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.
Issue link: https://engineer.epubxp.com/i/284727
January–April 2014
Engineer 3
Focused talent management and leader development at all
levels are essential during this era of resource constraints
to ensure that our Army is postured to overcome future
challenges.
The future force will need to prepare for a wide range of
capabilities, to include decisive action, stability operations,
and domestic response. Our armor and Stryker forces will
need to think of themselves as more expeditionary—deploy-
ing on short notice, building a lodgment from scratch, and
expanding and moving out for decisive operations. We will
have to execute all this with a fscally constrained budget
in the feld and in the schoolhouse. We are looking at ways
to prepare the Regiment and our leaders for the future.
In the operational Army, across the Regular Army and
the Army National Guard, we are transitioning the Engi-
neer Regiment through brigade engineer battalions (BEBs)
inside the brigade combat teams (BCTs). The personnel,
organization, and materiel efforts are moving forward. But
now we are looking at retraining the force with updated
doctrine, updated battle drills, and reeducation on the
role of the task force engineer. BEB commanders have
an increased responsibility to the BCT with the military
intelligence company; the signal company; and the chemi-
cal, biological, radiological, and nuclear reconnaissance
platoon (and the antitank company in the Stryker BCT).
We've started to address some of the additional training
requirements in our precommand course and will continue
to improve our partnership with these other branches.
Major General Leslie C. Smith, Maneuver Support Center
of Excellence commanding general, and I recently sent out
a BEB Executive Summary to educate the Army's senior
leaders on the BEB and its capabilities.
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The feedback
was very positive and appreciated as our Army prepares
to refocus on decisive actions to dominate in unifed land
operations. As I noted during the Regimental Command
Council, the Army is excited about the BEB and it's our job
to execute violently and implement this change as quickly
and professionally as possible.
In the institution, we will publish the new Field Manual
3-34, Engineer Operations,
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and ensure that the doctrine is
disseminated in the classroom and throughout the Army.
I am convinced that our boxtop provides us with a clear
and relevant doctrinal framework and that the four lines
of engineer support are in synch with the strategic land-
power construct. We are focusing on being more adaptive
as a school and are linking in our Directorate of Training
and Leader Development with the combat training cen-
ters and the centers of excellence to ensure that we are
teaching the most current doctrine, tactics, techniques, and
procedures.
General Cone views the importance of individual Soldier
preparedness, coupled with leader development, as critical
to the overall success of our organizations. Our Soldiers on
the ground need to be able to use all of the organization's
capabilities to meet mission requirements. We are working
to educate and train in support of the strategic landpower
effort to ensure that, as General Cone said, "We are the
best Army in the world, and when you put people on the
ground somewhere, they need to be prepared."
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The Regiment is here to prepare you and your units
in this time of transition. We are doing our part; now we
need our junior and senior leaders to take advantage of the
opportunities we are providing so that they can be problem
solvers and also leaders of strategic landpower.
As I close this column, I want to recognize the loss of
four giants of our Regiment who have recently passed
away. Lieutenant General Elvin R. Heiberg III, Lieuten-
ant General John (Jack) W. Morris II, Command Sergeant
Major Micheal L. Buxbaum, and Command Sergeant Major
Arthur L. Laughlin. These leaders all had signifcant
impacts on our Regiment and the Army. This year, our
Army theme is America's Army—Our Profession "Stand
Strong," and it is important that we remember their contri-
butions to our profession as we soldier on in their absence.
We plan to have a tribute to these gentlemen at our annual
Engineer Week in April.
Essayons!
Endnotes:
1
ADRP 3-0, Unifed Land Operations, 16 May 2013.
2
Nicole Randall, "Strategic Landpower Must Remain
Focus," 18 September 2013,