SUMMER 1973 VOLUME 3 NUMBER 2

2 Pipeline I NeJ}'S lte111S 4 Stop-16 I L etters to the Editor 5 Demolition Support: "One Army Style" I C]JT John A. StockhaUJ- CPT Guy Donaldson II 8 New Engineering Techniquesl BG Ernest D Peixotto 11 Maintenance Syndrome / CW4 Gene L. D erby 14 Revised FM 20-32 I Frederick A . Messing 16 Training the Effective Sapper I lVIA J ~lillianl L. Jones 19 Bunker Hill: Anatomy of a Fire Base I MA] Peter J Offringa 26 Dynatnic Training/ lVfA] Don W Barber­ MA] Matthew J Jones 35 You'll Get A Bang Out'a This / SFC Charles T LeJvis 36 Mine-Countermine Training / COL Walter R. Hylander 40 Contract Construction for a Troop Unit I CPT WardrrJ/Orth A. Soderr III 44 Mine-Countermine Training Devices I MA] .A. J Christensen 45 Bridging The Gapl Career Notes

DEPARTMENTS Chief~r Briefs I Pipeline I Stop-16 Dynamic Training I Bridging The Gap U.S. Army Engineer School Fort Belvoir, Virginia

Commandant MG Robert R. Ploger

Assistant Commandant BG Richa rd L. Harris

Deputy Assistant Commandant COL Charles A. Mcleod

Secretary Walker Keith Ar mistead, the U.S . Army's eighth Chief Engineer, was COL Robert L. Crosby born in Virginia about 1780. This form er Chief of Engineers became a cadet in the old Corps of Editor Robert G. McClintic Artillerists and Engineers and continued as a cadet in the new Military cademy when the present Co rps of E ngineers was established in Ar! Director 802 . Armistead was the third perso n to graduate from the newly John W. Savage, Jr. constituted Academy at West Point on March 3, 1803. He was ap pointed a second lieutenant in the Co rps of En gineer s The Engine er 15 an C1uthorized quarterly p u b li­ upon his gradu ation from the Acad emy. Rising swiftly up the pro­ ca t io n o f th e U.S. Ar m y Engine er Sch o ol. I . Ii tion ladder , Ar mistead reached the grade of lieutenant colonel during p J b l i s h e ~ to p rov ide foc tu ol and in-dep th in fo r­ mation of inter e st to all Engineer un it s. Art icl es , the War of 1812. During that war, Colonel Armiste ad held an assign­ phot oq ro p hs and art w o rk of ge neral i nt ~r4=lst ment as the Chief Engineer of the Niagara Front ier and for the forces may be- \ :.J bmitte d for considerat ion to: Editor, Th e Engineer, USA En g in eer Sc.hool, For ! 1i,l voir, defending the Chesapeake Bay. Vi rginia 22060 . Views and op in ions e xp re sse d h er ein or e n ot ne ce ss a ril y tho se o f the Deport­ Before and after the War of 1812, the colonel served as Sup erin­ m ent of th e Army. Usc of funds for printing of tend ent En gineer of vari ous coastal defe nses. He was prom oted to this pu b lica tio n ha s been prov ided by Heed" qu o r'ers, De partment o f th e Army. July 11 . 1969. the grade of colonel and subsequently was nam ed Chief E ngineer on SUbs c.rip lions. to THE ENGI NEER mogcn:in e are c veil e ble thro\lgh th e Superintendent of Docu ­ November 12,181 8. ments, U. S. Governm ent Printing Office. Wash­ When the U.S. Army was reo rga nized in June J821, Colonel ing ton, D. C. 20 4 0 2. Annual rates are- 2 .S0 for mail in g to a d o mes ti c or APO e ddr e ss end $3 15 A rmistea d was repl aced as Chief Engineer by Major General Alexander f o t mailinq to a forei gn C)d d, ~s.s. Ind iv idual co p ies of th e, mcquzine are Sl CO e eeh. Ch eck$: Malcomb. He was reassigned as an officer in the 3rd Artillery . shou ld b e ma d e- payabl e to th e Superin ten de n t The colonel was b reveted a brigadier genera l in 1828. Back in comba t of Do cumen ts . again in 1840-41, General Armistead commanded the Florid a Army and led it in the fight against the Semin ole Indians. H e also later com­ ABO UT THE COVER manded the 3rd Artillery. The late author Ernest Heming­ General Armistea d was the father of the gallant General Lewis way's classic story "For Whom Armistead of the Confederate Army, who was killed as he led Pickett's The Bell Tolls" inspired Art Direc­ charge at Gettysburg. tor John Savage, Jr., to build this d iorama . In order to simulate the Brigadier Gen eral Walker Keith Armistead died at Upperville, sto p oction photograph y seven Virginia, Oct ober 13, 1845 . e separate powder charges were used. The veh id e is a '.35 scale of an Opel "Mav/tier" that was used by both s id es in the Spanish Civil War. ENGINEERS USE ov erl ay with only two expansion All labor involved was union FIBROUS MIX joints and no exposed metal. help and none of these men had The fibrous concr et e was mixed previous ly been expos ed to fibrous ON LIBBY DAM and transported in eight cu bic yard con crete. The concrete dec k of the Libby ro ta ting-drum tr an sit trucks fro m a A finishing forem an ex plai ned D am P roject visitor ove rloo k facil­ local batch plant to the job site. that although hi s men worked ity, near Li bby, Montana, had po or The con crete co n tai ne d 1.19 per­ har der in o rder to handle th e fibrous surface drainage an d had become cent steel fibers by volume. T hese mix, the time invol ved wa s no di f­ badl y cracked . fibers (.010" x 1" ) were added at feren t th an wo uld have been neces ­ Conventiona l remo val an d re ­ the batch plant sprin kling th em ont o sa ry with normal co ncrete. T he cost placement of th e deck wo uld have the aggrega tes as the co n veyo r to furnish, place, screen , finish, an been an aw kward and expensive belt filled the mixer tr ucks. cure the fibrous concrete and to task. The cement, water, an d air were insta ll the necessar y expan sion A thin 1 1;2 inch overl ay of sim ultaneo usly added and mixed. joint s was $ 1.22 per square foot. f brous concrete was suggested by A fter disch ar ge fro m th e truck, This co st includes la bor, equipme nt , th e Army Corps of Engineers' res­ wo rk men used garden rakes and tr avel, an d co ntractor profit. ident Offic e at the construction shovels to spread the mi x. A vib­ A dditional expenses fo r winter site and accepted by the Corps' rating screen was utilized to co n­ pr o tect ion were incu rred but ar c District Offic e in Seattle as the re­ solidate the mix and obtain the considered incidental to the actual pa ir action. p roper grade. overlay work. The dec k was divided into three Standard con struction techniques sections for a total of 2,000 square and tools were used to finish the 84TH'S TROOPS GET feet of surface area. slab. GET SHOOK UP Imp r 0 v i n g drainages through The finished sur fac e is skid­ grad e control required variances in resistant and ha s virtually all fibers BY EARTHQUAKE the overl ay thi ckness of from 2% covere d . There is no evidence of On the su bj ect of pure terror, inc hes to less than 1 inch . crack ing, objectionable rust stains, Mother Nature can often be the The ove rlay was acc omplish ed bleeding, or fibers sticking fr om be st tea ch er. in October 1972. It wa s decided to th e surface. The 5.3 sack mi x used A t least two dozen GIs from ov erlay so me of th e expa nsio n joints co nta ined 22 6 pounds of fly ash th e 84 th Enginee r Battalion ( Con­ that were in the origina l concrete pe r cubic yard. Modulus of rupture struction ) received an un scheduled surface. A met al m anhole lid was at 28 days was 129 0 p.s.i. with lesson on the subject when an earth­ also ov erlaid. an average compres sive st rength quake ro cked th e Big Islan d of By pla cing a pl astic sheet be­ of 6 160 p.s.i. H aw aii beneath the m and ru mb led tween the met al lid and the fib ro us Streng ths at 90 days are ex­ the other Hawaiia n Islands. mix, a remo vable co ncrete disc was pected to be 1700 p.s.i modulus of The men , permanently stat ioned AI ca st in plac e. A m ore ar chitecturally rupture and 8600 p. s.i. compres­ at Schofield Barracks on Oahu, were. ,! ple asin g surfa ce resulted in th e final sive st rength. working o n a civic actions project

