Engineer

MAY-AUG 2013

Engineer presents professional information designed to keep U.S. military and civilian engineers informed of current and emerging developments within their areas of expertise for the purpose of enhancing their professional development.

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with a Phase III fght; progress to a "road to war" scenario that includes setting the theater and initial-entry operations (with additional units not in the primary training audience); involve operations by Phase IV forces in a joint, interagency, intergovernmental, and multinational environment; and then continue with postconfict operations after a traditional exercise terminates? There could be multiple training audiences for different phases of the operation, just as there can be training opportunities for higher-level "white cells" that interact with the training unit commander. As we move toward "one Regiment," many formations can participate (virtually or physically), getting training value from a table that is set with limited dollars. The opportunities are there if we want to pick them up. Seventh Army Service Component Command A Army National Guard engineers drill a water well in Africa. individual training platoon sergeants, or observerscontrollers at a training support battalion? Or are they still pushing the next assignment to a line unit and another Afghanistan deployment? USACE districts offer broadening opportunities; but looking toward one Regiment, are we taking full advantage of the other opportunities available, such as the Olmsted scholarships, White House fellowships, and joint schooling such as the Engineer School joint engineer offcer training? Exercises here has been a decrease in overall exercise participation due to a loss of funding. Can we afford to have exercises that only involve a single component? Should not all components participate in a troop construction exercise that may also serve to support theater security cooperation planning and execution? Exercises such as Nuevos Horizontes in the U.S. Southern Command area of operations and Operation Sand Castle at the National Training Center at Fort Irwin, California, were focused on Reserve Component units, but provided training opportunities for all. We need to get better at this. If brigade combat teams will lead efforts to start the Army's regionally aligned force, should not other components be part of this solution by bringing the echelons above brigade force structure that has been a hallmark of Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom? T During the Cold War, U.S. Army Europe developed "multiechelon training." Can we not conduct exercises that start 8 Engineer s resources decline, so too will funding for facilities maintenance and renovation. Is now not the time .when we, together with the facilities engineer tribe, develop demand signals (as a normal Army service component command would use global force management tools) that lead to associations and missions that hone critical construction skills, while also helping ourselves? The time is now for Army engineers to meld facilities requirements (under the U.S. Army Installation Management Command) and turn them into the sort of training opportunities that our U.S. Air Force Prime Base Engineer Emergency Force (BEEF) and Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) brethren exploit when they are not forward-deployed. Could we see a small subunit of a "construction effects" battalion dedicated to perform as the repairs and utilities section that picks up daily work orders from the Directorate of Public Works and gains critical job skill training at the same time? Is the U.S. Army Installation Management Command not the seventh Army service component command? If so, what is the Engineer Regiment engagement strategy to support its requirements? Conclusion his article should serve to stir discussion about how we come together as "one Regiment." It is by no means all-inclusive. It is apparent that we must turn the turbulent fow generated by fscal uncertainty back to a laminar fow by producing less stovepiping. Above all, we must not stop the fow due to retrenchment into our basic tribes. Otherwise, when the music stops, we will fnd ourselves without a chair to sit in. As always, the author welcomes vociferous debate and can be reached at . T Colonel Roth serves as the deputy assistant commandant– U.S. Army Reserve at the U.S. Army Engineer School. He is a graduate of the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College and holds a master's degree in mechanical engineering from Boston University. May–August 2013

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