soldier 

and the great person that he was.”

Singer-songwriter Murray 

Weinstock, who has worked with 

many many well-known recording 

artists, performed his song “War 

Dogs,” which he wrote after seeing 

a documentary that highlighted 

the special relationship that exists 

between these beloved canines and 

their military handlers. To quote 

the song, “A bond is built forever, 

forever and a day; built on love, 

built on trust, that’s the K-9 way.”

An oil painting depicting CPL 

Wiens and Cooper was dedi-cated 

to the facility by military artist Chief 

Warrant Officer 2 (CW2) William 

Smock, who also presented a 

watercolor version of the portrait 

to the Wiens family. An Indiana 

National Guardsman, CW2 Smock 

has painted many scenes from his deployment to Iraq. And in 

May 2007, he presented a portrait of engineer Medal of Honor 

winner Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith 

when Fort Leonard Wood’s new Counter 

Explosive Hazards Center (CEHC) was 

dedicated to the fallen hero (see Engineer, 

April-June 2007, page 24).

The new kennel training facility—a 

part of the CEHC—will be home to the 

Engineer Regiment’s Forces Command 

(FORSCOM) Canine Company. This 

company, which has grown since its 

inception in 2003, has become the 

most constantly deployed unit in the 

Regiment, with K9 elements deployed 

continuously to Operation Enduring 

Freedom since 2003 and Operation Iraqi 

Freedom since 2004. The Soldiers and 

canines involved in these deployments 

provided the Army mine detection 

and specialized search capabilities 

that have saved the lives of countless 

coalition forces. These symbiotic 

teams of Soldiers and canines develop 

phenomenal capabilities to detect 

Engineer Dog Handler Honored

By Captain Erik Karstensen and Mr.Luke Waack

28 Engineer

Engineer Soldiers stand at parade rest during the dedication of the Kory D. 

Wiens Veterinary Hospital and Kennel.

CPL Kory D. Wiens and his specialized 

search dog, Cooper
October-December 2007 29 Engineer

weapons, ammunition, and explosives and are an 

essential element to fighting the War on Terror.

The CPL Kory D. Wiens Veterinary Hospital and 

Dog Kennel will provide state-of-the-art facilities to 

support the training of current and future engineer 

dog teams. The facility provides 36 new kennel runs 

for these vital assets. This increased capacity, which 

makes it the largest FORSCOM kennel and second 

largest kennel in the Department of Defense, allows 

the teams to better support both the War on Terror and 

missions closer to home. (The largest kennel is the 

Department of Defense Military Working Dog Center 

at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas.) 

The kennel runs are almost as large as a single 

Soldier’s room, providing the working dogs plenty of 

room to move about. Additionally, the offices in the 

kennel provide a state-of-the-art working environment, 

which significantly enhances the Canine Company’s 

operations. The facility helps create a collocated 

synergy between handlers, kennel masters, and the 

chain of command. 

And lastly, the collocation of the veterinary hospital 

with the kennel is a tremendous benefit to the military 

working dog (MWD) program. This regional hospital 

is not only responsible for the health of engineer 

MWDs but also for MWDs of military police and 

other branches of service as well, to include those on 

surrounding forts and bases. The hospital—which will provide both routine and 

emergency care—has an intensive care unit, a full laboratory, 

and modern x-ray equipment, along with a fully enhanced 

surgery suite. It will ensure that the MWDs receive the 

best care available to keep them at their fighting best. With 

the veterinarian hospital being collocated with the kennel, 

engineers can cross-train with the Veterinary Corps to learn 

valuable medical skills to better care for the working dogs 

while deployed on missions. It will also enable military 

occupational specialty (MOS) 68T animal care specialists 

to further enhance their skills and proficiency in the hospital 

environment, as well as the combat environment. 

CPL Wiens, who was dedicated to the MWD program, 

was named Kory after his grandfather, a canine handler in the 

Korean War. CPL Wiens and Cooper, a Labrador retriever, 

were the first MWD team killed in action together since the 

beginning of the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. They were 

buried together in CPL Wiens’ hometown in Oregon.

Captain Karstensen is the commander of the FORSCOM 

Engineer Canine Company.

Mr. Waack, a writer for the Fort Leonard Wood newspaper, 

the Guidon, since October 2007, was a Soldier and broadcast 

journalist from 2001-2006. His last duty assignment was at 

the American Forces Network in Vicenza, Italy.

This oil painting depicting Corporal Wiens and Cooper was 

dedicated to the facility by military artist CW2 William Smock.

During the ceremony, BG Gregg Martin presents 

Mr. Wiens with a rememberance plaque of his son, 

Corporal Kory D. Wiens.
30 Engineer October-December 2007

As students begin a new semester at Louisiana State 

University (LSU) at Baton Rouge, the school—

with the help of the United States Army Corps of 

Engineers® (USACE)—takes a new approach to keep its 

college community safe from future hurricanes. The region 

recently marked the second anniversary of Hurricane Katrina, 

the sixth-strongest Atlantic hurricane ever recorded and the 

third-strongest hurricane on record to make landfall in the 

United States. USACE continues to deploy thousands of 

personnel to the Gulf Coast to assist the Federal Emergency 

Management Agency (FEMA) and other federal, state, and 

volunteer organizations in getting the beaten region back 

on its feet. One of the ways USACE is helping is through 

Geographic Information System (GIS) support. 

A GIS expert with the New York District of USACE is 

one of four national action officers responsible for deploying 

and managing GIS teams throughout the Gulf region. He 

explained that GIS is a computer-based information system 

and tool for analysis of spatial data. It takes data from various 

sources—such as aerial photographs, drawings, and electronic 

geographic data—and combines these layers of information as 

overlays to perform spatial analysis and produce an electronic 

map that depicts the results of that analysis.

USACE is using the GIS to help make LSU a disasterresistant school. Even though the school wasn’t damaged by 

Katrina, the campus is still vulnerable to future hurricanes 

since it is located in the southern part of Baton Rouge, 

bordered on the west by the Mississippi River. Louisiana is 

a coastal state that faces threats from hurricanes and tropical 

storms year-round, but especially during hurricane season. 

Katrina was a Category 5 storm that left death 

and destruction along its path. Since last year, 

USACE has been working with the university 

to map the entire school into the GIS. If a 

hurricane occurs, the school administration 

will have maps electronically available to 

help guide them through the situation and 

save lives of thousands of students and staff.

The main function of the GIS-based maps 

is to reduce the time it takes for emergency 

personnel to assess a given situation. LSU 

wanted to get its entire 2,000-acre campus 

into the GIS, including all of its buildings, 

parking lots, sidewalks, and roads. Building 

information was linked to the school’s safety 

database, including building names, number 

of rooms, classroom numbers and layouts, 

square footage, and professors’ names and 

telephone numbers. If an emergency occurs 

in a particular building, school staff members 

can pull up the GIS map, click on the building 

to see where emergency exits and fire 

Katrina Lessons Leave

LSU Safer By Dr. JoAnne Castagna

A USACE/LSU team maps out the university campus using GIS

technology.

Louisiana State University at Baton Rouge

Map by Roger W. Porzig, Jacksonville District, USACE

Photo by Brad Mooney, FEMA
October-December 2007 Engineer 31

extinguishers are located, and access contact information for 

professors or other personnel who are normally in that area of 

the campus. If a certain portion of a building is damaged, the 

GIS information can provide an idea of who may be trapped 

or in danger.

A spokesman for the university police said that the GIS will 

make LSU an “active campus” that will give important data 

about facilities. For example, if there is a fire in a laboratory, 

officials can click on that room, see what chemicals are stored 

there, and pass the information to the fire department. The 

Pete Maravich Assembly Center, a large indoor basketball 

arena, served as a medical shelter for New Orleans residents 

with medical special needs in the aftermath of Katrina. Now 

the school wants to better prepare it to serve as a medical 

special needs center in case another hurricane hits. Digitized 

drawings of the arena created electronic maps in the GIS, 

and the school’s hospital and social services departments 

determined where beds, medicine, and volunteers should be 

placed. If the shelter is activated, employees working there 

will know where and how to set up the beds, where to store 

the medicine, and where tables are set up, so the operation 

will proceed smoothly. Officials will be able to assess an 

emergency situation more quickly with the GIS electronicbased maps than with printed maps that may be obsolete since 

roads, parking lots, and buildings may change over time. GIS 

maps can be updated with new information immediately, as 

opposed to printed maps that may only be updated every 

couple of years.

The GIS system will also serve as a basis for a 9-1-1 

emergency telephone number system for the LSU campus, 

which is a city within a city. The GIS will also be useful in 

situations in which many different agencies converge on a 

scene. The personnel from the agencies 

may not know the area, so GIS maps 

will help them become familiar with 

the layout of the buildings and the 

campus. Before USACE developed 

the GIS maps for the school, campus 

addresses were not available and 

useful street data had not yet been 

developed. Simple package deliveries 

to the campus were major obstacles for 

the staff and faculty. 

The USACE GIS team will continue 

to support FEMA and LSU in Baton 

Rouge as long as necessary.

Dr. Castagna is a technical writereditor for the United States Army Corps 

of Engineers New York District. She 

can be reached at <joanne.castagna@

usace.army.mil>.

The Pete Maravich 

Assembly Center, a 

large indoor basketball arena, was used 

as a medical special 

needs shelter in the 

aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

The Memorial Tower is a central feature of the Louisiana State University

campus.

Photo by Jim Zietz, LSU Public Affairs Photo by Jim Zietz, LSU Public Affairs
The Rhône River pipeline stretched 487 miles between Marseilles and Sarrebourg, France. The line consisted of two

6-inch pipes and one 4-inch pipe. September 1945

32 Engineer October-December 2007

By Mr. Thomas J. Petty

Fueling the Front lines:

The United States Army’s pipeline companies 

were developed to meet the Army’s increasing 

reliance on the mechanized forces, which ran 

on gasoline, diesel, and aviation fuels. The truck, the 

tank, and the airplane all needed fuel to operate. Modern 

warfare saw the ever-increasing need to put these fuels 

into the theater of war in larger and larger quantities, 

over a more complex area. From the 5-gallon jerry can 

to a tank farm holding hundreds of thousands of gallons, 

uncontaminated fuels had to be delivered reliably and 

promptly in the quantities necessary to sustain the 

units they supplied. The pipeline companies were often 

up front with the invasion landing parties, to find and 

salvage any facility that could be used for fuel storage 

and distribution. Gasoline and fuel oil accounted for more 

than half of all the tonnage shipped overseas during World

War II.1

World War I had seen limited need for pipeline systems. 

Distribution by tanker trucks and railcars and the jerry 

can was sufficient. After the war, the civilian petroleum 

industry expanded rapidly, and by the beginning of 

World War II a lightweight, easy-to-assemble pipeline 

and storage system had been designed. The system 

used lengths of rigid steel pipe with grooves at each 

end, joined by what were commonly called “Victaulic” 

couplings, named after the Victaulic Company of 

America, one of the coupling’s manufacturers. Inside 

these couplings were rubber gaskets that sealed the 

joints. When hydraulic pressure was applied, it sealed 

the gaskets almost as securely as welding. 

In 1939, the Shell Oil Company offered the 

Quartermaster Corps (as the branch responsible for 

the purchase and distribution of petroleum products) 

an imaginative study that “contained all of the major 

elements of the military pipeline systems that were to be 

used during World War II, including lines from ship to shore, 

bulk storage tanks beyond the water line, and a pipeline with 

pumping units leading right up to the front line.”2

The Quartermaster Corps, which was interested in using a 

pipeline as a way to unload fuel from ships and take it a short 

distance to the nearest storage facility, got approval to build 

a 5-mile test section of pipeline in Hydro, North Carolina, 

in February 1941. Results of the test—which constructed 

pipeline from a valley, across a river, and up a hill to a 

distribution point—were good. Further tests and trials soon 

came to the attention of the Army engineers, who wanted to 

string pipe from the ports to the front lines, even if the front 

lines were hundreds of miles away. 