2 involving the constru ction of a following two or three smaller I ) Mat, Set , La nding XMI 9, LIN troop service bui lding at Boy Scout tremors ea rlier in the wee k. In fact, M 15665, FS N 568 0-089-592 0 ; Ca mp Hon obia near th ere when while attend ing a movie in town U j r Set ; 2) Mat Set , La nding it hit. Th e camp is about 25 miles one evening, the engineers had to XM I8, U N M 15665, FSN 568 0­ from the area the quake orig inated evacua te the theater during one of 089-7260, u/ r Set; and 3) Mat, and becau se of its locat ion, it, likc those tremor s. Set, L anding, No nperfo rated ( M S­ other coastal are as, was especially Following the ma jor shock . too , AI ) LI N M 15703 , FSN 56 80-782­ hard hit. there were several after-rum blings. 55 77, u/r Bundle. In side one of the two existing One sent the construction crewmen Units can obtain matting for struc tures at the cam p was Bravo running from their tents set up in training, subject to item availabil ­ Company's I st Con st ruction Pla ­ a euca lyptus grove near the work ity, on renewable loans for pe riods toon. site . lip to 180 days. Using hand too ls and their backs, Anot her 75-man crew fro m the The requests and justifi cation for the men joined county crews in 84th was working on the constr ue­ the loans should be forwa rde d clea ring land slide-block ed High­ lion of helicopter pads at th e Po ha ­ thr ough command ch annel s to way 24 going into Waipio Valley. kuloa Tra ining Area when the ea rth HQD A (DALO-SMS-D ) Washing­ It was opene d early with their help started to rock . Nestled in the to n, D.C. 203 10. to one-lane, four -wheel drive traffic. middle of the island and pr otected F unds must be ava ilable to pay The large quake, which meas­ by 13,7% -foot Ma una Kea, PTA transportation costs, any cost s in­ ured 6 on the Richter Scale and was shaken, bu t not affected ser­ cur red by the depot, and cost of lasted 15 minutes, was the climax iou sly, and wor k went ahead on rep lacing item s damaged during schedule. tr uining. If less than a com plete AIRFIELD MATIL~G alumin um ma tting ( VM 18 or IS AVAILABLE X M 19 ), whic h conta ins 125,000 TO ENGINEER UNITS square feet of matting, is desired, Th e Army's Di recto r of Military the appropriate components listed Enginee ring and Topograph y says in Chapter 5, SB 700-20 , in the he has found that airfield con struc­ qu antities needed , may be requested . tion training is being hind ered by Units can obtain matting for a lack of airfield matt ing. airfield and heliport projects sirn­ Brigadier Ge neral Wayne S. ply by sub mitting a requisition Nicho ls and his staff discovered throu gh nor mal supply channels. the problem during recent training An approved project should be visits to engineer unit s. cited as justification. He points out tha t the matting Additional information should not be too difficult to ob­ field mattin g ma y be tain and offers guidelines on how by contacting H QD A (DAEN­ to get one of three avai lable items: MEPO) Washington , D.C. JUST CO~IPUTERIZED I would a ppr e c iat e it i f The Fall 1972 i ssue of this Sir/I read with much in­ you could inform me if there pub Lt.cat i on was the first terest the article titled a r e any other channels to I had the occasion to r e­ nco mba t Sec uri t y-Camou­ wh ich I can direct this re­ view . The a r t work , layout, flage" that a pp ea r e d in the commendation. and c ontents were ex cel l ent Wi nt er 1973 issue of your ROBERT L. PATTWELL, JR . and. in my opinion, repre­ publication. CPT, CE, NY, ANG sent expertise and profes­ There is a lot of good in­ s i onal i s m. formation but I do not g o Captain Pattwelt / Co ngress, in pass­ ERNEST N. SOUHLAS a l ong with t h e computer ing the Fiscal Y ear 1973 Defen se CAPTAI N, LaANG color matching program it A ppropriations A ct, did provide NEW ORLEANS, LA explains on page 20 . fund s for additional drills for s(af] If you will check what this offi cers, prep arati on of training, and co mputer pr ogr am doe s, you other readiness train ing. Th e Army FORTS! FORTS! FO RTS! will find that it has not had requested $19 .R-mil/ion for eliminated the inefficient. Sir/ While on a ct i ve dut y i n both R eserve Co mponents for these Europe I becom e acquainted ' cut and try ' proce ss. I t drill s, and the Congress appro­ ha s just computerized it. with your publi cation and priated $13 .6-million . dec ided I would like to t ry It i s s t i l l ' cut a nd try'-­ With a greater strength in its a nd still inefficient. and publish an a r t icle in Earlv Mission units. the II rmv it. RAY K. WINEY Natio nal Guard was able to m;­ I am a prof essional cit y UNIROYAL thori:e additional training drills for planne r who ser ved as Chi ef. MI SHAWAKA. IND those linits only. The U.S . Army o f Maste r P l anning a R eserve au thorized pay drills for HQUS AENGCO MEUR from June training for almost all of its units. 1970 t hrough July 1972. In DRILL P AY To date the following Engin eer t hat pe r iod , as a n assign­ Sir/ In the Wint er 1973 Issue un its in the USA R have ban given ment a nd a h obby , I re­ of the engineer on page 29 V A approval for additional read­ s earched t h e 14 post-Na ­ mention wa s made of ' .. • iness drills: 4 / 1. 88 1, and 980 poleonic Forts wh i ch sur ­ paid time for training En gineer Bott alions; llHC 3 15, roun d U'Lm , Bava ria and found .. . ,' and I would like to and 493 Engineer Groups ; 277 t hat t h ey ha ve been a t l east make the following recom­ and 352 En gineer Companies . pe ripherally involved in mendation. All officers, The Dep artment of the A rmy has wars from Napoleon t hrough key NCO's and key enlisted recogni zed the value of the addi­ t h e Cold War! p er s 0 nn e 1 be a uthor ized I hov e wr itten a n a rtic le drill pay f or voluntary at­ tional drills, wh ich if judiciously on t he forts for y ou r pub­ tendance a t Headquarters used , should significantly improve l ication . Your magazine i s Planning Sessions . These readiness of the R eserve Co m ­ an ou t s tandi ng product a nd sessions are now required by pon ents. Th e F Y 1974 budget I would en j oy be i ng part of higher headquarters (bri­ estim ates now before the Congress i t. gade and division ) SOP's again requested funds for this typ e I left a ct i ve duty as a a nd they a re usually f our of trai ning. captai n in Decemb er, 1972 hours in duration. It would This information was provided by the and am n ow both i n t h e Re­ provide great incentive f or Office of Reserve Components, De part ­ s er v eS ( i n Buffalo, New retention and motivation ment of the Army. rgm York) and a Ph . D. candidate for a dvanc ement to h i gher a t t he University of Wate r ­ gr a des . MANY THAi'lKS loo, Ontar i o . Canada . Sinc e t he Vi etnam Wa r i s partially over and r equ ired Sir/A S a Pu blic Aff a i r s of ­ J OHN R. MULLIN expenses have been r educ ed f icer engaged in the image CAPTAI N, USAR a nd the emphasis is l ean ing building proc ess of the KIT CHENER, ONTAR IO tow ard the Modern Volunteer Lo u i s i a n a Army Nationa l CANADA Army, I feel the necess ary Guard I would like to com­ Captain Mullin/ W e expect to run funds should be allocated ment and commend t he edi t or yo ur outstanding article so metim e for this type of incentive . and s taff of the engineer. ill th e future. the edito r EMOLITION SUPPORT: "ONE ARMY STYLE"

Captain John A. Stockhaus

Captain Guy Donaldso'n II

he "One Army concept" has been around for some­ On the weekend of November 18-19, 1972, four Ttime but its thrust has never been stronger than at Instructors traveled to Thomaston, Connecticut to par­ present. The mission of the Army and the resources ticipate in the demolition project. The first span would required to accompli sh that mission demands strong be cut and reduced to debris. Troops from the 242d profes sional Reserve Components that are cap able of received a fi eld class in detonating priming while wait­ shouldering part of the burden. "Mutual Support" is ing for the explosives to arrive from the ASP. With the a facet of the "One Army Concept" that conveys cur­ arrival of the explosives, the troops prepared the span rent doctrine and technical expertise to the Reserve for demolition. The efficiency of the placement opera­ Components at their home station. Th is type of direct tion was no fluke as the 242d had "dry run" the opera­ action benefits both Active and Reserve components. tion on previous weekends using homemade training A landmark of Mutual Support was the demolition aids. of the Castle Bridge in Thomaston, Connecticut by the Apparently Dynamic Training is alive and well in 242d Engineer Battalion, Connecticut National Guard, the Reserve Components. The size of the charges had commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Harry T. Jarrett. to be limited to prevent damage to an occupied dwell­ The Castle Bridge was an abandoned multi-span ing 1,100 feet from the bridge . Stringent safety pre­ highway bridge located on the Naguatuck River in the cautions were implemented to prevent curiosity seekers impounded area of the Thomaston Dam. The demoli­ from entering the target area. The se procedures were tion of this bridge was requested through the New Eng­ planned and executed by the 242d. The charges were land Division of the Army Corps of Engineers. Colo­ fired dropping the span, and troops contrived to reduce nel Jarrett and his staff devised the demolition plan the span to the desired degree of breakage. The results which called for the reduction of the bridg e using high of demolition were analyzed and the second span , over explosives. The bridge was to be reduced in such a water, was demolished on the weekend of December manner that debris could be removed from the site by 9-10, 1972 . a contractor. The coordination of the project was no Members of the 242d Engineer Battalion executed small task as it required approval from the state gov­ this operation under the watchful eye of the Adjutant ernment, the New England Division Headquarters, General of Connecticut. Further reduction of the bridge First Army, and the Office of the Chief of Engineers. was accomplished on subsequent weekends. The Mu­ During this coordination, First Army requested the tual Support mission was a compl ete success. Engineer School to review and approve the demolition The demolition of the Castle Bridge yielded many plan and pr ovide on site repres entation to check charge benefits beyond the scope of the project. Among the placement, priming and firing, and to monitor the fir­ benefits was the fact that Reserve comp onents are capa­ ing of the charges. The Instructors of the Demolitions bly conducting excellent train ing for their troops, and Branch, United States Army Engineer School , were that Reserve Components can provide needed support anxious to seize the opportunity as this task would to active Army Agencies. provide a test ground for some [lew concepts, and depth The participation of the Engineer School at Fort of knowledge for the instructors. This project would Belvoir, Vi rginia, is vital in projects of this type to benefit everyone involved. check out concepts and doctrine in "Real World" situ­

