Clear The Way – Brief Article
Anders B. Aadland
The euphoria of a successful ENFORCE 2001 has still not worn off. The professional interaction with the great leaders from all walks of the Regiment reassures us that we are ready to embrace change, work as a team to achieve Army Transformation, and do whatever is necessary to support this great Army. Thanks to each and every participant (Active, Reserve, retired military, civilian, and contractor) for making ENFORCE 2001 such a professionally rewarding experience. We’re also grateful to all the guest speakers who enriched our knowledge, challenged our paradigms, and stimulated our ability to see beyond current systems, technologies, and problems.
Among them, the Honorable Dr. Joseph Westphal, Acting Secretary of the Army, made a special farewell appearance to thank us for our support to the nation. U.S. Representative Ike Skelton expressed his pride in the ongoing training program at Fort Leonard Wood and the importance of the Army Engineers to the history of the nation and our Army. He committed his support to provide the Army with the resources it requires to stay strong and healthy. LTG (R) Max Noah was honored by the Regiment as the 2001 Gold de Fleury recipient and MG(R) Jack Waggoner was installed as the new Honorary Colonel of the Regiment. We thank these distinguished gentlemen for their great support to our Regiment and Army.
Our Regiment bids a special thank-you and farewell to two of our great leaders, warriors and friends–Major Generals Phil Anderson and Milt Hunter–as they retire from our ranks this summer. We look forward to their continued mentorship, now from a different segment of our network. Godspeed, Phil and Milt.
Let’s not lose the ENFORCE 2001 momentum. As our examination of the Transformation issues revealed, we have much to do. This bulletin contains a follow-up to many issues we addressed during ENFORCE 2001, including a short report that summarizes the essence of the breakout sessions. Let’s make sure that we captured all the key perspectives from the field and answered your questions. If you have additional comments concerning any of the breakout topic areas, please get them to us ASAP. It is essential that we continue to work each of these issues as paramount to the Transformation of the Corps’s people, units, systems, concepts, and doctrine.
As you look over this bulletin, consider the immense diversity of our branch. Being an Army Engineer, a sapper, is not a boring, singlemission kind of occupation; take great pride in that. Just a few examples play out in this bulletin. Think of it: We perform combat-engineering tasks such as providing mobility, countermobility and survivability to the maneuver force; construct roads, ports, and airfields; build and improve the nation’s infrastructure; drill wells and run pipelines; analyze and shape the world’s terrain; provide disaster relief; and create power where none exists. As leaders in the Corps, we must continue to seek out and educate ourselves on what the Regiment’s soldiers, civilians, and contractors can do. Ask yourselves–
* What can a well-drilling detachment do for me? What are the capabilities, organization, or resource requirements? How do I get them?
* What lessons can we leam from the 44th Engineer Battalion’s and the 82d Engineer Company’s Imjin River exercise?
* What changes to school-or unit-taught demolition tasks did the 16th Engineer Battalion sappers make to complete their cave demolition mission?
* How can we better integrate the Reserve Component with the Active Component? Take a look at the article from the 224th Engineer Battalion, Iowa Army National Guard, and see if you can apply that knowledge.
* Where should we be using simulations as a means to train Army Engineers? As we pursue our vast array of training missions, simulation becomes the tool of choice on an ever-expanding scale. However, we face many limitations in current systems that we are rapidly working to overcome. CW2 Mohn’s article provides a discussion on real terrain effects versus the simulation of terrain effects within the Corps Battle Simulation (CBS) database. We still need to do more work to narrow the gap between reality and simulation effects for engineer units, capabilities, mines/obstacles, rivercrossing operations, and other engineer missions within simulation models. This is worthy of your study and thoughtful consideration.
As we continue to ride the wave of change in our Army, we should look closely at the changes ongoing within the Engineer School and MANSCEN. This issue signals that time when transition is at its peak. Just to name a few of our outgoing heavy hitters, we bid farewell and thanks to: BG Ron Johnson, Assistant Commandant; COL Doug Hom, Deputy Assistant Commandant; COL Bill Pierce, TPIO-Terrain Data; COL Jim Rowan, Director of Training; COL Lou Best, Commander, 1st Engineer Brigade; COL Chuck Moldenhauer, Deputy Director, Maneuver Support Battle Lab; LTC Billy Tollison, USAES Chief of Staff; and LTC Harry Rossander, Doctrine Chief. We also extend a hearty “welcome aboard” to the inbound talent who now take over the following key positions: BG Randy Castro, Assistant Commandant; COL Pat Leake, Deputy Assistant Commandant; COL Bob Kirsch, Director of Environmental Integration; COL Jim Rowan, Commander, 1st Engineer Brigade; COL Dave Kingston, TPIO-Terrain Data; LTC(P) Jeff LaMoe, Director of Training; LTC Jeff Bed ey, Department of Instruction; and LTC Tom Chapman, USAES Chief of Staff; LTC Bill Duddleston, Doctine Chief. These are your new schoolhouse warriors. Add them to your list of key leaders in the Regiment–call on them, use them, embrace them, and talk to them about how we need to improve across DTLOMS as a combat arms member of the combined arms team.
Essayons!
COPYRIGHT 2001 U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group