It was not only the Army engineers who saw the potential 

of this system. By the fall of 1941, the Chinese government 

wanted to obtain the system through the Lend-Lease Program 

for use along the Burma Road. A pipeline was of great interest 

to the Chinese since “trucks delivering gasoline over the 

Burma Road consumed half of their load in making the trip.”3 

This pressure from the Chinese helped spur greater movement 

in the development of a usable and workable system. The 

Army engineers were asked to study this project. Brigadier 

General John Magruder, Chief of the Military Mission to 

Army Pipeline Units - Part I

Past in Review

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Engineer School
October-December 2007 Engineer 33

China, determined that the project would—

Cost $5,000,000.

Require 16,000 tons of steel.

Include 240 possibilities of control failure and 200,000

possible points of leakage.

Require 40 pump stations.

Be constructed over very rugged terrain. 

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Brigadier General Magruder believed that the system had 

sufficient merit to warrant further study, but was not yet 

sufficiently proven to be installed. 

Sid S. Smith, the Shell Oil Company representative who 

had designed the pipeline system, proposed laying a 30-mile 

line of 4-inch pipe, complete with pumps and automatic 

controls, as a further test of the system. This was a turning 

point for the military application of pipeline. A test site in the 

mountains of the Shenandoah National Park in Virginia was 

selected. Soldiers were not readily available for the project, 

United States Army engineers and the Chinese 

army laid 2,000 miles 

of pipeline from BudgeBudge, India, to Luliang, 

China, in 15 months.

These 6-inch pipelines transported fuel from ports to the front line.

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Engineer School
34 Engineer October-December 2007

so workers were hired from the local civilian population. 

The project started on 30 June 1942 and concluded in midOctober. During this time, a lot of information was collected 

and problems resolved. On 8 July 1942, an unskilled crew 

laid 16 1/2 miles of pipe complete with pump stations in

18 days. Problems with the couplings were found and resolved. 

The reciprocating pumps seemed to wear out quickly, so 

centrifugal pumps were recommended as a solution. 

At the same time, the Army engineers and the Quartermaster Corps resolved questions of control. It was decided that 

engineers would lay the pipeline from the ships to a point as 

far inland as needed and build the storage facilities and pump 

stations. The Quartermaster Corps would be responsible for 

the distribution points along the pipeline. Because the Virginia 

experiment was such a success, the Chinese were able to 

lay their pipeline along the Burma Road (and its successor, 

the Ledo Road). The Army engineers and the Chinese army 

eventually laid 2,000 miles of pipeline from Budge-Budge to 

Luliang in 15 months. 

With the success of the Virginia experiment in mind, the 

Office of the Chief of Engineers ordered a short training 

program to begin. On 15 October 1942, two pipeline 

detachments were organized and began training at Fort 

Belvoir, Virginia. A month later, the program was moved to 

the Desert Training Center in the Mojave Desert so that the 

equipment would not need to be winterized. The program was 

also expanded to four pipeline detachments at this time. These 

first units, which were manned by Soldiers with previous oil 

field experience, performed extremely well overseas. By 

later forming the nucleus of new units, these Soldiers helped 

expand the program in-theater. 

The first petroleum distribution company was the 

696th. Manned entirely by experienced oil field personnel, 

A Soldier from the 2656th Petroleum Distribution Company experiments with alternative 

transportation methods in Tunisia in 1943.

A Soldier welds sections of 

8-inch pipe that will bring 

fuel to Allied aircraft, armor, 

and motor transport in 

France. September 1944

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Engineer School
October-December 2007 Engineer 35

both officers and enlisted, it bypassed the pipeline training 

school. In November 1942, it was already stationed in 

North Africa. By the end of the war, this company released 

personnel from its ranks to form the nucleus of three more 

pipeline companies. The first of these companies was the

697th Petroleum Distribution Company.

The first two detachments finished their training and left 

the Desert Training Center in January 1943. By March, there 

was dissatisfaction with the detachment system, which tied 

pipeline units to regiments. An independent pipeline company 

could do the same job with 20 percent fewer personnel. It was 

decided in May 1943 that an independent pipeline company 

should consist of 7 officers and 221 enlisted Soldiers, with 

headquarters and operating platoons. The training program 

was greatly accelerated and, in May 1943, an additional four 

companies started training, which put a strain on the training 

facility and staff. The facility was expanded, some parts of 

the training were cut short, and others were extended. In spite 

of the training shortcomings, pipeline units in Europe were 

laying 35 miles of pipeline per week, much faster than the 

16 miles in 18 days that was first achieved. No theater had 

enough pipeline troops for optimum operations, and other 

engineer units were forced to take on pipeline duties. By the 

end of the war, there were 59 pipeline companies totaling 

12,323 Soldiers.4

Some companies were formed in-theater by taking a 

few experienced officers and noncommissioned officers 

(NCOs) from other pipeline units and augmenting them with 

inexperienced enlisted men. One such company was the 

2656th Petroleum Distribution Company (later designated the 

697th), which was formed in North Africa in 1943.5

Around June 1943, one officer and nineteen enlisted Soldiers 

from the 2602d Engineer Pipeline Company (formerly the 

696th), headquartered in Bizerte, Tunisia, formed the nucleus 

of the 2656th Engineer Pipeline Company. This company 

was then filled with Soldiers and officers from other units in 

North Africa. After working on projects in North Africa for 

two months, the 2656th landed at Palermo, Sicily, in August 

1943. It was then renamed the 697th Petroleum Distribution 

Company. After completing a few simple tasks, the company 

packed up and relocated to Taranto, Italy, on 13 October 

1943. The unit’s Soldiers set up their base camp at Foggia, 

where the unit remained during its stay in Italy. From this 

base camp, the 697th sent out detachments to construct and 

operate various pipelines and storage tanks in Italy. 

American engineers work on a stone bridge to add support for sections of a petroleum pipeline. France 1944

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Engineer School
36 Engineer October-December 2007

The first assignment for the 697th was to construct 

a ship-unloading facility at Manfredonia and lay a

24-mile pipeline from there to Foggia. After just 28 days, 

the first fuel arrived at Foggia. Three 10,000-barrel tanks, 

one 5,000-barrel tank, the unloading facility, and 24 miles of 

pipeline had been completed. On 13 November, the first fuel 

was discharged from the gasoline tanker Aroostock and by

25 November, 160,000 gallons of 100-octane aviation fuel a 

week was flowing into Foggia, which was destined to be the 

hub of southern Italian fuel distribution. The 701st and the

696th Petroleum Distribution Companies (which were destined 

to work side by side with the 697th throughout the war) had 

now joined in the pipeline construction in southern Italy. In 

nine months, the 697th alone would construct a very large and 

elaborate network of pipelines and storage facilities. Besides 

the several airfields around Foggia, the 697th also supplied 

fuel to 14 other airfields. In addition, the company constructed

43 10,000-barrel tanks and 31 smaller tanks during this 

time. The 697th, 696th, 701st, 702d, and 704th Petroleum 

Distribution Companies together constructed 651 miles of 

pipeline to the airfields and storage facilities in that area

of Italy. 

On 15 July, the 697th moved out of Foggia to a staging area 

in preparation for Operation Dragoon, the invasion of France 

by Allied forces from Italy. D-Day was 15 August and by

16 August the 697th was established at Saint-Raphael, France, 

receiving materials to begin construction of the unloading 

facilities on 19 August. The project, which was completed by 

30 August, included— 

Tanker discharge lines. 

Three 10,000-barrel storage tanks. 

A 1,000-barrel storage tank. 

Three miles of pipeline to the terminal. 

Three separate racks to fill tanker cars, drums, and cans.

Also, tanker-truck and drum-filling racks were constructed at 

the airport at Fejus, France, and connected to the port by six 

miles of pipeline.6

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“The pipeline companies were often up front with the 

invasion landing parties. . . Gasoline and fuel oil accounted 

for more than half of all the tonnage shipped overseas 

during World War II.”

A Soldier closes a 

valve near the start of 

the Rhône River pipeline near Marseilles, 

France. September 

1945

Photo courtesy U.S. Army Engineer School
October-December 2007 Engineer 37

It was decided before the invasion that the three refineries 

and the excellent port at Martigues would be the starting point 

for a pipeline up the Rhône Valley. On 25 August, an advanced 

element of two officers and 89 enlisted Soldiers from the 

697th went to Martigues, bypassing Marseille and Toulon, 

which were still under German control. The French had just 

liberated the town and the Soldiers of the 697th were the first 

Americans the townspeople had seen. Flares and artillery fire 

lit the sky the first night since the Germans were still to the 

west, north, and east. Small units of German soldiers were 

reported in the area, so the detachment posted extra security 

on all sides. At this time, the United States Seventh Army 

engineers established a pipeline operations office at the

La Mede refinery, which served as the main office for 

operations for the next eleven months. 

Immediately, the 697th started to refurbish and connect 

all the refineries into one large storage facility. Difficulties 

were encountered in the harbor because the Germans had 

blown bridges and collapsed them into the harbor, which 

was mined extensively. The first Allied tanker to arrive, on

9 September, was saved from a mine only because the tugboat 

that was guiding it hit the mine first. The 697th would have 

lost a detachment of men, and the Lavera refinery could have 

been seriously damaged, if the mine had blown up the larger 

ship. While all this was being done, the 697th had a survey 

crew out locating the track for the pipeline to move north, up 

the Rhône Valley. On the same day the tug blew up, the first 

sections of pipe were laid.

From Martigues to Avignon, Valence, Lyon, Dijon, then 

northeast through Epinal to Sarrebourg, the 697th, 696th, 

701st, 1385th, 2814th, and 784th leapfrogged along the Rhône 

Valley. Each company completed a section and connected 

with the next company’s completed section. The companies 

were responsible for laying the pipeline and constructing 

the dispensing terminals along their routes. An example 

of this was the first section laid. In 16 days, the 697th laid

35 miles of pipeline from Martigues north to the Durance 

River, crossing the river southeast of Avignon. That section 

joined up with a section already completed by the 696th, 

just north of that crossing. Meanwhile, the base camp would 

remain in place until the pipeline bypassed it, making it 

impractical to communicate with the units. Then the base 

camp would move up the line another 50 miles and the 

process would repeat itself. This proved to be a fast, efficient 

method to get the projects completed. 

It wasn’t always a cakewalk for the companies. Sudden 

heavy rains caused flooding and rapid currents on the rivers, 

which caused loss of life and material. The terrain was not 

always flat and easy to cross. The fueling points took time 

to construct, and captured storage areas often were in dire 

need of major repairs due to neglect and sabotage. For 

example, how do you convert an old molasses plant into a 

fuel storage facility? The winter of 1944-45 was extremely 

cold with heavy snowfalls, which slowed progress. Crossings 

that would normally have been dug by pick and shovel had 

to be blasted out of the frozen terrain. Mines and other 

hazards were always present. When the companies reached 

Sarrebourg, France, in January 1945, they could take a break. 

They had caught up to the rapidly advancing Allied lines, and 

the Germans had not yet been cleared out of the area west of 

the Rhine River. 

The pipeline companies were accomplishing their mission. 

By the spring of 1945, “The daily gasoline consumption 

of the (United States) Seventh Army ... exceeded 600,000 

gallons, and that of the French First Army only slightly 

less. Nevertheless, shipments of gasoline matched these 

expenditures and maintained adequate reserves in both armies 

at all times.” 7

Starting in September 1944, the 696th started laying a

6-inch pipeline from the Mediterranean, parallel to the 4-inch 

line laid earlier by the 697th. It was March 1945 before it 

reached Sarrebourg. By the end of January, the 4-inch line was 

already delivering fuel all the way from the sea to Sarrebourg.