5

ations and to provide school instructors with in depth The benefits derived from each organization co­ knowledge that lends force and meaning to the instruc­ operating in this operation of "Mutual Support" were tion at the Engineer School. Mutual Support is one numerous. The Fort Meade military reservation had an way to the "One Army Concept" that yields rich divi­ obstruction removed from its waterway thereby render­ dends for all participants. ing it open for future training and recreation ; the 76th The Demolitions Branch, Department of Applied Engineers received demolitions training by actually Engineering, for instance, is often called upon to pro­ performing a live demolition mission, the 86th Detach­ vide technical assistance and specialized training ment received realistic diving training by working with throughout the Continental United States to active live explosives, and the Demolitions Branch of the En­ Army units as well as Reserve and National Guard gineer School received further opportunity to test spe­ units. cial purpose charges in actual demolitions mission. In February 1973, the 76th Engineer Battalion (Con­ These concepts of "One Army' and "Mutual Sup­ struction) located at Fort Meade, Maryland, was as­ port" between Active, Reserve, and National Guard signed the mission of removing five pile bents from a units in the field of demolitions have helped to signifi­ river on the Fort Meade military reservation. The five cantly raise the level of engineer training among all 'pile bents had been left standing in the river after the units, and have advanced the "State of the Art" of super structure of the timber trestle bridge had been demolitions and explosives techniques throughout the washed away by the flooding of Hurricane Agnes in military. e June 1972. Each bent consisted of five timber piles, approximately ] 8" in diameter, the lateral bracing still intact. Although the 76th was proficient in basic demoli­ Captain John A . Stockhaus, who is presently serv­ tions training, this mission required that the timber ing as National Guard Advisor in Fort Devens, Massa­ piles be cut level with the bed of the stream, thus re­ chusetts, was an Instructor in the Department of En­ quiring that the charges be placed under water varying in depth from four to eight feet. Realizing the require­ gineering Science and Branch Chief of the Demolition ment for special tr aining in the use of special purpose Branch, Department of Applied Engineering at the demolitions charges under water, the 76th requested Engineer Scho ol at Fort Belvoir, Virginia, from 1971 that technical assistance be provided by the Demolitions until January 1973. Upon graduation from Norwich Branch of USAES. University in 1965, he attended the En gineer Officer After final coordination and specialized training had Basic Course and A irborne School. A veteran of the been completed, Captains Guy Donaldson II, and Jack Stockhaus, Demolitions Branch, and members of the Vietnam War, the captain served with the 864th En­ 86th Engineer Detachment (Diving) arrived at Fort gineer Battalion and the l02d Engineer Company there Meade on February 26, 1973 to provide assistance to in 1966. He also served there again as a Company the 76th in the actual accomplishment of the demoli­ Commander with the Sth Engineer Battalion in 1968 tion mission. and with the 2d Brigade, l st Cavalry Division in 1969. To accomplish the mission individual ring charges were prepared on shore for each pile, utilizing over­ lapping sheets of M-118 Sheet Explosive taped to­ gether. Each individual charge consisted of three lbs Captain Gu y Donaldson, ll, currently Demolitions of M-118 Sheet Explosive and was primed with deton­ Branch Chief, Demolitions/Mine Warfare Division, De­ ating cord using the Vii knot. The individual charges were nailed in place on each timber pile by members partment of Applied Engineering, U. S. Army Engineer of the 86th. Each charge was then tied into a detonat­ School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, is a graduate of Auburn ing cord ring main and the system was then detonated University and holds a masters degree from Purdue. utilizing an electrical firing system. He served with the 814th Float Bridge Company in The results of the operation were outstanding in all Germany and in Vietnam as A ssistant Subsection A d­ respects. Each pile was cut completely right at the visor for Dinh Quan. District and as Company Com­ stream bed level. The cuts achieved on the timber piles were smooth and straight with a minimum of mander of D Company, 19th Engineer Battalion (Com­ splintering. The piles and bracing were easily removed bat) between 1964-1970. He also has attended the from the river by winching them on to shore with a Engineer Officer Basic and A dvanced Courses and bull dozer. A irborne School.

7 )

ments in the design and construc tion of protective structures for tro ops and vulnerable high cost equip­ ment in the combat zone. • The incr eased threat of enemy armored mobility to strike cross-country dem ands better techniques for creating rapid barri er systems. • Although our Army enjoys increased air and gro und mobility, major co mbat uni ts have grea ter requirements for the land line of communications (LOC). • T he development of strategic nuclear missiles and ant iballistic missile systems demand s improved techniques to ensure the protection of these systems from the threat of enemy nuclear att acks. • The grow ing reliance on inter and intra theater airlift as well as d ose air suppo rt has increased the need to improve construction methods for major logistic and tactical airfields. One of the more spectacular are as of pro gress by the WES is in the development of new expedient surfacing-c--landing mats, membr anes, and dust con­ trol materials-for airfields and heliports. As an ex­ ample, the Army greatly benefited from the timel y developm ent of the M 8-A I mat. 1'-17 membrane, and ~ he con tinued development of new weapons sys­ Peneprimc which were used extensively in Vietnam. T terns and doctrine has intensified the need for the Th e WES has developed a new heavy-d uty mem­ development of improved military engin eering tech­ bra ne wh ich is now ready to enter the supply system niqu es in an era of "instant" techn ology discovery. for use by heavy aircraft wherever soil conditions are The requirement to improve the Army's construc­ suitable. The neopr ene coa ting four-ply nylon fabric, tion capability has never been more essential to en­ 5/64 in. thick , is a major improvement ove r the less sure the necessary sup port for combat ope rat ions. dura ble T -17 membrane used in Vietn am . Th e heavy Offensive ope rations requi re more roads, airfields, dut y membrane successfully passed rigid AMC Service and helicopter facilities. Defensive plans emphasize Tests und er heavy C- 130 traffic for six months at the need for better protection of troops and equip­ Fo rt Br agg. It is anticipated that this hea vy-duty ment as well as bett er techniques to blunt the thrust membrane will be extensively used in the future for of an enemy attack. T he war in Vietn am em pha sized assault airfield surfacing even where previously the the growing demand for engineer suppor t on the light-duty M8-A I landing mat had to be used . modern battlefield. T wo new landing mat systems are also nearin g the Th e Ar my Mater ial Co mma nd and the Corps of completion of development by WES to provide a total Engineers are attacking many of the basic require­ of three types of mat to meet the official requirements ment s through seve ral of the Army's resea rch and for a light , medium , and heavy-duty landing mat. developm ent labor atorie s. Th e U. S. Army E ngineer The requ irements are base d on the strength of sur­ Waterways Experim ent Station (WE S) at Vicksbu rg, facing required to meet the demand s of varying sizes Miss., is respo nding to six major requirement areas of milit ary airc raft. For the foreseeable future the thusly­ M8-AI mat will serve adequately as the light-duty • Th e increa sed use of aircraft and airmobile tac ­ mat . tics, while adding a new dimension and degree of T he new medium-duty landing mat , with an alum­ mobility to the battl efield , has greatly increased the inum honeycomb cor e, has alre ady met all structur al need for expedient airfields and helicopter facilities. and ope rational tests and should be accepted by the • The employment of more lethal direct and in­ A rmy in the near future. This mat is available in 4­ direct fi repower by the enemy requires major improve­ by 4-ft panels and weighs about 65 pounds per panel.

