Assessing Engineer Transformational Concepts

The purpose of this monograph is to study past and present engineer organizations and operations to answer the question: What is the deficiency between engineering requirements of the Brigade Combat Team (BCT) in the Contemporary Operational Environment (COE) and the actual engineer capabilities embedded in the BCT? A study of past engineer organizations, beginning with the lessons of World War I, shows that engineers habitually provide embedded engineer capability within plus additional augmentation to the Army's primary unit of action; from WWI to the present this primary unit of action has been the division. Lessons learned from past and ongoing engineer operations reveal the engineer capabilities commonly required in the COE. An analysis of the BCT and its embedded engineer organization indicates a deficiency in engineer requirements versus engineer capability. To compensate for this, engineers (through the engineer force pool) continue the habitual provision of augmentation from echelons above the unit of action. The result is a low-density/low-usage doctrine for employment of engineer assets in an operating environment that demands high-usage of these same assets. This organizational concept fails to correct command and support deficiencies in the current force structure. It further degrades the training, readiness, and post-deployment recovery of engineer force pool units. The monograph recommends a balanced embedded engineer battalion in the BCT that includes combat, construction, bridging, and geospatial capabilities.

This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work was reproduced from the original artifact, and remains as true to the original work as possible. Therefore, you will see the original copyright references, library stamps (as most of these works have been housed in our most important libraries around the world), and other notations in the work.

This work is in the public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work.

As a reproduction of a historical artifact, this work may contain missing or blurred pages, poor pictures, errant marks, etc. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.