After the Allied spring offensive drove the Germans east 

across the Rhine, the 697th began to run a pipeline from 

Sarrebourg to Sarreguemines, France, where the pipeline 

turned east and crossed into Germany. The pipeline went up 

to the Rhine River just north of Frankenthal, near Mannheim. 

The 696th had prepared a crossing by putting a Bailey bridge 

across the river on existing pylons. The first 4-inch pipeline 

reached the Rhine on 20 April 1945. By the end of April, fuel 

was being pumped from the Mediterranean to Germany at a 

rate of 10,000 barrels, or 550,000 gallons, daily. Since the 

pipeline system up the Rhône Valley in France and across 

the Rhine River into Germany had become so expansive, the 

697th spent the rest of the war maintaining and operating the 

pipeline. 

The statistics compiled in Europe by this company are 

extraordinary. From 9 September 1944 to 20 April 1945, 

the 697th alone constructed 347 miles of pipeline, surveyed 

another 519 miles of pipeline, strung 412 additional miles of 

pipe, rehabilitated or erected facilities for 419,600 barrels of 

storage (the equivalent of 42 10,000-barrel storage tanks), 

rehabilitated or erected 12 dispensing points, and crossed 

three major rivers.8 The Soldiers who had served from the 

beginning were awarded stars for five campaigns: 

Algeria-French Morocco 

Tunisia-Sicily

Naples-Foggia 

Rhineland

Southern France Invasion arrowhead 

The unit also was commended for its work at Foggia, Italy. 

After the end of the war in Europe, the 697th was 

decommissioned due to lack of manpower. Its last assignment 

was to back-flush the pipeline with water, then tear down 

the pipeline from the Rhine River all the way back to the 

Mediterranean Sea. No records have been found describing 

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38 Engineer October-December 2007

how far the company got on disassembling the pipeline 

system before being sent home. The 697th received orders on 

8 October 1945 to leave the European Theater of Operations 

for the States. It left Southhampton, England, on 24 November 

and arrived in New York on 30 November. The unit was 

deactivated on 1 December 1945. 

Endnotes

1

United States Army in World War II, The Corps of 

Engineers: Troops and Equipment, 1958, Chapter XVIII,

p. 417. 

2 Ibid., p. 418. 

3

Colonel James E. McNary and Colonel Edson W. 

Berlin, History of the Development of Military Pipelines,

28 December 1945.

4

Reorganization for Global War, Table 10, Number and 

Strength of Engineer Table of Organization Units, 30 June 

1945. 

5

The 2656th was a typical pipeline company, and its history 

is used since there is a large amount of information available 

on it. This is not meant to take away from the contributions 

of all the other companies. It is easiest to tell the whole story 

by focusing on one unit that went the distance, from 1943

to 1969.

6

William D. Trethewey, A History of the 697th Petroleum 

Distribution Company, 1989, p. 18.

7

Ibid., p 30.

8

Ibid., p 31.

Mr. Petty, a farm boy from Iowa when he enlisted in the 

Army in 1966, spent his three-year Army career in pipeline 

companies. After leaving the Army, he graduated magna cum 

laude from Iowa Lakes Community College, which offered a 

farm equipment mechanic’s course. He has been a mechanic 

for 34 years and is still very interested in the pipeline 

experience.

Acknowledgement

Thanks are extended to William Trethewey for saving 

this history. It stands as a testament to the hard work done 

by the engineers in World War II and those of the “Greatest 

Generation.” It is on record at the archives at the United States 

Army Engineer School at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri.

This is Part I of a two-part article. Part II will cover the 

pipeline story from the postwar years in Europe, to Operation 

Sledgehammer in the United States, to operations in Thailand, 

Vietnam, and the Persian Gulf.

News and Notes

Korea’s Peninsula Engineer Conference 2008

United States Forces Korea (USFK) invites engineers to participate in this year’s Peninsula Engineer 

Conference (PEC) from 29 January through 2 February 2008 at the Yongsan Dragon Hill Lodge in Seoul, 

Korea. This year’s theme is Engineer Solutions Through Innovative Technologies. USFK encourages those 

with cutting edge ideas, inventions, or techniques to speak to the audience or to sponsor a display. The PEC 

will feature civil engineering and classified “warfighter” sessions, historical tours, and a 5K fun run. Adjunct 

to the PEC, the Society of American Military Engineers (SAME) will host a luncheon and a United States 

– Korea Engineer Ball. 

See <http://posts.same.org/korea/> for more details. Individuals or organizations interested in attending 

may contact Mr. Tom Brady at USFK engineers; e-mail <thomas.m.brady@korea.army.mil> or call DSN 315-

723-3260.

Annual Unit Histories

Each year, engineer units—as well as other Army units—complete annual histories. In the past, these have 

been submitted to higher headquarters and eventually lost. A recent revision of AR 870-5, Military History: 

Responsibilities, Policies, and Procedures, dated 21 September 2007, instructs units to send a copy of their 

annual history to their branch history office. This not only allows those offices to maintain a collective branch 

history but also assists them in their efforts to maintain unit histories, lineages, and honors. If you have 

any questions concerning annual or unit histories, contact Dr. Larry Roberts, Historian, United States Army 

Engineer School, at (573) 563-6109 or <larry.roberts1@us.army.mil>.
October-December 2007 Engineer 39

The AN/PSS-14 Mine Detecting Set is more advanced 

than any metal detector used for mine detection. 

The AN/PSS-14 mine detector is only one part of 

this remarkable mine detection system. The other, and more 

essential, part of this system is the operator. The complexity 

of the system requires operators to be licensed to ensure safe 

and effective operation. For that reason, and for the safety of 

all personnel involved in route and area clearance operations, 

commanders must ensure that each operator is properly 

licensed before using the system in a real-world situation. 

Licensing operators of the AN/PSS-14 is essential to ensure 

that both the operator and the mine detector are adequately

sustained so they will perform as intended.

Basic Operational Theory

The AN/PSS-14 mine detector applies two 

technologies—metal detection (MD) and groundpenetrating radar (GPR). The AN/PSS-14 employs 

aided target recognition algorithms that alert the operator 

of the presence of a target of interest. A trained and licensed 

operator learns to mute the MD or the GPR to identify objects 

buried in the ground, pinpoint their location, and determine if 

they are potential mines. A trained and licensed operator can 

detect metal objects in the ground and investigate them using 

the GPR. The GPR can be used to distinguish potential mines 

from battlefield clutter and other metal debris. 

 AN/PSS-14 Fielding

The first step in the fielding process is to educate units 

on the system’s requirements. The Product Manager 

(PM) for Countermine and Explosive Ordnance 

Disposal sends a team to the unit’s location to conduct a new 

material introductory briefing. During this briefing, the PM’s 

representative explains the system’s capabilities, sustainment 

requirements, licensing requirements, and available training 

devices. The primary goal of the briefing is to ensure that 

commanders lock in time on their training calendar for both 

the new equipment training (NET) and the unit master training 

(UMT). The PM has provided the means for every unit that 

is authorized the AN/PSS-14 to receive the proper training. 

Before a unit is issued its mine detectors, it must have an 

appropriate number of “qualified operators.”

Training

B oth the NET and the UMT are 40-hour courses and 

are conducted either at the unit’s home station or at 

Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, whichever is more 

convenient for the unit. Once the unit locks in the training 

dates, the NET team arrives at the unit’s location, sets up the 

training site, and begins training. After successful completion 

of the 40-hour course, the NET team issues the equipment, 

and the Soldiers who attended the training are considered 

qualified to operate the system.

AN/PSS-14 Mine 

Detector Requires

a License

By Mr. David Holbrook

Mine Detection 

Moves Into the 

Future:
40 Engineer October-December 2007

The requirement is to send one Soldier to NET for each 

AN/PSS-14 being issued. However, units are encouraged to 

take advantage of on-site NET by sending as many Soldiers 

in grade E5 or above as possible, so that those who qualify 

as operators can take the additional training to become unit 

master trainers. Otherwise, the Soldiers will have to attend a 

separate 40-hour operator course before attending UMT.

The UMT course, which is taught by United States 

Army Engineer School-trained master trainers, is conducted 

to provide a sustainment capability to each unit issued the 

AN/PSS-14. Units are encouraged to 

send as many qualified sergeants to this 

training as possible. These individuals 

will develop unit standing operating 

procedures (SOPs) and conduct new 

operator and refresher training after 

the fielding process is complete. It is 

because of the licensing requirement for 

this system that UMT course attendees 

must be E5s or above. 

Licensing

Officials at the Engineer School 

believe that any equipment 

designed to detect explosives, 

mines, or other hazards must have 

a licensing requirement associated 

with it. Since the proper use of this 

equipment will prevent the death 

or injury of Soldiers, the licensing 

requirement ensures that personnel 

are proficient in using it. The current 

Army Regulation 600-55, The Army 

Driver and Operator Standardization 

Program, requires military personnel 

and Department of the Army civilians 

to have an Optional Form (OF) 346, 

United States Government Motor 

Vehicle Operator’s Identification Card, 

and demonstrate their proficiency to 

operate mechanical or ground support 

equipment, including “mine-detecting 

equipment, truck mounted—all makes The Sweep Monitoring System (SMS) is a training aide that provides Soldiers 

with immediate feedback on their sweep techniques.

Soldiers are being graded on their sweeping techniques at a UMT course.
October-December 2007 Engineer 41

and models,” and “miscellaneous equipment, any 

equipment determined by the local commander 

or higher authority to warrant licensing, such as 

. . . detecting sets, mine portable, AN/PRS-7 and 

AN/PSS-11.”

The Engineer School has recommended 

changes to the regulation to clarify the licensing 

requirement for the AN/PSS-14. The first draft 

of these changes was sent out for review and 

the final version is scheduled for publication in 

early 2008. Recommendations include that “all 

military personnel must have a certified OF 

346 or DA Form 5984-E and demonstrate their 

proficiency to operate mine-detecting or other 

explosive-detecting equipment, to include all 

portable, hand held, and truck-mounted models 

(including, but not limited to, AN/PSS-12 and 

AN/PSS-14).”

Summary

I

t is imperative that commanders become 

familiar with the capabilities of the

AN/PSS-14. This system is essential in 

safe route clearance operations in the current 

theater of operations and in future conflicts. 

The Engineer School has provided all the tools required 

to establish a successful training and licensing program, 

to include providing units with a draft SOP for adoption 

and immediate implementation. The product manager 

has an aggressive fielding schedule for the AN/PSS-14 

for the next few years. Units that do not already have 

NET and UMT on their schedules should contact Mr. 

Rob Sellmer, AN/PSS-14 Fielding Manager, at 703-

704-3397, DSN 654-3397, <robert.sellmer@us.army.mil>

for NET and Mr. John Sullivan at 573-563-7646 or cell 

573-528-9081 for UMT immediately to ensure that they are 

ready to deploy with the best route clearance capabilities 

possible.

Mr. Holbrook is a retired engineer lieutenant colonel and 

former battalion commander. He currently works as a senior 

analyst for BRTRC Research Corporation at the Fort Leonard 

Wood, Missouri, office.

Dedication

The following members of the Engineer Regiment have been lost in the War on Terrorism since the last issue of Engineer.

We dedicate this issue to them.

Chitjian, Private First Class Adam J. 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Fort Hood, Texas

Lambert, Specialist David E. 237th Engineer Company, 276th Engineer Battalion, 91st Troop Command West Point, Virginia

McGovern, Captain Timothy I. 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Fort Bliss, Texas

Mele, Sergeant John W. II 1st Battalion, 30th Infantry Regiment, 3d Infantry Division Fort Stewart, Georgia

Smitherman, Specialist Brandon W. 2d Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division Fort Bliss, Texas

Training Target Sets (TTS) are used to simulate live mines for

AN/PSS-14 training.
Engineers are almost universal in their agreement to 

carry some tool on their belt or in their pocket. The 

most popular tool seems to be multi-pliers, with 

hundreds of types available from numerous manufacturers. 