8 It will support operations of the aircraft. with the dual purpose of determining the smallest The new heavy-duty mat, with an extruded alum­ yield weap on possible to ensure

9 blast effects of a nuclear weapon, placed as an air , Fibrous reinforced pavements are also receiving con­ surface or underground burst in connection with vary­ siderable attention. Immediate adoption of these teci D ing geologic conditions. The subsequent blast and niques is not possible under current military requir . .,­ shock effects on hundreds of kinds of experimental ments. One of the disadvantages of slip form paving equipment arrayed around these blasts are examined. is the slump along the edge of the pavement which Re sulting airblast and ground shock effects are meas­ results as the form moves. This results ' in a groove ured through basic instrument ation and on actual down the pavement that does not meet the smoothness military equipment and modeled facilities. specificati on required to meet Air Force standards. Th e construction of large airfields to sust ain a Th ese are among some of the many problems that f considera ble volume of heavy cargo aircraft and to are being evaluated as well as th e key joint between support he avy tactical fighter and strategic bombers slab s. is a maj or engineering effort. Research to reduce the The present Corps of Engineers specifications do time and cost of these runways pr omis es to be most not provide guidance on many of the recent tech­ rewarding. All facets of the probl em are under study. nological advances in bituminous pavement construc­ The late st practices of the construction industry are tions. Particularly significant are advancements in pave­ being evaluated for military usc. New design practices ment and compaction of depth lifts of paving mixes are being tested. The use of commercial construction up to 8 in.. the use of vibratory rollers, and the use equipment is being examined. The immediate goal of full width pavers of 30 ft or more in one pa ss. of the pavement research project is to save over $20 Again we are collecting data from equipment manu­ million in a planned runway con stru ction program. facturers, contractors, associations. and actual con­ Many new concepts for pavement designs are being struction pro jects as well as our own test programs to evaluated . In the field of flexible pavements, the use evaluate the se techniques and see if they meet the of full depth cru shed stone, full depth asphalt, and military airfield con struction standards. Another area even the use of cement stabilization of the ba se course of improvement in specifications is the lengthy and mater ial are under test. Preliminar y results indicate detailed requirement s in meeting qualit y control. Im­ major savings can be ach ieved in the thickness re­ proved meth ods for the con tractor providing quality qu ired for the same design loading. The thickness control will also be incorporated. ~\ savi ngs can be translated into cost savings. In rigid In all the future looks much brighter for the rnili- ~ pavement s new techniques a re being exa mined for tary engineer in the years just ahead. e conti nuous reinforcing of concrete , prestre ssed con­ ~igadie r General Ern est D. Peixott o is the new crete pavements. and wire-fiber rein forcing. to name Assistant Commandant of Th e Engineer Scho ol at a few . The use of clay wrapped in a membrane is also Fort Belvoir. Vir ginia. His last dut y assignment was being evaluated as a replacement for high cost crushed Director of the U. S. Army Engineer Waterways Ex­ rock as a base course material. Pavement condition periment Station at Vicksburg, Mississippi. Th e gen­ surveys are being made on military airfields across eral was commissioned in the A rmv Corps of En­ the country to analyze the traffic and weather effects gineers in 1951 upon graduation from the U. S. Mili­ on the pavements, their structural integrity. and main­ tary A cademy at West Point , New York. He holds a tenance costs. About 30 airfields overall are being Master's Degree in Civil Engineering from Massachu­ studied. setts Institute of Technology and is a graduate of The Another change in concrete pavem ents may be Engineer School, the U. S. Army Command and Gen­ possible through the use of fly ash and pozzolans to era/ Staff College, and the National War College. reduce cem ent requirements. Fly ash and pozzolans General Peixotto has held numerous top assignm ents ha ve been used by the Corps of Engineers in the in tlu: U. S. and overseas during his military career. construction of large concrete structures to reduce the H e served in Vietnam twice; the first time as the cost of cement. In bituminous pa vement, the use of Engineer and Academic Advisor at the Vietnamese asphalt, lime , and cement for stabilization may reduce Na tional Military A cademy in Dalet in 1959 and later overall thickness requirements and thus effect a sav­ as the Com manding Officer, 86th Combat Engineer ings in material and construction effort. Lower quality Battalion operating in the Mekong Delta in 1968. He ma terial can also be utilized to achie ve another saving has held positions in the Research and Development when sta bilization is employed . Directorate and as the Special Assistant for Plans and In exa mining con struction practices for rigid pave­ Po/icy for the Chief of Engineers. He also has served ments, the WES is evaluating th e use of slip form in Iran and in the Panama Canal Zone . The general pavement and the continuous reinforced pavements is a registered pro fessional engineer and a member of now quite common in the interstate highway systems. the Society of A merican Military Engineers.

10 . I : :\ THE MAINTENANCE SYNDROME

( CW4 leal. D..by f

hen a weapon malfunctions or a piece of equip­ suJting in abuse of equipment. Wment is deadlined during combat, a number of • Poor respon se from the rep air part s supply sys­ things can happen. All of them are bad . tem. A soldier carrying that malfunctioning weapon could • Shortage of properly trained and motivated main ­ lose th.is life. And dead lined equipment means that tenance personnel. some vital proj ect-like construction of a fire ba se­ Perhaps there are man y solutions to deadline rates; cannot be completed before an expected enemy attack. some better than others. This article makes specific, This means the casualty figure would be much higher and hopefully the best, recommendations on how to than it would have been if that fire base had been conquer the four problem areas. completed before the att ack. F arfetched examples? Let us take them one at a time. The first area of Not hardly . ineffective maint enance has been identified as non­ Deadlined equipment has been a major problem for perform ance of organizational maintenance. It can be engineers thr ough the years . The primary cause be­ cont rolled through well-supervised motor stables, hind delayed engineer construction projects and the scheduled preventive maintenance servic es and a train­ resulting rise in construction cost is high engineer ing program for unit supervisory personnel which equipment deadline rates. emphasizes the duties and responsibilities of the junior Over the years, engineer equipment has und ergone leader. many changes . Tod ay's typical piece of equipment is An effective preventive maintenance pro gram like a sophisticated, complicated ma chine which requires any engineer construction project mu st be based on a a well-trained operator and mechanic to keep it opera­ solid foundation. And the found ation of an engineer tion al. The basic causes and the solutions that are batt alion 's maintenance program is the unit motor necessary to prevent deadlined equipment are the stables. same tod ay as they were when machinery replaced the Commanders and NCO's at all levels know and horse and wagon. understand the importance of motor stables but fre­ A recent survey and subsequent answers from more quently do not believe they can find time to make a than 600 officers and noncommi ssioned offi cers at the personal check of the faciliti es during the day . Im­ U.S. Army En gineer School, Fort Belvoir, Virginia, plementation of a good motor stables program depends showed that there are four major areas of maintenance on the personal effort of every officer and NCO in the effort which directly effect high deadlin e rates. They battali on. are: Motor stables supervision mu st start at the top. If • Nonperformance of organizational maintenance. the battalion commander and sergeant majo r make a • Inefficient equipment operation and utilization re­ daily check of the motor stabl es, staff members and

11 unit com mande rs will get the message as to the im­ Th e third maintenance problem area- response a portance of the program. the repair parts supply system-is directl y related t . ~ Of course there are aspects other than maintenanc e the Direct Support maintenance capabil ity. The valu e that lend to the efficie nt opera tion of an engineer bat­ of any Direct Support maintenance ca pability is directly talion . Bu t, even so, commanders must insure that dependent upon the efficiency of the Direct Support adequ ate mainten ance is bein g performed on the unit's supply section charged with maintainin g the autho rized equipme nt whil e kee ping abreast of the day-to-day stockage list. Many of the problems encountered with batt alion operations. The best way to do this is by the repai r parts system lie either at this level or at person al supervision an d part icipation in the battalion's the compa ny pre scribed load list level whe re the Direct maintenance program . Support section has training and inspection respons­ Motor stables are not the co mplete answer to the ibilities. Many times delay in the availabil ity of rep air maintenance problem . Commanders also must initiate parts ca n be dir ectly attributed to organization supply a maintenance training program within thei r battalions. procedures. Logically, instructors sho uld be the personnel who T he most co mmon causes for the del ay in the supply possess the most maintenan ce expe rtise and know-how of repa ir parts are : I ) improper identification of parts; ill the ba tta lion. 2) use of obsolete supply catalogs and err oneous stock The ma inte nance warrant offi cers and NCO's shou ld numb ers ; 3) failure to forward pa rts requests im­ be mot ivated to provide dynamic on-the-job training med iately : 4 ) unauthorized use of high er category to supervisory personnel during motor stables for ma­ rep air parts manuals at organizational level ; 5) in­ tions. adequate tr aining of rnai nten ance pe rsonnel in repair Seni or mainten ance personnel sho uld schedule and part s supply procedures and catalogs; 6 ) abu se of the present a series of formal classes on each type of issue priorit y system and ; 7 ) failure to sub mi t timely enginee r equipme nt. On e of the most effective method s follow-ups on requisitions. M any of the cau ses of these of getting the instruction across to a class is to use the delays are inherent in the table of org ani zation and equipment as a trai ning aid and schedule the tutelage equipment that man s and equips the section. concu rre ntly with maintenan ce activities. T he com­ An exa mple of the mann ing and equipment probl em mander can m e this time to make a checklist of is demon strated in the organ ic D irect Support main- V deficiencies th at normally occ ur as a result of impro per tenance ca pability of the engineer cons tru ction ba t­ ope ra tor maintenance. A rmed with this infor mation, a talion ; surel y the most valu able ma intenance asset senior comma nder can qu ickly imp ress his un it com­ ava ilable to the commander . manders with the import ance he places upon the bat ­ T he author ized repair part s specia list-an E-5 posi­ talion mai nten ance pr ogram. tion-does not normally provide superviso ry ability Th e second problem area-inefficient equipment co mme nsurate with the magnitude of the resp ons ibility. o peration and utilization- can be alleviated in pa rt by Thi s lower grade NCO is char ged with the requisition, the application of effective motor stables and trai ning sto ck control, storage and issue of between 4,000 and progr am s. Unless proper maintenance is being per­ 8,000 separate line items of repair parts. formed on engineer equ ipment, it will be abused from This repai r pa rts specialist must maintain liaison the instan t it leaves the motor pool un til the moment it with mainten ance support activities , provide inspection returns. In addition, proper supervision through ope ra­ and training assista nce to the u nits the section supports, lor training and enforced licensing procedures will trans port pa rts from D irect Su pport/General Support greatly reduce the misuse of equip ment that is ca used facilities to the Authorized Stockage List ( ASL ), and through ignorance of proper equipment handling tech­ supe rvise nine pa rts clerks to accomplish all of these niq ues. functi ons. Oper ator mor ale is also a factor that can cau se Often the section is und er- sup ervi sed and under­ equipment abuse. Commanders sho uld monitor the manned. To co mpe nsate, perso nnel are assigned from number of consecutive days an opera tor wor ks on the ot her Direct Support positions. A platoon leader same project. If an opera tor's mo rale is low, he may Engineer Warrant Officer, or Ordnance Warrant purposely deadline an item of equipment just to get Officer , often ma y find him self devoting consider able away fro m the job for a few days. time to the ASL; a distr action that hinders the per­ Maximum utilization of assista nt operators, rot ation formance of his specialized functions. In addition, the of equipment, and liberal pass policy during slack sec tion has three trucks and five trailers that are construction periods will go a lon g way toward im­ operated and mai ntained by the supply clerks. This proving the operator's morale and th e way he uses his seco ndary mission generally becomes a full time job, equipment. reducing the number of clerks available to perform the