The second most popular would probably be a tie between 

a pocketknife and a flashlight. Tool points and nut drivers 

would come in handy and can be attached to one of the multipliers’ stems. Other tools are more specialized and might 

include a mine probe or a trip wire grapnel with throwing 

cord or a compass. 

Considering the variety of situations a Soldier encounters 

in which a tool is needed, these are all good choices. But until 

now, each was carried individually or tossed into a pouch, 

presenting its own hazards. This is no longer the case; the 

United States Army Engineer School and the Program 

Manager for Sets, Kits, Outfits, and Tools (PM-SKOT) teamed 

to create the Sapper Pac as a Soldier Enhancement Program 

(SEP) initiative and placed the tools into a zippered pouch that 

allows easy access and prevents the items from inadvertently 

falling out while digging around for something else. The bags 

are modular lightweight load-carrying equipment (MOLLE) 

compatible and available in black or Army combat uniform 

(ACU) camouflage pattern.

There are three versions of the Sapper Pac—one for 

sappers, another for squad leaders and platoon sergeants, 

and a third for platoon leaders. The Sapper Pac contains 

Gerber demolition explosive technician (DET) multi-pliers 

with numerous tool points and nut drivers, an Inova X1MT 

flashlight designed with a wand attachment for signaling and 

a stake attachment for planting in the ground, a sectionalized 

mine probe with shaft extensions and multiple metal and 

plastic tips, a credit card-size bendable trip wire grapnel with 

15 meters of 550 cord, an inspection mirror, and a thumb saw 

that cuts through wood and metal. In addition to that, there is 

still room in the Pac for a memorandum book, a pen, a small 

tape measure, and a carabiner. 

The Sapper Leader Pacs contain the same multi-pliers, 

flashlight, and tape measure. In addition, there is a folding saw 

with a full-length serrated blade for cutting wood and metal 

and a pencil-style knife sharpener. The difference between the 

two Pacs is that the squad leader version includes a Leica 

Laser Range Finder (LRF) that is accurate to 1,200 yards, and 

Sapper Pac –

The Tool Kit for Engineers

By Mr. Alan P. Schlie

42 Engineer October-December 2007

Sapper Pac 
October-December 2007 Engineer 43

the platoon leader version includes an Insight® Technology 

Thermal Imaging Camera (TIC) with software to download 

the video captured to any laptop. 

Sapper Pacs will become components of Squad Pioneer 

Tool Sets and be available in clothing sales stores in the near 

future, but units can obtain them now by using the following 

National Serial Numbers:

Sapper Pac 5180-01-538-4213

Sapper Leader Pac (Squad) 5180-01-542-1075

Sapper Leader Pac (Platoon) 5180-01-539-5597

For more information, contact the Item Manager at

(309) 783-0131, or e-mail <dan.stark@conus.army.mil>.

Mr. Schlie recently retired as a force documentation 

analyst with the Capabilities Development & Integration 

Directorate (CDID), United States Army Maneuver Support 

Center, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. A retired command 

sergeant major, he served in various capacities in Europe, 

Korea, and the continental United States throughout his 

career.

Sapper Pac for Platoon Leaders (With a Thermal Imaging Camera) 

Sapper Pac for Squad Leaders (with a Laser Range Finder)
44 Engineer October-December 2007

“Get your communications up or you’re fired,” said 

the brigade commander. The words stung. As the battalion 

commander stood in front of the brigade commander, he was 

deeply disillusioned. The brigade’s communications structure 

had failed during the exercise, and the brigade commander 

wanted to know why. The battalion commander could not 

provide an answer. Even worse, he had no suggestions on 

how to improve the communications structure. He wondered 

how this had happened. Ninety days ago, he was an engineer 

battalion commander with technical knowledge in bridging, 

construction, and demolitions. Since that time, his battalion 

had converted to a brigade special troops battalion (BSTB) 

structure, and his technical knowledge of his subordinate 

commands was nonexistent. As the higher command 

headquarters of the brigade’s signal company, he was 

responsible for the communications posture of the brigade. 

He felt mixed emotions. He regretted that he had not created 

a formal plan to learn more about the communications 

structures and the capabilities of the signal company. And 

he was angry that he was being chastised for the exacting 

details of signal requirements when, as an engineer officer, 

his knowledge of this area was minimal. Finally, he resolved 

to fix the structural issues in his battalion that had allowed 

the situation to happen.

This scenario actually occurred to a commander of a 

BSTB immediately after it converted from an engineer 

battalion. As part of the modular force structure, the 

Army has created the BSTB and the divisional special troops 

battalion (STB). The BSTBs and STBs usually contain, at a 

minimum, four disparate units at the company and platoon 

levels. The following are examples of how they may be 

configured in the current force structure at the divisional level 

and below (see Figure 1).1

BSTB (military intelligence, signal, chemical, military

police)

STB (signal, security, adjutant general replacement, a

tactical operations center (TOC)/tactical communications

??? (TAC) support, and the band) 

These units require a different leadership style than 

a combined arms battalion that contains combined arms 

companies and a similar combat engineer company. For 

leaders to be more successful at commanding a BSTB or an 

STB, current leadership doctrine should be fully understood 

and specific procedures should be followed.

 According to Field Manual 6-22, “Leadership is the process 

of influencing people by providing purpose, direction, and 

motivation, while operating to accomplish the mission and 

improving the organization.”2 The Army officially classifies 

leadership into three levels: strategic, organizational, and 

direct (see Figure 2, which is Figure 3-3 in FM 6-22).3 Each 

leadership level requires a different leadership focus while 

upholding the Army’s eight core leader competencies and 

supporting behaviors described in FM 22-6.4 At the battalion 

level, in most cases, direct-level leadership is still the preferred 

method. Most field grade leaders at the battalion level 

(commander, command sergeant major, executive officer, and 

S3) have always led at the direct level (platoon and company). 

That direct-level leadership lends itself to “like” units, and a 

battalion—even in today’s modular environment—still has a 

moderate footprint. It is when the battalion command team 

■

■

Organizational Leadership

By Lieutenant Colonel Laurence M. Farrell

at the Battalion Level

Figure 1. The Brigade Special Troops Batalion (Figure 2-1 from FM 3-90.61)
October-December 2007 Engineer 45

leads a unit at the direct level that should be led at the 

organizational level that structural deficiencies become 

possible.

Leading at the organization level is a new and 

challenging experience for most field grade officers 

and noncommissioned officers. The Army’s leadership 

manual reflects this dynamic (challenge ???) by stating 

that “organizational leaders generally include military 

leaders at the brigade through corps levels” [emphasis 

added].5 The manual also states that “organizational 

leaders usually deal with more complexity, more 

people, greater uncertainty, and a greater number of 

unintended consequences.”6 This article provides a short, 

comprehensive list of techniques and focus areas that 

are effective at the organizational level of leadership 

and are directly applicable to divisional BSTB and STB 

commanders, command sergeants major, executive 

officers, and S3s. This article also recommends potential 

solutions the Army can implement on a long-term basis to 

improve the performance of the BSTBs and STBs. 

Organizational Level Techniques

The following techniques are effective at the 

organizational level of leadership:

Understand the technical requirements

Know the core competences 

Conduct routine counseling

Provide a vision

Understand the Technical Requirements

Leaders at all levels must have a basic understanding of 

the technical requirements of their subordinate units. This is 

one of the greatest challenges of BSTB and STB field grade 

leaders, and they often neglect or minimize for multiple 

reasons, to include: 

They may discount their role as technical advisors of a

battalion-sized element.

They may think that they do not have time to learn new

technical skills.

They may decide that fully delegating the technical part

of their duty performance is acceptable. 

These perspectives, though seemingly reasonable, are 

not in keeping with current Army doctrine. To put it bluntly, 

leadership requires a technical component. This is clearly 

stated in FM 6-22: “Direct, organizational, and strategic level 

leaders need to know what functional value the equipment 

has for their operations and how to employ the equipment in 

their units and organizations. At higher levels, the requirement 

for technical knowledge shifts from understanding how to 

operate single items of equipment to how to employ entire 

systems.”7

■

■

■

■

■

■

■

This paradigm is also reinforced by the guidance given 

during a recent lieutenant colonel command board. Military 

Personnel (MILPER) message 06-210 states that “officers 

will be slated per the Army command/key billet guidance 

prioritizing skills and experience... officers should consider 

how their skills and experiences best match those commands 

or key billets available and make preferences that best match 

their personal desires to where their skills and experiences 

exist. Officers should focus on specific or like-type units 

where they have previously served and not necessarily the 

location.”8

The guidance and doctrine are clear. Leadership has a 

technical component, and it is relevant at the higher command 

levels. The challenge is to implement a program that trains field 

grade leaders. At the organizational level, a simple solution 

is a comprehensive leader development program. The value 

of a long-term leader development program should not be 

discounted. A focused program of instruction, with hands-on 

training with proper training aids, can result in a high degree 

of technical competency in a relatively short amount of time. 

The United States Army Engineer School uses this method to 

teach complex engineering subjects—such as the analytical 

bridge classification method in the Captains Career Course—

to many officers with no engineering experience. This process 

can be replicated at the battalion level for a variety of topics. 

Finally, most divisional life cycle units experience their 

turnover immediately after a deployment and then are refilled 

and held steady for about three years. This situation further 

allows the “in-house” training program to be spread out over 

a longer time period. 

Know the Core Competences 

Leaders at the organizational level must focus on the unit’s 

core competencies to have the greatest effect. This dictum 

Figure 2. Army Leadership Levels (Figure 3-3 from FM 6-22)
October-December 2007 46 Engineer

has even more relevance if the unit is composed of disparate 

subunits such as in the BSTB and STB. In a maneuver 

battalion, with four like subunits, the battalion leadership can 

choose a variety of military occupational specialty (MOS)-

specific tasks to devote training time, energy, and resources. 

Here, the commitment of resources has an economy of scale 

and an immediate effect across the battalion. This is not the 

case in a BSTB or an STB. In them, the battalion leadership 

usually does not have time to generate multiple distinctive 

training programs for each company. The essential question is, 

Where can the battalion leadership leverage their experience 

to maximize the training? Fortunately, the Army provides the 

answer— the 40 Warrior Tasks and 11 Battle Drills. According 

to the Chief of Staff of the Army, these Warrior Tasks and 

Battle Drills “illustrate warrior-focused training” in support 

of the “long war.”9

In units such as the BSTB or STB, where there are always 

competing demands for specific MOS training and combat 

training, the battalion leadership is critical in providing a 

balance between these two competing demands. Finally, in 

focusing on the Warrior Tasks and Battle Drills the battalion 

leadership can conduct battalion ranges and minimize risk. 

The value of this effect cannot be overestimated. Many 

subunits in a BSTB or an STB have limited exposure to the 

requirements of live fire ranges and require battalion-level 

support to execute the range properly and safely.

Conduct Routine Counseling

In BSTBs and STBs, the battalion leadership must conduct 

written, deliberate performance counseling “routinely.” This 

counseling requirement has added importance if the units 

are geographically dispersed—as most BSTBs and STBs 

are. Though FM 6-2210 and DA PAM 623-311 clearly state 

the Army counseling requirements, many battalion-level 

leaders and above do not fulfill the requirements according 

to the regulation. Written counseling is often replaced with 

verbal counseling that is conducted ad hoc. Though verbal 

counseling can be effective, its application is usually limited 

to direct-level leadership of like units. For example, it is easier 

for a maneuver commander to give guidance to a subordinate 

maneuver unit that needs to improve the company’s score on 

“Table 8 Gunnery” than it is for a BSTB commander to give 

guidance on a communication problem. Though this might 

not be “fair,” it is the reality. 

In units such as BSTBs and STBs, written counseling 

serves as the intent paragraph similar to the operations order. 

According to FM 6-22, counseling “communicates standards 

and is an opportunity for leaders to establish and clarify the 

expected values, attributes and competencies.”12 Since the 

battalion commander and command sergeant major have 

limited time, exposure, and probably technical expertise, the 

counseling provides a “compass” for priorities for the long 

term. This is key for an organizational leader to be effective. 

Provide a Vision

Leaders at the organizational level must craft a vision and 

consistently reinforce it throughout the command. Often a 

vision is the “shortest leg” and most neglected of the “command 

triad” (command philosophy, training guidance, and command 

vision). Unlike training guidance—which must be issued 

quarterly and validated at the quarterly training brief—there 

is no defined metric that measures if a unit is making progress 

toward the vision. Unlike a command philosophy, which tends 

to be more specific in nature, command vision statements 

tend to be “nebulous.” The result is often a PowerPoint® 

slide put up in the battalion headquarters and then ignored. 

The vision, when properly utilized, provides clarity to the 

command’s purposes. It shows junior-level leaders what the 

organizational long-term goals are in the unit. The vision has 

added importance in BSTBs and STBs. Unlike a maneuver 

unit, where Soldiers clearly see that they are part of a larger 

team working toward common goals, Soldiers in a BSTB or 

STB may feel that they are operating independently from the 

other companies in the battalion. An organizational vision 

serves as a unifying tool that allows Soldiers to see that they 

have common goals regardless of their MOS.

Army Level Solutions

Potential solutions at the Army level, such as the 

following, can improve the performance of BSTBs 

and STBs:

Create a DA-certified BSTB/STB field grade leaders

course

Create a BSTB/STB identifier

Create a DA-Certified BSTB/STB Field Grade Leaders 

Course

The Army should create a field grade leaders course for 

both officers and field grade senior noncommissioned officers 

assigned to BSTBs and STBs. Although there is tremendous 

value in having a functional, enforced officer professional 

development (OPD) program at the organizational level, 

there are limitations to this approach. Similar to most units, 

personnel will have competing demands on their time, all 

units are susceptible to last minute requirements and, most 

importantly, a DA-centralized course creates a common skill 

set across the Army and standardizes the basic requirements 

of field grade leaders in BSTBs or STBs.

■

■

“Leaders at the organizational level must craft a vision and 

consistently reinforce it throughout the command.”
October-December 2007 Engineer 47

Prior to modularity, the divisional “slice” battalions trained 

and maintained their respective units and then attached these 

units to the maneuver commander for employment. The senior 

leaders of these battalions were experts in their respective 

fields and honed their skills to better train and mentor their 

subordinates. That specific function of mentoring subordinates 

on technical and maintenance requirements is extremely 

difficult without a formal training program provided by the 

Army. It is impossible to mentor someone on something that 

you are not familiar with. 

The field grade leader training course would be 

approximately three to four weeks long with each branch 

or “module” having one week of dedicated training time. 

(The Army already embraces the concept of specific training 

courses for commanders and command sergeants major in 

courses such as the Garrison Precommand Course at Fort 

Belvoir, Virginia, and the Recruiting Precommand Course at 

Fort Jackson, South Carolina). Although three to four weeks 

might seem excessive, the Reserve Component Captains 

Career Course is seventeen days long and covers one branch 

with a tactical focus. The BSTB course would cover tactics 

as well as maintenance issues. That the Army has multiple 

preestablished ongoing training courses for stateside garrison 

commands, but not for complex units going into combat, is an 

“oddity” that should be corrected. 

Create a BSTB/STB Identifier

The Army should create a BSTB/STB identifier and use the 

identifier in placing officers and noncommissioned officers 

that have been selected to command at the battalion level. 

According to MILPER message 06-210, the Army is placing 

priority on assigning officers and noncommissioned officers 

in units where they have previously served.13 This criterion 

should formally extend to the BSTBs and STBs. Having 

commanders that have served previously in a BSTB or an 

STB, and that have completed the BSTB/STB certification 

course, would solve the problems described above in 

mentoring junior leaders concerning training and maintaining 

equipment. This has great value both up and down the chain 

of command. Not only does it bond the junior leader with 

the senior officer and noncommissioned officer, but it also 

prevents situations such as the one described in the scenario 

at the beginning of this article. 

Summary

Commanding a BSTB or an STB is a challenging 

experience. For many battalion-level leaders, it 

is the first time in their Army career that they are 

leading Soldiers with different skill sets from their own, are 

geographically dispersed, and belong to distinctive subunit 

companies. In this type of unit, the battalion leadership is 

leading at the organizational level. At this level of leadership, 

the leader must follow doctrine as the foundation for his/her 

actions. Though there are actions that the battalion leadership 

can implement to address the complexity of this organization, 

such as a focused OPD program, I believe that ultimately the 

Army should create a BSTB/STB certification course. This 

course would quickly and significantly enhance the technical 

and tactical knowledge of the field grade leaders in these units, 

enhance the mentoring process and leader development that 

occurs for the battalion command team and, most importantly, 

increase the combat capacity of these units.

Lieutenant Colonel Farrell, who served as the Outreach 

Operations Officer for the Director of the Army Staff at 

the time this article was written, is the Deputy Brigade 

Commander of the Gulf Region North District – Tikrit, Iraq. 

He has held a variety of engineering assignments, to include 

commanding a One-Station Unit Training (OSUT) Company, 

serving as the Executive Officer for the Department of Civil 

and Mechanical Engineering at the United States Military 

Academy, and as the S3 of the 2d Infantry Division Engineer 

Brigade. He holds a civil engineering degree from the Virginia 

Military Institute and is a Registered Professional Engineer 

in Missouri. Lieutenant Colonel Farrell has been selected to 

command an Engineer District.

Endnotes

1 FM 3-90.61, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 22 December 

2006, Figure 2-1, p. 2-1.

2

 FM 6-22, Army Leadership, 12 October 2006, p. 1-2. 

3

 Ibid., pp. 3-6 and 3-7 and Figure 3-3.

4 Ibid., p. 2-7.

5 Ibid., paragraph 3-39, p. 3-7.

6 Ibid., paragraph 3-40, p. 3-7..

7 Ibid., paragraph 6-36, p. 6-7.

8 MILPER Message Number 06-210, FY08 Lieutenant 

Colonel Army Competitive Category Centralized Selection 

List, issued 28 July 2006, page 7.

9

 Chief of Staff of the Army speech at the Association of the 

United States Army (AUSA) Convention, 10 October 2006.

10 FM 6-22, Appendix B. 

11 Department of the Army Pamphlet 623-3, Evaluation 

Reporting System, 10 August 2007.

12 FM 6-22, paragraph B-17, page B-3. 

13 MILPER Message Number 06-210, page 7.

Note: The opinions expressed in this article are those of 

the author and do not necessarily reflect the official policy 

or the positions of the United States Army Engineer School, 

the Maneuver Support Center, the United States Army, or the 

Department of Defense. The author invites your feedback 

concerning current BSTB and STB employment and past 

experiences for a follow-on article. His e-mail address is 

<laurence.farrell @us.army.mil>.
48 Engineer October-December 2007

J

une 6, 1944, began just like many other days at Camp 

Rucker, Alabama. It was sunny and hot—normal for 

Alabama—and after the usual morning chores, word 

came that there was to be a battalion meeting at the post movie 

theater—another normal occurrence. But there was one thing 

that set that morning apart—rumors were rampant that the 

long-awaited Allied invasion of France had begun to liberate 

Europe from Nazi occupation. We were an anxious group of 

Soldiers; we had finished our training and were anticipating 

orders for a trip overseas. The only question seemed to be 

which theater—European or Pacific?

Our 159th Engineer Combat Battalion commander, Major 

Michael F. McNamara, strode in and took center stage, his 

normal position. The major came right to the point: The 

invasion had started in Normandy earlier that morning, 

and he was only sorry that the 159th had missed out on the 

glorious event. But he assured us that there was a second 

wave coming, and we would be part of it.

After leaving the theater, we tried to go back to our 

daily routine. Now we knew our days at Camp Rucker 

were numbered. There was still talk about the direction in 

which the battalion would go, but the betting seemed to be on 

Europe because of the invasion. All furloughs were cancelled, 

meaning I would not get the one that had been promised me 

after completing my training at the Fort Belvoir, Virginia, 

Engi­neer Replacement Training Center in April. After that 

training, many of us had been sent to the 159th, knowing 

that the outfit was preparing to go overseas and had to be 

numerically strengthened. At Camp Rucker, we were blended 

into the unit, a group that had been together for more than a 

year and seemed to be ready for its ultimate mission of being 

combat engineers.

Major McNamara was right—we were going to be part of 

the second wave in Normandy. In a matter of a few days, we 

were restricted to the base, and the packing process was well 

underway. Then the order came to move out. We were taken 

to the railroad and boarded a train for the ride to the port of 

embarkation. We had Pullman cars, so we knew it was going 

to be a long ride. 

The train finally reached its destination at Camp Myles 

Standish, near Taunton, Massachusetts. We were taken to our 

last U.S. posting, assigned our slots in the barracks, and given 

passes to go into either the neighboring towns or to Boston. 

We decided to take advantage of our borrowed time while we 

could. Who knew when—or if—we’d have a chance to enjoy 

ourselves like that again.

Then came the announcement we had both expected and 

dreaded: We were restricted to the base, which could mean 

only one thing. On the night of June 26, we boarded our train, 

which left us alongside 

a hulking, darkened 

ship that was moored to 

a South Boston pier. We 

picked up our duffel bags 

and boarded the ship—

the USS West Point. It 

was a luxury liner that 

had been converted in 

1940 as the flagship SS 

America of the United 

States Line fleet, sailing 

between New York and 

England and France. 

Now it was a U.S. Navy 

troop transport, painted 

battleship gray and with 

U.S. Sailors manning 

guns posted around the 

ship.

By Mr. Murray Mendelsohn as told to Dr. Christopher Hennen

The USS West Point, a converted luxury liner that was completed in 1940 as the flagship SS 

America of the United States Line fleet, sailed between New York and England and France. 

Now it was a United States Navy troop transport, painted battleship gray and with U.S. Sailors manning guns posted around the ship. 1943

United States Navy photo

Past in Review
October-December 2007 Engineer 49

Once aboard, we kept trudging downward, finally reaching 

our bunks. We had some 10,000 Soldiers on board, mainly 

engineers and Medical Corps people, we were told. We were 

stacked three and four high but, as we had long-since learned, 

when it was time to call it a day, we went to sleep. When we 

awoke and finally got up on deck, we were already far out to sea. 

Standing near the stern, we could see that the ship was pursuing 

a zigzag course, and we were all alone on the Atlantic. 

Finally, on the morning of July 4, 1944, after sailing for 

seven days, we could see seagulls and then land, which we 

were told was Scotland. Many of us had thought we would 

undergo further training, but that was not to be. Instead, every 

few days we packed up and headed farther south. By July 15, 

we had reached Falmouth, an old fishing port on the English 

Channel. We had large squad tents right near the water, where 

we could see many ships waiting to load up. It was only a 

matter of time before we would be heading to Normandy. 

Our waiting came to an end on July 18, when the battalion 

boarded two waiting Liberty ships, the Louis Kossuth and the 

Lou Gehrig. While I felt more akin to the Gehrig, since the 

Yankee ballplayer had been a resident of my hometown—

New Rochelle, New York—I was put on the Kossuth. When 

all the troops were on board, the ships left the harbor and 

lined up in a large convoy, escorted by naval warships. We 

had a Navy gun crew fore and aft, but otherwise the ship was 

manned by a Merchant Marine crew. 