12 primary mISSIOn . Three or four mechanics may be up to date on equipment status, but also would correctly cross-trained to supplement any shortage in repair demonstrate his personal interest in the program for parts clerks and equipment operators. the benefit of staff members and unit commanders. All of the aforementioned factors affect the efficiency These are as arc referred to as the Seven Maintenance of the rep air parts supply system . Many of these Direct Factors at the Enginee r School . They are­ Support problem areas can be resolved only by a • Command. concerned and informed commander. • Personnel. Every commander should visit the ASL area fre­ • Facilities. quently to get a first-h and look at the problem are as. • Equipment. Short question and answer sessions between the com­ • Publications . mander and the personnel operating the ASL area • Repair Pa rts. should quickly give an indica tion as to the respon sive­ ness of the supply section. Alth ough it is impossible • Time. for the commander to personally check the condition The senior commander has many of the answers to of each item of equipment in the ba ttalion, a spot check the maintenance syndrome. T o insure a low enginee r of the demands on the company prescribed load lists equipment deadline, he must pursue an active and and the demands on battalion authorized stockage lists aggressive ma inten ance program. He must develop will give a good indication of the quantity of scheduled his ability to diagnose the cau se and prescrib e the maintenance that is being performed. preventi on or cure. Of course, a commander's personal The fourth and last area of ineffective maintenance­ interest in his battalion maintenance program is cer­ described as a shortage or lack of motivation in tainly not a new a unique concept. maintenance personnel-s-can be alleviated through the The unfortunate fact is that the senior commander's proper assignment of individuals in this military oc­ interest in maint enance sometimes begins and end s cupational speciality. This is a command responsibility after he has scheduled motor stables on the battalion at all levels. Unit maintenance personnel can be found work /training schedule. Generally, main tenance is con­ in supply rooms, ord erly rooms , mess hall s, and out in sidered subordinate to production. However , the mis­ the field operating equipment. sion-oriented commander mu st realize that production Operational necessities frequently dictate that certain is directly related to the qu ality and qu antity of the personnel be cross-trained or retrained in order to maint enance servic es that are performed in his unit. meet mission requirements. Thi s sometimes cre ates The commander who makes personal contact with a problem. Tt must be recognized that a potential morale his operato rs, mechanics, and parts clerks certainly problem can develop when personnel are used outside increases the morale within his battalion. Also the the field for which they have been trained. So the commander who can diagnose equipment malfunctions, commander should periodically screen the records of determine the status of maintenance and rep air parts his personn el to insure that maintenance-qualified per­ activities, and pinpoint ineffective or inefficient areas sonnel are being properly utilized . The senior com­ of the program, can be assured of a low equipment mander also should make every effort to see that key deadline rate. warrant officers and NCO's are assigned at the organic Maintenance will never take a back seat to the dire ct support levels. construction mission in a first rate engineer battalion. Of course, the maintenance respon sibilities of the Furthermore, a first rate maintenance program will senior commander go beyond alleviating the four pr ob­ guarantee a top-level production program. e lem areas that have been discussed in detail. H is responsibilities are not as clearl y defined as those of the CW4 Jean L. Derby is currently assigned to the battalion maintenance warrant offi cer, maintenance U.S. A rm y Engineer School's Department of M echan­ NCO or unit commander. Generally the senior com­ ical and T echni cal Equipm ent as Chief, Systems Equip­ mander is charged with overall responsibility for the ment Section . He has served in a variety of engineer battalion maint enance program. Tt would be helpful for maintenanc e assignments and is a com bat veteran of the battalion comm ander in the long run if he would Kor ea and Vietnam. He saw service in Korea with the define specific areas in his maintenance program, as­ 14th Combat Battalion and in Vietnam with the 103rd sume per sonal responsibilit y for these areas, and see Construction Support Company and the 577th Con ­ that they are carried out. Thi s is not to say that he struction Battalion in 1966 and 1969-70, respectively. must personally supervise every aspect of the battalion This is Mr. Derby's third assignment as a member of maintenance program. There are, howev er, several the Engineer School faculty during a service career that areas he could monitor that not only would keep him has spann ed 25 years.

13 EISEDFM 20-32 Frederick A. Messing The many changes in doctrine and techniques of mine-counterrnine operations contained in the Mine­ Countermine Study (MICMIS), the STANO Survey and Review (STASAR), Standardization Agreement (STANAG) 2036, and other documents pertinent to mine-countermine operations, necessitated an early revision of FM 20-32, Landmine Warfare, May 1971. Accordingly, a revision of FM 20-32 was initiated I in Fiscal Year 1972 with the express purpose of up­ dating the manual in accordance with the referenced 1 documents. As a point of reference and in accordance with the MICMIS, the term counterrnine has been redefined. "Counterrnine" is now defined as : "Tactics and techniques used to detect, avoid, breach, and/or neutralize enemy mines and the use of available re­ sources to deny the enemy the opportunity to employ mines." This new definition was forwarded to the Ad­ jutant General and is now included in the Dictionary of the United States Army (AD) and in the revised FM 20-32. The MICMIS also contained a recommendation to : "Change the title of FM 20-32 from "Landrnine War­ fare to "Mine-Countermine Operations" to give more emphasis to the counterrnine portion of landmine war­ fare. This was done and the title of the new FM 20-32 will be "Minc-Counrermine Operations." Additionally, the MICMJS contained a recommenda­ tion to: Rewrite and reorganize the FM 20-32 to provide complete coverage of doctrine and operational concepts that apply to countermine operations and to eliminate or move to an appendix all technically oriented information. In line with this recommendation the manual was reorganized into three parts: Part One, Introduction; Part Two, Installation of Landmines and Mineficlds: and Part Three, Countermine Operations. Thus, the two essential functions have been separated by placing a11 information on Mining as practiced by friendly forces, in Part Two, and all information on Countermining, in Part Three. Insofar as possible. all technically oriented information in the manual was moved to the appendixes. Simultaneously, Edition Number 3 of ST ANAG 2036, a source document for FM 20-32, was also re­ viewed. As a consequence of changes to the STANAG, changes in the Irregular Outer Edge (TOE) of the Standard Pattern Minefield and changes in the various reports (Intention to Lay, Report of Completion and