It was a slow ride across the channel, and largely 

uneventful. We slept in two shifts, switching from bunks to 

deck. The only food was either C or K rations. There was a 

large kettle at the back of the ship where we could heat the 

cans and get water for Nescafe®. 

We just sat there, passing the time of day and watching 

what was going on at Utah Beach. Finally, on the morning of 

July 22, a launch pulled up alongside, and Major McNamara 

climbed up the rope that was hanging down the side of the 

Kossuth. He called us all together at the ship’s stern and 

told us we were about ready to get off the ship and start on 

our new adventure in Normandy. We were indeed the second 

wave, and he knew we would prove ourselves to be true 

members of the 159th. He knew there would be casualties, 

but he also knew we would earn commendations for what 

we were about to do. He continued in that vein, then he said 

he would see us onshore. He went over the side of the ship 

again and proceeded on to the Gehrig, undoubtedly to make 

the same speech.

It was a cloudy afternoon as we were told to get ready to 

go over the side to a waiting “rhino,” a large flat barge. We 

had all our belongings and weapons on our backs. Finally, 

my turn came to clamber onto the rope netting and start my 

descent. I had visions of losing my grip and going for a swim 

in the English Channel, but I managed to get down and finally 

touch the deck of the rhino. Our trucks and other equipment 

also came over the side, and when we were loaded, the 

Sailors took off for the beach. The rhino went right up to the 

shore, and we jumped off onto our destination—Utah Beach, 

Normandy. We were taken to our section of the beach and 

waited for the battalion to assemble. We would have to spend 

the night on the beach, but the weather was decent, so that 

would not present a problem. 

Night fell and, of course, there was a complete blackout 

on the beach. We were told to expect some German 

reconnaissance planes and, as predicted, our intelligence was 

correct. They were greeted by our antiaircraft guns, and soon 

“Bedcheck Charlie” left the area to make his next nightly 

visit. In the morning, we got on our trucks and moved off 

the beach, which was full of other troops and supplies, all 

waiting to go inland. It was a massive job to have assembled 

everything, and now we were going off on our own for our 

first mission. 

As the 159th rolled away from the beach, we had our first 

views of Normandy. Our first stop was St. Mere Eglise, a town 

at the heart of the American airborne operations on D-Day, 

and it looked largely destroyed. We were on narrow country 

roads, passing many farms behind the massive hedgerows on 

both sides of the road that marked the boundaries between 

the various farms. Finally, our group pulled into a farm area 

surrounded by the hedgerows. We unloaded and set up our 

camouflage netting to conceal our location. We were well used 

to our routine of loading and unloading our equipment on the 

back of our 2 1/2-ton truck. We were to get lots more practice.

We set up our tactical operations center under some trees 

alongside the hedgerow. As part of the Headquarters and 

Service Company of the 159th, we had plenty of work to 

catch up on. So we spent a busy afternoon sorting all our 

material and finding a place where we would spend the night. 

We had to be careful about exposing our location, because the 

Germans were not too far from our site in Barneville. At that 

time, the American position in Normandy, while secure, was 

not too deep. The 159th was given the mission of clearing 

mines and maintaining the roads. We were now part of 

XV Corps and 3d Army.

News soon reached us of the battalion’s first casualties; 

two privates in Company B had been killed while clearing 

mines. Their first day of work marked their deaths. Such are 

the perils and uncertainties of war. 

We were on the road, moving toward St. Lo, when an attack 

was launched to take the town, which marked the breakout 

from Normandy and the steady advance toward Paris and, in 

our case, toward Brest, the seaport at the western tip, right on 

the Atlantic Ocean. I can still see and hear the planes flying 

overhead, on their way to bomb the Germans. I had never 

seen so many planes before, and the noise was deafening 

when they loosed their bombs on the targets. Within a few 

days, we were in the vicinity of Avranches, which marked the 

spot where the 159th turned toward Brittany and the eventual 

target of Brest. It had been an important port for the American 

Army in World War I, and now it was decided we should take 

it again to relieve the pressure on the Normandy ports.
50 Engineer October-December 2007

The battalion was placed into Task Force A, and it was 

to be deployed primarily as infantry in the big push through 

Brittany. It was decided to leave the Personnel Section (which 

included me) behind for the time being in the big field we 

occupied. There were ten of us, including our commanding 

warrant officer. We were given plenty of C and K rations 

and little else, besides all our records. We said our farewells 

to our friends as they left, and we set to work organizing our 

own area. We were on the main highway leading from the 

beaches, and it had been designated a “Red Ball Express” 

highway. Only priority units could use the road, because 

getting supplies to the front was considered paramount. This 

gave us an observation point from which to see everything 

passing our front door, 24 hours a day. We had to establish 

our own security, and then we set out to keep up with our 

daily routine.

There were no other outfits located in our immediate 

vicinity; we were our own outpost. We were really on 

detached service, for want of a better term. One afternoon, 

rifle fire jolted us out of our routine. No one was hit, but 

we went on alert and checked out the few houses at the far 

side of our field. We never found the shooter, but it didn’t 

happen again. We knew Brittany was completely occupied 

by the Germans, and that meant plenty of combat for the 

159th. My Personnel Section was itching to rejoin the rest of 

the battalion, but we had no communication with the outfit. 

Finally, after more than a week of waiting, a truck came to 

pick us up. That afternoon we arrived at headquarters, west 

of Morlaix.

 The battalion was constantly on the move, as the American 

forces kept forcing the Germans back to their last line of 

defense, the city of Brest, which finally fell in late September. 

Within a few days, orders came through for VIII Corps, 

of which we were a part, to move northeast to Belgium.

VIII Corps had been expanded greatly during the Brest 

campaign and, during its course, it became the sole corps 

in the newly formed 9th Army. The 159th packed up and 

headed off on a long overland movement. We drove back 

through Brittany, where we were greeted with enthusiasm in 

each town. On the second afternoon of our trip, we passed to 

the west of Paris, and we could see the Eiffel Tower in the 

distance. That night we camped in a field in St. Quentin, and 

the next day we finally reached our destination—Bastogne, 

Belgium. We found our bivouac area and spent the next few 

days there, waiting for a permanent location to be selected. 

Bastogne was the head­quarters of VIII Corps until the Battle 

of the Bulge occurred and German pressure around the 

city—coupled with successive U.S. withdrawals in the area—

forced the Corps headquarters to relocate to the vicinity of 

Neufchateau, about 20 miles southwest of Bastogne. After a 

few days, we headed off to nearby Luxembourg. My company 

wound up in the small farming community of Useldange.

We were quartered in the local school, our first indoor 

location since our arrival on the continent and a big 

improvement over all those fields we had slept in. It looked as 

if we were going to stay put for a while at least. The battalion 

was assigned to do road and bridge repairs, for the most 

part—basic engineering work. The whole of Luxembourg 

had been secured, and there were several infantry divisions 

nearby that had come from Brittany. Battalion headquarters 

had been placed in a fine stone house next to the remains of an 

11th century tower and wall. In a few days, my section moved 

into the chateau too. 

The people in Luxembourg were very friendly and really 

felt indebted to the Americans for freeing them from the 

Nazis. This 2 1/2-month period before the onset of the Battle 

Bulldozers level ballast on an abandoned 

railway roadbed as 

Soldiers from the 159th 

Engineer Combat 

Battalion construct a 

highway to move supplies to the front across 

the Our River in the 3d 

Army sector. February 

13, 1945
October-December 2007 Engineer 51

of the Bulge proved to be the best duty the battalion had 

in its stay overseas. Luxembourg had become a quiet area 

that required normal engineering work and little combat. 

Gradually, the full-strength infantry divisions that had been 

in this Ardennes area were being shifted, most of them to the 

Huertgen Forest on the German-Belgian border. They were 

engaged in a vicious battle of attrition and suffered many 

casualties. As the original divisions involved were depleted, 

the fresh divisions from our area were sent to take their 

places. Our Personnel Section stayed put and did its usual 

day-to-day work.

Our area was supposed to be a quiet paradise for warweary troops. The 9th Armored Division had just come over 

from the States, and one unit was quartered in Useldange. 

We heard that the 4th and 28th Infantry Divisions had also 

come into the area after being mauled in the Huertgen Forest. 

Without warning, on December 16, 1944, the Battle of the 

Bulge erupted. Confusion and panic reigned at first; orders 

came through to our battalion headquarters for the 159th to 

link up with the 4th Infantry Division in the Consdorf region 

of Luxembourg. On December 17, all the line companies, 

plus elements of Headquarters and Service Company, moved 

out to be deployed as infantry alongside the 4th Division.

Back in Useldange, the remainder of Headquarters and 

Service Company went on full alert. We had to take up the 

slack for the part of our unit that had moved up to Consdorf 

to join the 4th Division. We became responsible for the 

security of the area, which meant the addition of guard duty 

and other chores to our day-to-day assignments. The sudden, 

unexpected attack had really changed our thinking. One 

moment, we had been looking forward to the holiday season, 

and the next moment, war consumed our thoughts. The 

weather had turned nasty, and snow began to fall. That first 

night, I was assigned to guard a critical pumping station. We 

drove out to a back-road location nestled in a group of trees. 

I was told that a Luxembourger who was in charge of the 

station would come along during the night to do maintenance 

and see that all was in order. However, my mind imagined 

other, more frightening scenarios.

It was very cold; snow covered the ground, and the night 

was very dark. I walked around the area frequently, as much to 

keep warm as anything else. I heard a motorbike approaching 

as I was standing near the building. I could make out the 

silhouette of a tall man, dressed in a full-length leather 

coat, getting off the motorbike. I hailed him and asked for 

identification. He spoke some English and told me he was 

the man in charge of the pumping station. I breathed a sigh of 

relief, as I really did not want to tangle with a saboteur that 

night. He opened the station, and we went in. He checked 

the equip­ment, and we had a brief conversation in German. 

I told him I would be back several times during my tour of 

duty that night. I was happy I had an excuse to get in out of 

the cold a few times, and the shift passed a little more quickly 

by adding some conversation to the mix. I was happy when 

my replacement came along, and I took him in to meet the 

technician. Then, it was back to Useldange for some muchneeded sleep. The weather remained overcast with periods of 

snow and fog. It was definitely not a time for flying, so we 

couldn’t expect any air support. 

We all waited for any news about how our friends were 

doing up at the front, a short distance away. There was 

interchange between the different locations, but there was 

very little specific information. We heard that the German 

attack had caught us by surprise, and they had achieved some 

early success. The saying “fog of war” truly applied. We did 

get delivery of Stars and Stripes, a well-written daily GI 

newspaper, but the action was so intense and changing so 

rapidly that it was not an up-to-date account of the situation. 

Basically, we relied on our headquarters in Consdorf for news. 

As the days passed, we heard that the battalion was seeing 

quite a bit of action, and there had been many casualties. It 

was a confusing and frightening time.

One of the problems was the lack of knowledge as to how 

far the Germans had advanced in our area. Basically, we did 

not have any patrols out but relied on our drivers who were 

in the area. We decided to go to the three towns where the line 

companies were located and retrieve the things they had left 

behind when they rushed out to the front. The next morning, 

I was assigned to go to Bettborn, about 5 miles away, to get 

Company B’s belongings. We took a couple of trucks and 

took off, not knowing who was there. Bettborn proved to 

be deserted, since the Luxembourgers had also evacuated. 

We went to the houses that we knew had been used by our 

colleagues and did a fast job of assembling everything—

mainly duffel bags—and throwing them onto the trucks. 

Then we headed back to Usel­dange to unload what we had 

collected. We found out that all our locations were still in 

our sector, and they stayed that way throughout the battle. 

This was very fortunate, because other nearby towns, such as 

Ettelbruck, had been taken and largely destroyed.

The overcast skies finally broke on December 23, and 

we began to hear the sound of the American planes and see 

them overhead. This would make a great difference, and 

we all were en­couraged. We were still getting fragmentary 

reports about the battalion, but nothing definitive. Our 

part of Headquarters and Service Company was ordered to 

move to Rollingergrund, a section on the northern edge of 

Luxembourg City, so we packed everything and prepared 

to move out. It was a sad occasion for us, as we had been 

there for two months and had developed many friendships and 

much mutual admiration between the Luxembourgers and 

ourselves. This was one of the frequent reminders that you 

couldn’t become too sentimental at times like this, but still 

there was a lot of emotion when we finally pulled out. It 

was no longer unusual for us to simply pack up and go at a 

moment’s notice. The Personnel Section was sent to a school, 

and we set up our operations there. We continued with our 

extended duties and hoped the rest of the battalion would join 

us soon. The next day, the 159th arrived, and it was a relief for 

all of us to be reunited.
52 Engineer October-December 2007

Our compatriots told us about the heavy fighting they had 

faced in the Consdorf–Scheidgen area. There, a part of our 

Company C, collocated with Company B, held off elements 

of a Volks-Grenadier division on Hill 313, a strategic piece of 

terrain overlooking a vital road network. Company B caught 

the full force of the initial assault, supported by intense 

German artillery fire. Our combat engineers had no working 

radios and were greatly outnumbered. They had no protection 

for their flanks and no artillery or air support. Almost out 

of ammunition, they were forced to fall back to Scheidgen; 

but to our surprise and relief, the Germans made no move to 

pursue them. As we questioned our buddies, we learned that 

there had been considerable casualties—scores of deaths and 

many wounded, plus others who had sustained trench foot 

and had been evacuated. 

As we reconstituted, it was evident that the men were visibly 

exhausted by their ordeal and wanted sleep above all. Finally, 

on Christmas Day, the 159th pulled out of Luxembourg City 

and moved back to the Belgian–French border at Charleville–

Messincourt. The cooks did a commendable job putting 

together a Christmas meal that we ate in the courtyard of the 

chateau where we were quartered. Of course, there was a great 

deal of conversation about what had just happened. 

Everyone was very upbeat, though still mourning 

the loss of so many friends. As it began to get dark, 

an American Cadillac sedan, painted OD, pulled up. 

When I saw the two stars on the bumper plaque, I 

knew we had an important visitor. It turned out to 

be Major General William “Wild Bill” Donovan, 

commander of the Office of Strategic Services 

(OSS), World War I Medal of Honor recipient, and 

(later) father of the CIA. It was not safe to be out on 

strange roads once night fell, and he was traveling 

without a convoy, so it made sense for him to 

join us and have a good dinner. At that time, the 

leading edge of the battlefield was still very fluid, 

and great caution had to be exercised at all times. 

We had all heard about English-speaking German 

soldiers wearing American uniforms who had been 

circulating behind our lines. Many of them were 

caught and executed as spies, but we were still 

uneasy and on guard. Memorizing the challenge 

and password took on greater importance. 

The 159th stayed in the area for several days, 

regrouping and waiting for our next assignment. 

Right after the new year, we started to push back 

into Belgium. The battles and tremendously 

heavy traffic had taken their toll on the roads. 

Many of them had almost disappeared, and heavy 

maintenance and rebuilding had to start at once 

so the Allies could continue the advance. We 

were headed back to the Bastogne area, which the 

101st Airborne Division had defended so valiantly. 

Maintenance became a 24-hour-a-day job, and the 

159th did many innovative things to expedite the 

work. For example, we took over sawmills and 

cut many logs and operated a rock quarry to get materials. 

We were shorthanded because of the losses we had suffered, 

but everyone pitched in to accomplish the job. By January 

17, the battalion reached Bastogne and started to help clear 

roads there. We stayed in most locations for a few days 

and, as the American Army retook the Bulge territory, we 

kept moving eastward toward Germany. This was to be our 

pattern of operations during that time. Some of our wounded 

GIs returned as they re­covered during hospital stays. Many 

had left the hospitals and found their way back on their own, 

so great was their desire to rejoin their comrades.

On January 31, Headquarters and Service Company pulled 

into Trois Vierges, a small town almost on the German border 

at the northern tip of Luxembourg. Although the Germans 

had occupied it, the town was not too heavily damaged. We 

moved into several houses and went about our work. Many 

of the inhabitants returned upon our arrival, and we tried 

to make them as comfortable as possible. The Germans, 

however, were not about to leave the matter there. There was 

quite a bit of water in the streets, but the billets were still dry. 

Then the Germans opened a dam and the water came flooding 

into Trois Vierges, forcing us into a hasty relocation.

We moved into several houses in Trois Vierges, Luxembourg, and 

went about our work. The Germans had occupied the town, but 

much of it wasn’t as heavily damaged as this. There was quite a 

bit of water in the streets, but the billets were still dry. Then the 

Germans opened a dam and flooded the town, forcing us to relocate. February 2, 1945
October-December 2007 Engineer 53

We moved to Steffeshausen, Belgium, and using this area 

as our base of operations, began the engineering work needed 

throughout the area. The main job was restoring the roads, 

which were still in a terrible state. Frankly, those roads hadn’t 

been designed to withstand the heavy traffic of an army at war. 

The 159th was working on a 24-hour schedule to accomplish 

its task, and even the clerks had to help out in cutting down 

and hauling trees for corduroy roads. One work detail had 

a visit from General George S. Patton while he was on an 

inspection tour. The battalion was completely immersed in 

backbreaking engineering tasks, and working under extremely 

difficult conditions. The weather was still bad with frequent 

snow, which caused many weather-related casualties.

In addition to Stars and Stripes, we also got Yank, a 

magazine all about Army life, as well as paperback editions 

of books and overseas editions of various magazines, such 

as Life. It was a pleasure reading Life, because it contained 

only pictures and print stories, but no advertising. Of course, 

we lived under blackout conditions at all times, but we had 

generators, so we had lights when there was no local lighting. 

Our battalion was also lucky, because one of its missions was 

to provide fresh water for the outfits in our area. We even 

rigged up a portable shower we could use when we were in 

one spot for several days.

After the Battle of the Bulge, forward progress became 

very slow. The Germans had retreated behind their Siegfried 

Line, and our commanders in this area were content to wait 

for the right moment before launching any major operations. 

We knew we would have to get across both the Moselle and 

Rhine Rivers, both formidable tasks. In the meantime, we 

prepared the roads and bridges so we had good movement in 

our own area.

Finally, the time came to advance into Germany proper 

from our area along the Belgian–Luxembourg border. 

Company A crossed into Germany on February 23, and 

the other companies followed by early March. We were in 

what amounted to a backwater section of the country; it was 

not heavily populated, and what few towns were there had 

been virtually destroyed in the fighting and bombing. Our 

immediate objective was to proceed to the Koblenz area so 

we could prepare to cross the rivers. On March 15, we were 

in Mulheim, preparing to take the 87th Infantry Division 

across the Moselle and to erect a pontoon bridge for permanent 

access. As with all the bridges we built, we placed a sign 

at the entrance of the bridge notifying all concerned that 

they were crossing courtesy of the 159th Engineer Combat 

Battalion. The only thing we didn’t do, unfortunately, was 

charge a toll.

The next objective was the crossing and bridging of the 

mighty Rhine—the largest natural barrier we had to overcome. 

We were in Boppard, on the west bank of the river, on March 

26. The mission, again, was to take the 87th Infantry Division 

across in assault boats, then erect a pontoon bridge. The 

battalion accomplished its mission, this time under heavy 

fire, and the American Army was then on the west bank of the 

Rhine in another sector. Now the Army was ready to really 

roll eastward across Germany.

Once across the Rhine, we found German resistance 

becoming more sporadic. The 159th was attached to various 

infantry divisions, and we followed closely as they continued 

their relentless push. We did stay in Boppard for several days, 

seeing to it that the new bridge was properly maintained, and 

by April 1 we were in Kamp. This was to be one of many 

one- and two-night stands during the march eastward. We 

would attend to whatever maintenance needed to be done and 

assist in rounding up the great numbers of German soldiers 

who were surrendering. On April 12, we were in the small 

town of Friedwald when we got word that President Franklin 

Roosevelt had died. We were in a state of disbelief, because 

most of us had known no other president. He had been a 

figure larger than life, and we wondered about his successor, 

Harry S. Truman. 

The battalion was assigned to do military government 

work as we pushed through Thuringia. Most of the small 

towns were relatively intact, since no battles had taken place 

there; the larger cities had been the targets. I recall the town of 

Konigsee, a small resort area with several hotels. The German 

civilians who had been fleeing our advance seemed to collect 

Operations had more or less come to a halt 

in our area. We had been in Apolda, Germany, 

for several days, when I met a commercial 

photographer who saw me taking pictures in 

a park across from the building in which we 

were living. Since I spoke German, we had a 

conversation, and he told me that he had a 

photo studio. He offered to take a photo of me 

and my fellow GIs. May 1, 1945
54 Engineer October-December 2007

there because of the available facilities. We worked with 

the bürgermeister (mayor), telling him what the rules were 

to be. The Germans were resigned to their fate by this time 

and, while they were sullen, they did not cause trouble. They 

obeyed our orders, turning in all their weapons at the town 

hall. We saw large numbers of displaced persons or refugees 

wandering the roads. They were real victims of the Germans, 

and it was heartbreaking to watch them trudging along, with all 

their belongings on their backs or in rickety carts. I suspected 

that to them it made no difference whether their circumstances 

were the result of totalitarianism or liberty. War is ugly, cruel, 

and indiscriminate, regardless of the motives. 

By April 21, we had reached Weimar. The center of the 

city had sustained some damage, but the area seemed to 

have survived quite well. It was here that we came upon 

Buchenwald Concentration Camp. The sights there were 

beyond comprehension. Some of the former prisoners were 

still there in their striped outfits. Everyone seemed to be on 

the verge of death. Wasted bodies were all over the place, 

many of them stacked on carts. It was a sight that sickened all 

the American Soldiers. How could human beings inflict such 

brutality on these people? It was a question we all asked one 

another. Regrettably, the horrific scene was repeated in many 

locations throughout Europe.

It was now May 8—Victory in Europe (VE) Day. When 

we reached Verviers, the Belgians were celebrating the end 

of the war in Europe. The next morning, a few of us boarded 

a train for our long-awaited rest and recuperation (R&R) trip 

to Paris. It was a very slow ride, because the roadbeds were 

still not fully ready for heavy-duty traffic. We pulled into 

the Gare du Nord (north station) in early afternoon and were 

lined up and assigned to our hotels. I was sent to the Elysee 

Hotel, a small walk-up building across the Rue de 1’Elysee 

from the presidential home, the Elysee Palace. To top it off, 

the American embassy was around the corner. It was a great 

location, but the wonder was how this hotel got there. Who 

could complain, considering the circumstances?

It was a sunny afternoon, and the weather remained good 

for our three-day stay. But like all good things, our trip came 

to an end much too soon, and we were back on the train to 

Verviers. We stayed in the same Belgian army barracks we 

had used on the way to Paris. We were thankful that this time 

things were much quieter. The next morning we were back 

on our truck for the long ride back to eastern Germany. The 

trip had many detours, because many of the bridges on the 

autobahns had been destroyed. We thought we were heading 

back to Erfurt and then Apolda, but we were told that the 

battalion was no longer there but was now living in tents near 

Werda and the Czechoslovakian border. What a comedown! 

It was a rather rude shock after our trip to Paris.

We went back to doing military government work, and in 

our trips around the area, we still saw the long lines of refugees 

and German soldiers walking along. When we talked to the 

German civilians, we were all struck by the fact that they all 

claimed not to have been Nazis. We just never met Nazis. It 

made us wonder who was doing all that shooting at us if no 

one was a Nazi. 