14 Report of En emy Minefields ) were made in the revision the responsibilities of individuals and units , definin b0 of I'M 20- 32. Added also, were changes concerning more clearly combat arms and engineer roles and in­ the direction in which minefields may be laid ( mine­ troducing an engineer role for tra ining of others . As fields may now be laid from either right to left or now written (a nd subject to ch ange ) the new manual left to right ) ; the method of laying mines in the cluster would read- (mines may now be laid on the circumference of the R ESPO NSIBILITIES : semicircle prescrib ed for patt ern minefi elds) and per ­ • All troops, regardle ss of arm or branch, are mitring the use of barb ed-wire concertina for mine­ responsible for indiv idual counterrnine actions- visually fi eld marking fences . detecting, avoiding, and report ing of mines and booby The Sur veillance, Ta rget Acquisition and Night Ob ­ traps. servat ion (STANO) Survey and Review (STASAR ) • Combat arm s troops are responsible for em­ conta ined recomme nda tions th at ST ANO equi pment be ployment of individual standard US AT&A P mines­ used in countermine operations and counter-counter­ arm ing, disarming, emplacing, and ca mouflaging-and mine operations . To compl y with this recommendation for hasty neutralization of enemy mines-by detona tion applicable STANO doctr ine was extrac ted from va r io u ~ or by pulling out with rope or wire. STANO document s and reports and included in the • Combat arms un its are responsible for : revision of F M 20-32 . A chapter (chapter 10) on Hasty breaching of barri ers to includ e mine­ available ST AN O devices which can be used in counter ­ fields. minc operations and an appendix (Appen dix F) on Em placing and removing hasty protective mine­ the use of unattended ground sensors (UGS) to detect fields. enemy engaged in mine laying, or breachi ng activities Assisting enginee rs in deliberate barr ier opera­ have been added . tions. T o include infor mation on sca ttera ble mine s) FM • Co mbat engineer units are responsible for : 20-32A, Landm ine Warfare (Sc attera ble Mines) has Deliberate bre achi ng of enemy ba rriers to Ill­ been incorpo rated into the revision of FM 20-32 and elude minefields . will ap pear as Chapter 7. Up on publication of the Deliberate barrier operations, with assistance of new FM 20 -32, FM 20-3 2A will be superseded. combat arms units. Chapters on the "Countermine System ," "Defe nsive Te chni cal advice and assista nce in barrier/ Coun ter rnine Operati ons" and the "Historical Back­ counterbarrier operations. ground of Mines and Min e Warfare" have been added . Providing training in barrier/ counterbarrier There are also new appendixes on "Minesweep Opera­ operations. tions ," Det ector and Search Techniques for the In­ • In accordance with an approved employm ent dividu al Soldier and the Unit" and the "XM57 Antitank order, com bined arms un its are responsible for plan­ Min e Dispensing System." ning and conducting barrier/ counterbarrier operations, When the final dr aft manuscript was sent to the with advice and assistance from sup porting comba t Ad juta nt General for printing, limited quantities were engineer units. also sent to tho se agencies and units prov iding com­ This added revision to FM 20-32 is more than just ment s. Additionally. sufficient co pies of the fi nal draft a clarification of lan guage; it is a change of doctrine to were published to provide the Mine Warfare Br anch make it con for m more closely with real world practice of the Dep artm ent of Applied Engineering of the US and to emphasize the training respon sibiliti es that Army Engineer Scho ol an interim Training Text for derive from doctrine. Becau se of the import ance School instru ction. ~ att ached to this shift of doctrine, publication of the Th e revised manu al was sched uled to be distribut ed new FM 20- 32 will be delayed until ea rly 1974. in August 1973, but publication is being held up to e incorp orate additiona l changes developed at a world­ Mr. Frederick A . Messing (L T C, CE R et) w as, wide Barrier-Counterb arrier Conference held at Fort before retirem ent from Civil Service, a writer-editor, Benning in May. GS 12, with the Departm ent of Doctrine and Training These changes are being staffed as this issue goes Developm ent, USAES. He recently completed the re­ to press, so they are not yet approved. Th ey address vision of FM 20 -32, Min e-Countermine Op eration s.

15 Effective countermine trammg is almost universall y accepted as being in about the same state as it has been over the pa st 40 years-unsatisfactory. This has created the MICMIS Study which has gener ated a need for a Sapper Military Occupational Specialty. The design of a program of instruction supporting an MOS is normally don e through a process called Systems Engineering.. This involves three basic steps prior to developing ..he actual lessons. First, the job itself is examined and a list of task s is prepared showing everything the specialist must be able to do. Second, these tasks are examined to determine where they can best be learned-service school, unit or On-Th c-J ob­ Training (Ol T) . Th ird , tbe tasks selected for training are each broken down further into knowledges that are then taught or trained as parts of specific lessons. In evaluating a program to train an effective sapper, one task ; that of finding a mine or boobytrap cannot be analyzed by listing knowledges because no matter what know ledges are listed, the graduate still will not be able to consistently find the mine or boobytrap. When this is the case, the task has not been trained. An easy path is to regulate the task to OJT but now as in the past, the price in combat is too high and the Major William L. Jones problem is not solved . The program of instruction und er developm ent mu st, therefore of necessity, include this task of finding mines as well as the remaining conventional MOS tasks. This article concerns itself with the training of the unique task of "finding mines and boobytraps." Extensive attempts in recent years have been made to determine and analyze the human characteristics or traits which make up the outstanding patrol point men. Whatever enables them to find mines and boobytraps better than others has not yet been isolated. Some individuals are just better at finding mines and booby­ traps than others. The real experts that have been interviewed and tested, learned their skills by living real live situations. Their skills were trained and sharpened to a fine edge through individual adaptation, much the same as a child 's reflexes are automatically adapted to his environment. Th ese specialists are not constant with each other when the y explain why they are more skillful than their contemporaries. Education of an individual takes many forms other than that normally found in the classroom . Reports by some of Our most noted educators document that both humans and animals rapidly learn tasks on their own simply by being put in a situation where they

18 desire to do the task successfully and the means to can maintain proficiency, regardless of their curr ent do it are available. F or a simplified illustr ation let us assignmen t. Controlled testing with very high min imum put a mouse at location X and food at locati on Y . standards would be required qu arterly or semi-annua lly On the first trial the mouse tak es an hour and one ­ to include new information learned by individuals half to fi nd the food with obvious difficulty. Subsequ ent through self-study programs that eac h sappe r nee ds to attempts sho rten until the mou se learn s this maze and continue. These rigid standards, if maint ained , wi11 gets the food within a few second s. Th e mouse is next generate an espirit that will sustain the sapper corps­ pla ced in a new maze. Does he completely start over?­ the hazard ous duty pay will compensat e for the real No. The mouse has learn ed to learn . Experience is ex plosive hazards in this specialty plu s provide the transferr ed and both his initial trial time and his total needed intense training motivation by pr oviding a very learning of the new maze are appreciably shortened. real and tangible loss that will result from failure. I No w, if this trained mouse could talk could he really know of no othe r moti vation tha t will provide the explain why he is faster now? Does he himself really needed desire during and after the cour se that will kn ow all the cues he acts upon when he moves through provide the needed performance quality. the maze') Thi s principle of the mind autom atically From the trainin g viewpoint the best environm ent learning to ad opt a new environment also works would be a real one; real mines employed by and with humans, and alth ough the cues providing stimulus against a real enemy usin g real weapons and ammuni­ are not always identi fied, learnin g still tak es place. tion. To save injurie s, comprom ises have to be made, Th is theory is curr ently widely used during military but eac h comprom ise must be seriously considered for fi eld trainin g but success is depend ent on rigid ad­ necessity. and pro per compe nsations. F or example, herence to the following two fact ors­ when elimin ating the mine itself a training aid must • T he studen t motivation must be very strong caus­ be substituted that looks, feels, and functions the same. ing either a ferve nt desire to be successful or an eq ual1y The mine is replaced with a dupli cate that does every ­ stro ng fear of failure. The motivation should parallel thin g exce pt injure men. This single sub stitution is as much as possible, that of the combat environment serious. From the motivation point of view fear of for which it is being prepared. failure, needle ss to say, is drastically reduced . Given the • Th e learning or training enviro nme nt must be feverent desire to pass the cours e as outlined in the as close as possible to the real environment. This is paragraph above, this compromise can be pa rtly com­ difficult as conditions such as fear, fatigu e, and time pensated by failing a student and drop ping him fro m require very careful analysis and preparation and are the program the fi fth tim e he unsafely detonates a essential if valid skill tr ansfer is to take place. A device regardl ess of the circum stan ces. This aut om atic seemingly mino r compromise can sometimes destroy negative motivator parallels closely the conc ern real the environment suffi cien tly tha t effective learn ing tran s­ mines cause. In theory the first accident should be fer does not occur . The student learn s to train but does grounds for failure but the loss of potentially good sap­ not learn to accomplish the task. Th ese principles can pers would be too high. In comb at men are hot, tired, now be applied to the Co unterrnine task "Find an and imp atient . In trainin g, h ard ph ysical requirements, Enemy Mine or Boobytrap." long hour s, tight schedules, and a strict cadre can re­ Moti vatin g men is a leardersh ip problem th at is construct many of these haz ard ous distractors. A third always present in tra ining both in units and at service enviro nment pitfall is that individual consistancy in the schools. Most men attempt to do well, but need some work of the mine layer trains the countermine student inducement to susta in them selves if the environment in those specific consistencie s. By having two or more becomes tough. Sapper trainin g will be complex. teams of students, who do not mee t, work against each physically demandin g, and require a high efficiency other. Each will develop and employ improvisions with detailed accur acy under cond itions of stress. Th e based upon their analysis of oth er teams designed to student must work hard to pass the instru ctio n program deliberately deceive. This adds the challenges and and then be motiv ated suffi ciently to maint ain his skills diversity that are needed. and knowledge beyond gradua tion. One proposal is to A side benefit is the discu ssion within an installing authorize hazard ous dut y (Demolition) pay for sapper team analyzing if and how a system bein g employed training. and continuously for sapper gra duates who could be countered. Thus it can be concluded that to