We soon found out that our battalion had been assigned 

to Antwerp, Belgium, to erect a troop redeployment center. 

With the war in Europe over, much of the Army had to be 

sent to the Asiatic–Pacific Theater to help end the war there. 

It sounded like a good assignment and, while some units were 

being marked for disbanding, it would keep us all together. 

On May 31, the battalion loaded up and moved out for the 

two-day overland journey to Antwerp. We stayed on the 

autobahns for the most part, but there were detours because 

of destroyed bridges. We frequently saw hordes of displaced 

people and German soldiers moving along. We also saw 

large barbed-wire enclosures holding German soldiers who 

had become prisoners of war (POWs). 

Outside of Cologne, I could see the twin towers of its 

famous church. We came through Heerlen, the Netherlands, 

and soon we were in eastern Belgium. Late that afternoon, 

we arrived in Antwerp. We were directed to a large open area 

near the Scheldt River. The next day the battalion began to 

erect a large tent city that would accommodate thousands of 

troops. This was to be a tremendous task, and we even had 

the assistance of many German POWs who had been put to 

work. The tent city, named Camp Tophat, was located within 

the city of Antwerp but in a section called the other side, 

meaning that it was on the opposite side of the river from the 

developed old city. There was a tunnel that connected the 

two sections, and we always needed transportation to get into 

the main part of the city, the second-largest city in Belgium. 

The port along the Scheldt was one of the largest in Europe. 

The city had been a target of Hitler’s V-l and V-2 revenge 

weapons. You could see sporadic damage throughout the city 

where the bombs and rockets had landed, but the damage 

didn’t compare to what we had seen in Germany.

Our Personnel Section kept busy with all the paperwork 

that had to be done. The Army announced a point system so 

that those who had been in the Army longest would have an 

opportunity to be discharged. We had some high-point men, 

but the majority—including me—were not qualified for 

quick release. At that time, we considered ourselves fortunate 

to have accumulated five battle stars, each worth five points, 

for the campaigns we had been through. The possibility of 

being sent to the Pacific loomed large in our minds but, in 

the meantime, we did our everyday work and took advantage 

of the fact that we were in a lively city with much to offer. 

It was a simple matter for the men to get into the city, as 

there were no real re­strictions on passes—you just waited for 

one of the trucks headed that way. Getting back was equally 

easy. 

I found that we were permitted to visit the capital city 

of Brussels, which was only a half-hour train ride away. I 

made several trips there, always with my camera at the ready. 

Brussels had been declared an “open city,” so it came through 

the war intact. The only obvious exception was the missing 

dome on the gigantic Palace of Justice. Brussels is a flat city, 
October-December 2007 Engineer 55

so the Germans had installed their radar in the dome of the 

building. When they retreated, they put thermite bombs in 

the dome and exploded them. The metal dome melted into 

the building and caused great damage to the central part of 

the edifice.

One of our main topics of everyday conversation was 

our possible destination after Antwerp. We received word 

that the 159th was scheduled to be disbanded at some point. 

We did lose some high-point men, but we no longer received 

replacements. We did our daily work, finishing Camp Tophat 

and awaiting its occupants. We followed the events unfolding 

in the Pacific, sure that most of us would end up there to finally 

bring closure to the war. Then, on August 6, we heard about 

the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima, followed 

three days later by the bomb on Nagasaki, and it looked 

like this would end the war. We were sur­prised the Japanese 

didn’t surrender at once, but it was not in their makeup to do 

so. Finally, on August 15, Victory Over Japan (VJ) Day was 

proclaimed. The war had come to a successful conclusion. 

Many plans were going to be changed, mine included.

On August 19, orders were issued for my transfer to the 

2d Military Government Regiment, headquartered in Bad 

Homburg, Germany. I was really shocked, as I had completely 

forgotten about my application for transfer to military 

government. Who would think the Army would find a lowly 

PFC and order his individual movement? But it happened, 

and at this late stage of the game, I was not too happy. My 

biggest worry was that members of military government 

would be declared essential and would not be able to go 

home on schedule. But there was nothing to be done except 

to make the move, and on August 26, I boarded a train that 

would travel through Brussels and Paris and take me back to 

Germany and my new assignment.

Although my job was interesting, and I had an opportunity 

to travel in and around the area, I anxiously waited for my 

turn to go home. My point score was nearing the right 

total for a trip back to the United States and, at the end of 

October, orders transferring me to the homeward-bound

29th Infantry Division came through. When I reached division 

headquarters, I was sent to the 111th Field Artillery Battalion 

located in Nordenham, across the river from Bremerhaven on 

the northern coast of Germany. 

Finally, word came through that we would be sailing at 

1800 hours on January 1, 1946—a wonderful way to start the 

new year. We had only a short ride to board our C2 freighter 

Bienville, which was larger than the Liberty and Victory 

ships, but had the same type of accommodations. The ship 

had four-tier bunks, and I was on the bottom. We all went up 

on deck to watch the departure from the dock, then we sailed 

down the Weser River to the English Channel. The trip was 

supposed to take 10 days to our destination of New York. 

After days of storms, the weather finally turned nice, but then 

most of the ship’s engines broke down. The Bienville barely 

moved along, and the trip stretched to 15 days. 

There were the usual conversations about going home 

and what that meant. Many dreams were coming to the fore, 

along with doses of nostalgia. It was a happy time, after all 

these men had gone through, to reach this point. Finally, the 

Bienville limped into New York Harbor and made its way 

to a pier in Staten Island. It was early in the morning of

January 15, and it didn’t take long to get our belongings 

together and get off the ship. We were transported to Camp 

Kilmer, New Jersey, a large camp that only handled troops 

coming back or going out through the Port of New York.

At Camp Kilmer, we went through a series of medical 

examinations and interviews, and before long, I was on my 

way to Fort Dix, New Jersey, to undergo the final processing 

for my discharge. We turned in our extra uniforms and 

equipment and packed our duffel bags for the last time with 

whatever was left. Finally, we were given our discharge papers 

and final pay. 

I took a bus to the train station in Trenton, New Jersey, 

and waited for the train to New York. It was quite a treat to 

look out the window and see the American landscape again 

after 19 months overseas. When we reached Pennsylvania 

Station, a group of us took a cab to Grand Central Station. 

Now I was in familiar territory, and I proceeded to the New 

Haven Railroad train to New Rochelle. I knew my mother and 

father would be waiting for me in the store on Main Street. 

Because I had the duffel bag, I decided to take a cab from 

the station instead of walking, as I had always done. In the 

midafternoon of January 19, 1946, I finally finished my long 

journey home. It was an exciting and emotional moment when 

I opened the front door to the store and raced in to greet my 

mother and father. From Soldier to civilian, I started to put 

behind me my time as a combat engineer and an eyewitness to 

the horrors of war.

Mr. Mendelsohn grew up in New Rochelle, New York. His 

Army experience included basic training at the Fort Belvoir 

Engineer Replacement Training Center and then assignment 

to the 159th Engineer Combat Battalion, which was preparing 

to go overseas. In July 1944, the battalion landed in Normandy 

and went from there to the German-Czechoslovakian border in 

May 1945. After discharge from the Army, he returned to the 

family’s retail business, where he remained and expanded the 

business. He took part in many civic and business activities 

through the years. Now retired and living in Greensboro, North 

Carolina, he is one of the few survivors of the 159th Engineer 

Combat Battalion’s Headquarters and Service Company that 

saw action in the Battle of the Bulge.

Dr. Hennen served on active duty as a military policeman 

and military intelligence officer, retiring in 1997. Since that time, 

he has been the headmaster at New York Military Academy in 

Cornwall-on-Hudson, New York. 

Note: Mr. Mendelsohn was interviewed by Max Hastings 

for his book Armageddon: The Battle for Germany, which 

was published in 2004.
56 Engineer October-December 2007

Engineer Update

Transition from ARTEP/MTPs to CATS. The U.S. 

Army has transitioned from using the Army Training and 

Evaluation Program (ARTEP) mission training plans 

(MTPs) as a collective training tool to using the combined arms training strategy (CATS). A CATS is a unit 

training strategy which, as an entity, takes the entire 

training planning process from the cradle to the grave. A 

CATS is developed from a unit’s base table of organization and equipment (TOE) and Department of the Armyapproved mission statement. They are designed using 

the training model of crawl-walk-run. Commanders will 

make the final determination as to which tasks should 

be trained and at what level the training should begin, 

since they will know their unit’s training status. Included 

in CATS are the required training resources such as 

Class III and Class V materials and training aids, devices, simulators, and simulations (TADSS). The current 

ARTEP/ MTPs that are located on the Reimer Digital 

Library (RDL) are scheduled to be removed from the 

RDL (TBD). CATS are located on Army Knowledge Online (AKO) on their own dedicated page. The planned 

end state is movement of CATS to the Digital Training 

Management System (DTMS) once it is fully fielded. Additionally, the Collective Training Division of the United 

States Army Engineer School developed a website on 

the Engineer Portal that will also have links to CATS and 

files available for download. The following links will take 

you to the AKO CATS site and to the Engineer Portal. 

AKO CATS Link: <https://Army Knowledge Online>.

Engineer Portal Link: <https://www.mwu.army.mil/

portal/eng/index.php>.

The point of contact at the Engineer School Collective Training Division is <donald.durst@us.army.mil> or 

call (573) 563-6237.

Engineer Doctrine Contact Update. As of 15 August 2007, the Engineer School’s Doctrine Division was 

consolidated at the Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN) level to the MANSCEN Directorate of Training 

(MDoT) Doctrine Division. The Engineer Doctrine element still retains the lead for the Regiment’s doctrine 

with only a few minor changes in physical locations and 

contact information. 

The mailing address for written correspondence has 

changed to: Commandant, United States Army Engineer 

School, ATTN: ATZT-TDD-E, 320 MANSCEN Loop, 

Suite 220, Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri 65473-8929.

The telephone numbers remain the same: Doctrine 

Chief, (573) 563-8161; Senior Doctrine Analyst, (573)

563-7332 (DSN prefix, 676-).

The generic NIPR e-mail address for electronic correspondence has changed to <leon.mdottddengdoc@

conus.army.mil>.

Engineer School Lessons Learned Integration 

(L2I) Cell. The United States Army Engineer School L2I 

Cell needs your help. To keep training, doctrine, and 

combat developments current and to prepare for the future, it is critical that the school continuously receive relevant engineer observations, insights, and lessons (OIL). 

The L2I analyst can derive information from a variety of 

sources: unit after-action reports (AARs); tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) used by units in and returning from theater; Soldier observations/submissions 

to the Engineer School; and requests for information 

(RFIs). This information is used to conduct doctrine, organization, training, materiel, leadership and education, 

personnel, and facilities (DOTMLPF) gap analyses and 

to determine solutions. These solutions are distributed 

to the Engineer Regiment via new doctrine and training 

products, Engineer (The Professional Bulletin of Army 

Engineers) and other publications, websites, and by 

answering RFIs. With the modular transformation in full 

swing, many engineer units are looking for sample tactical standard operating procedures (TACSOPs) for the 

new units being established. You can help by forwarding any of these materials from your unit’s deployment 

to the L2I analyst. Unclassified information can be sent 

to <michael.e.meyer@us.army.mil>. Classified information can be sent by secure Internet protocol, routed 

(SIPR) e-mail to <michael.meyer@us.army.smil.mil>. 

For more information, call (573) 563-3820.

2008 Engineer Unit Directory. The 2008 United 

States Army Engineer Unit Directory is available online 

in Adobe PDF format at <http://www.wood.army.mil/

engrmag/Engr%20Unit%20Dir/2007Directoryonline.

pdf>. Since many unit addresses have changed

recently, take a moment and see if your unit’s listing is 

correct. Changes to the Unit Directory can be made by 

calling (573) 563-7644 or e-mailing <leon.engineer@

conus.army.mil>.
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