17 learn th e task of finding a boob ytrap it must be learned alternative of picking several routes, using trails or not. in the most dyn amic realistic fashion possible . The • SQUAD #2-This squad must outwit Squad course mu st be struct ured aroun d a 24-hour day and :#= 1. Needless to say, the squad role s will soon be be ph ysically and mentally demanding. reversed . By designat ing sq uads or patrols as the basic In developing a Sa pper cou rse using the above ideas school training units, gradua tes will live man y exam ples th e prob lem of managi ng and controll ing the students of dyn amic training and as a result will be able to take a rises. T o main tain realism the mission s mu st be ex­ a wealth of training ideas to their future assignments. cep tiona lly clear with the instru ctors relegated to T he Sapper program has the potential o ppo rtunity qui etly grading lead ership, eva luati ng M ine and Cou n­ to develop a viable countermine pl an . If all of , the termine tech niqu es, and declaring casua lties. afo rementioned con stra ints and conditions are met , the The m issions will initially inv olve simple tasks but A rmy's new Sapper will have pride in his ability and ultim ately evolve to lar ge area problems with many sufficient confidence in his subject that he will become alte rn ative solutio ns. The support req uiremen ts can its advocate and inspire confidence whereve r he goes. be kept to a minimum as most prepar ati on is done by two or more squad -sized stude nt units con tinuou sly Major William L. Jon es, currently the Chief of the working against each other. Techniques will gro w in Dem olition/Mine Warfare Division, Department of sophist ication as time passes. Applied En gineering, U.S. A rmy Engineer School, Fort A key reminder need be m ad e at thi s poin t. Devices Belvoir, Vir ginia, is a graduate of N orwich University used for training mu st be install ed and rem oved prior and the University of Mi ssouri at R olla. He served as to real equipment fai ling ; in this the instal ling squa d a Combat Engineer Com pany Commander in both the will miss the major portion of the tra ining potential. 12 th Engineer Battalion , 8th In fant ry Division in Ger­ A n ex ample of one exercise towa rd the end of the many and with the 27th Engineer Battalion in the co urse might be­ Repu blic of Vi etnam between 1964 and 1967 . He • SQ UAD :#I-Move from A to B ( dista nce of six also later served as the Battalion Executive Officer, 8th miles ) betwe en 6 am and 8: 30 am tomorrow. Bo ob y­ En gineer Battalion , l st, Cavalry Division in Vietnam tr aps are very likely to be abo ut. This squad ha s the from 1970 to 1977 .

SAPPER COURSE CONCEPT

The course will be of approxi:mately 7 to 9 weeks in duration, rigorous both mentally and physically in its demands on the student. Input requirements and graduation/qualification standards will be very high since the graduate w ill be considered an expert in theory and practical application of combat demolition techniques, all phases of mine/countermine warfare, and to instruct troops of all arms in appropriate phases of demolitions and mine/countermine warfare. The first two weeks of the course will consist of demo/mine/countermine obstacle planning and d esign, methods of instruc­ tion and physical acclimation with emphasis on the student learning to teach his peers appropriate subject matter. The last weeks will be conducted in the dynamic training mode, and will concentrate on detailed use of all demo/mine/countermi:ne hardware (includ ing foreign materials) and intensive physical development. Throughout the course, the role of instructor will phase from that of the tradi­ tional instructor to that of monitor/supervisor; the last 1V2-2 weeks of the course will be administered by students under instructor supervision. The use of live explosive/mines in practical exercises wiJl also progress during the course. All students will employ and handle all available US explosives/ mines and representative items from foreign nations. Maxi:mum emphasis will continually be placed on stress situations, developing h igh skill/confidence levels, and producing a professional instructo r expert. The major portion of this program of instruction will not be time structured to a 40 hour week but b e continuous field training 12 hours per day, 6 days per week . Graduation will be a challenge requiring high motivation and aptitudes.

18 B U NKER ILL: ana tomy fa f ir e b a s

Major Peter J. Offringa

The evolution of tactical concepts in Vietnam can and troop comfort, ease of resupply, and facilities for be catalogued by the anatomy of the fire support recreation for the security troops. bases associated with them . Overgrown circles, squares, In late February 1972 , the 3d Brigade (Separate) , triangles, and stars bear mute testimony to the chang­ 1st Cavalry Division (Airmobile) , conducting the de­ ing tactics that forged them . Archeologists of the fu­ fense of the Long Binh , Saigon, Bien Hoa Compl ex, ture, working Southeast Asian diggings may well pon­ set about the task of constructing fixed fire bases to der the implications of these oriental Stonehenges. idealized specifications. If there is any meaning in this almost infinite varia­ The Brigade had just been reduced in size from tion, it is the continuous search for the best means four manuever battalions to three and was tactically of combining flexibility in fire support with security. disposed in an arc roughly northeast of Saigon. To ac­ The attributes of an ideal fire base would include complish his mission, the Brigade Commander, Briga­ protection against direct and indirect fire, in-depth dier Genera) James F. Hamlet, established a series of defense against ground attack, durability when ex­ six mutually supporting and highly defensible fire posed to harsh weather, high standards of sanitation support bases to provide an artillery fan over the rocket

19 belt and its approaches. Under this umb rella of steel, inch by twelve inch later al bracing were used. The the highly mobile Cavalry com panie s conducted airmo­ opera tions center was located in this building as well ~\ bile operations that kept the NVA rocketeers off-bal­ as the briefing room, offices, and living quarters of ance and in constan t turmoil. the Commanding Officer , Command Sergeant Major, Th e keys to this operational technique were the fire the operations officer, and the ARVN liaison officer. supp ort bases, which served as forward artillery posi­ An underground tunnel connected the TOC directly tions, operations centers, and R&R sites for the in­ to the base defense / FDC bunker. fantry companies rotating in and out of the "bush." The Base Defense/FDC bunker, constructed of Bunker Hill was one of these firebases. Located on mempa's and conex containers, contained the artillery a squ at laterite hill, 17 miles northeast of Saigon, it fire direction center, the mort ar fire direction center, was the home of the lst Battalion, 12th Cavalry, com­ the base defense operations center, the base switch­ manded by Lieutenant Colonel W. S. Tyson, board, the VHF facility and sufficient living space for The firebase construction team that cut the initial personnel required to man the bunker. The combina­ swath through the scrubby und erbrush covering the tion of TOC and base defense/ FDC enh anced the hill was an amalgamation of the best engineering skills command and cont rol of the firebase under all con­ then available. Although the 3d Platoon, 50 I st Engi­ ditions. neer Company had overall respon sibility for the con­ The 105 mm Howitzers were placed on a 200 foot struction, earth moving equipment from the 557th Light equilateral triangular pad raised six feet to provide di­ Equipment Compa ny and a verticle construction pla­ rect fire over the berm. toon from the 92nd Eng ineer Battal ion were included The solid triangular pad had been laid by the 830's. in the task force. A D7 with a sheepsfoot roller and a water truck pro­ Th e 557th had only 15 operational days remain­ vided compaction. Thi s pad was more durable than ing prior to stan ddown, so a crash program of earth the individual circular pads used previously. The 155 moving was inaugurated. An average of four Ca ter­ mrn Howitzer pad was raised only one foot to facili­ pillar 830's hauled their 20 cubic yard loads from 7 :30 tate dra inage. The mortars were separated with two a.m. to 5 :30 p.m. hours for the next two weeks. For a tubes in a corner by themselves and one in the corne r three day period, four 'yeIIowbird ' 10 ton dump trucks with the 155'so This was done because of the possibil­ and a "Hough" six cubic yard loader from the 92nd ity of a short roun d when firing directl y over the fire­ Engineer Battalion also participated in the earth mov­ base and because of falling canisters when illumina­ ing effort . The equipment began by stripping the scrub tion rounds were used. vegetation and forming thc familiar triangular shape of All tubes were set in their own revetted positions another FIRST TEAM fire base. The 830's did the with their basic load safely store d under the heavy bulk of the heavy earth moving. Th e 'yellowbirds' were cover of sandbagged bunkers. The individual mort ar used in the corners and on the berm in places that pits were sandbagged to a height necessary to provide were not suitable for the hug e 830's. cover for the crews against fragmentation. Slots were The overall construction of the firebase was con­ left in the parapet so as not to interfere with the use trolled by an initial survey and level run on the first of aiming stakes or sighting devices. day. The 830's dug the slots for living and fighting Th e mess hall consisted of a 40-foot by 20-foot stor­ positions under the berm . D7 dozers were used to dig age area and two 10-foot by 20-foot serving areas. By the slots for the tactical operations center, mess hall, using a system of vents (M8 A1 matting and 72 inch amm unition storage area, S4 area, medical bunker, culverts) in the root, the mess hall was well ventilated base defense/fi re direction center and post exchange even though it was eight feet under ground. Tr oops bunker. were not exposed to hostile fi re while they were get­ The vert ical construction Platoon built the frame ­ ting their meals. Eating areas were dispe rsed thro ugh­ wor k for the Tactical Oper ations Center and the Mess out the firebase to avoid large concentrations of troops Hall. They also supervised local nationals pouring the during regularly scheduled mealtimes. concrete floors for both structures. The ASP was a 60-foot by 20-foot structure where The TOC was dug eight feet into the ground and 12 inch by 12 inch columns eight fect high were used. covered by MBA1 ma tting and the equivalent of seven T he roof was supported by 10 inch wide flange beams layers of sandbags. Its overall dimensions were twenty covering eight-fo ot open spans with eight inch by eight feet by eighty feet. The TOC consisted of twelve inch inch stringers on 30 inch centers. by sixteen inch footers and columns with four inch by The entire structure was covered by M BA 1 matting. twelve inch caps and twenty-four inch wide flange The two entrances were located on opposite ends of beam ceiling joints . M BA 1 matting sides with four the building. The main entra nce was a 10 foot wide

20 ramp with a minimum six foot height, running 30 feet were painted, walls paneled and rugs added as per­ o serve as a mule entrance. The secondary entrance sonal touches to the conex quarters. The conexes were was a combination of 72 inch culverts and eight inch very adequate for two people to share. Malaria control by 12 inch side wall bents in the form of a ramp to was enforced by screening all quarters at the doors and serve as a walkway entrance. The floor was dirt and windows. The fronts of individual conexes were screen­ all storage was on wooden dunnage. The overhead ed as an added precaution. cover was a minimum of three feet of soil on the Above the bunkers was the berm , reaching an over­ M8A I matting roof. The entire structure was water all height of eight feet. A row of concertina was on proofed with plastic, and the roof had cement coated the apex. At the outside base of the berm was a row with peneprirne. of triple standard concertina. Against the concertina a The 501 st Engineers were responsible for construc­ 10 foot wide stretch of tanglefoot was constructed. tion of the structures under the berm. The basic de­ The 35 meter anti-sapper wire was a double apron sign incorporated the majority of the living areas and fence with concertina crushed under the apron and fighting positions as part of the berm in order to take backed by a second triple standard concertina barrier. full advantage of the protection provided by the eight The 100 meter anti-RPG fence was triple standard foot high triangular earth berm . A second advantage concertina. The wire obstacles were reinforced by clay­ gained WClS a significant saving of space normally tak­ more mines and fougasse (a combination of napalm en by troop living areas around the interior of the and C-4 demolitions). Huesch flares were located at base. When areas must be provided for a minimum each corner and along the sides to mark the firebase of three I05mm Howitzers, two 155mm Howitzers, perimeter for close air support. Numerous trip flares and three 81nun mortars, and their accompanying fire were incorporated within the outer wire . control centers, interior space becomes extremely criti­ The tactical wire Was directly supported by seven cal, especially, in the corners. Conex containers were fighting positions on each side. The design of the fight­ used as living bunkers and had to be positioned in the ing positions maximized the principle of primary and trenches prior to the finalization of the berm . supplemental bunkers and insured that the two per­ Modular design was incorporated whenever pos­ sonnel assigned to each position were not tasked with sible to reduce supervision requirements and simplify an area of responsibility greater than they could ef­ the task of the individual squads. By letting one squad fectively cover. The main strength of a triangle lies in concentrate on one type of structure, time was saved the corners, and by advancing the corner position out and high quality work insured . Corner bunkers, corner from each apex, mutually observed and supported fields positions and supplementary positions were each stand­ of fire were gained between the corner bunkers. Con­ ardized and constructed alike. The modular concept versely, the singular vunerability of a triangle is that and the diligent efforts of the SOlst Engineers enabled the extended corner may also be attacked and pos­ the combat engineers to complete their berm work sibly neutralized from three different sides-only one prior to the loss of the 557th's equipment. of which may be the side facing the principle direction The modular building practice was continued of ground attack. To reduce this vunerability, the Cor­ throughout the base. The TOC, Mess Hall, and ASP ners were constructed as a three unity module. were all built with the same basic framework design. The center conex was oriented with the apex, and The remainder of the buildings utilized a four foot the units to its left and right were positioned to pro­ hallway with conexes facing each other. In all, there vide coverage both to the individual position's front were 38 entrances with one set of stairs, and 14 en­ and exposed flank. The concxes were set into the trances with two sets of stairs. Modular design was ground four feet, the space between them was back­ again used to simplicity and speed construction. filled, and the entire position was faced with four lay­ The living bunkers were ideal for the individual in­ ers of sandbags and capped with a minimum of three fantryman. The conexes, with doors removed , provided feet of laterite and peneprime overhead cover. The comfortable, dry places to live during heavy monsoon supplemental positions were located immediately to the rains. This was a very important feature to a "grunt" flanks of the primary and were constructed flush with who had been "beating the bush" in mud and rain . the face of the berm so as not interfere with observation The bunkers also were ventilated by a 20-inch open­ or fields of fire from the corner positions. ing on the inside wall. Safety was excellent with five Above each corner, and connected by means of a feet of dirt cover overhead and a minimum of five feet ladder down into the position, was a IS-foot observa­ of dirt between the rear of each conex and the face of tion tower . The towers were eight feet on a side, faced the berm. Comfort became an individual endeavor and and roofed with MBA1 matting and sandbags. They troop ingenuity appeared almost immediately. Floors provided an uninterrupted view of all approaches to

21 Fire Support Base Bunker Hill is typical of the tri­ The underground tactical operations center served angular firebases constructed by the 3d Brigade (Sep­ as nerve center for combat operations of the 1sf Bat­ arate), 1st Cavalry Division (A irmobife). talion , 12th Cavalry during the period February thru Iune 1972 .

In the safety of the underground FDC, artillerymen plotted fire missions. The FDC was connected to the TOC by an underground tunnel.

W ire, lights, and tanglejoot formed a portion of the perim eter def enses at FSB Bunker Hill . These were augmented with trip flares, claym ore mines and [oue­ gasse.

u E IL • FORTR

22 The elevated lOS artillery pad pro vided good sta­ This medical bunker is typical of the interior bunkers bilization and a capability for direct fire across the at the fire support base . Waterproofing was provided eight foot high firebase berm. by roofing [elt, soil cement, peneprime and treated sandbags.

The water from this purification system was pumped The food preparation, storage. and serving areas to a sixteen foot tower to provide central distribution were also underground. The gabled roofs cover the cul­ for showers, drinking, mess hall and other uses. vert and PSP ventilation system.

The outdo or stage served as movie theater, usa stage and briefing area . Dressing rooms are at left.

THE SUN

23 the base. The roofs provided an employment site for always use a continuous footer. This will retard dif­ organic radar equipment. Because living space was ferential settlement to a great degree. contiguous to the fighting bunkers, troops could move • If lumber is scarce, a planned utilization of brac­ from their quarters to assigned fi ghting positions with­ ing should be undertaken prior to backfilling of all out having to move across the exposed interior of the major construct ion. If priority lists completion of the base. TOC first, lumber from the mess hall BOM should be The combination of bunke rs and towers allowed the used to add extra bracing to the TOC prior to its nightly guard commitment to consist of 12 to 15 men backfil l. Backfill pressures at eight feet can run as on watch during a given four, depending on cloud high as 2000 psi. The most feasible solution was to cover, moonlight, etc., and one man on a walking post use a Case 450 mini dozer and let the backfill mater­ inside the base. Under conditions of RED ALERT, 48 ial slide slowly down into position. Tamping was un­ men were required to man the fi ghting positions. necessary due to the jetting effect of the rains. For the relaxation of the troops, three temporary • Around the living bunkers it was found that the volleyball courts were erected. A permanent basket­ best waterproofing was twelve foot wide rolls of plastic. ball/ volleyball court was planned. The goals could One hundred foot lengths significantly reduced the be folded down and the posts removed so that the con­ number of seams. All seams were sealed using pene­ crete slab could be used as an emergency rnedivac prime to glue the plastic together. Gluing vertical pad. Horseshoe pits appeared and football was played seams was an extremely dirty task. So reducin g the in the several open areas. number of seams benefitted the work force as well as Bunker Hill served as a comfort able and efficient improved the watertightness. operating base for the 1st Battalion, 12th Cavalry until • The PSP roof was first covered by tar paper, then their standdown on 17 June 1972. There were many sealed with a coating of peneprime. The most con­ engineering lessons learned durin g the construction of stant problem encountered was voids along the edges this base. Some technical considerations and special of the conexes where the PSP and conex roof failed to engineering considerations inherent in underground match up properly. In these rough are as sandbags or construction in Military Region III are worthy of note­ dirt were used to level out the irregular surfaces. If the • Salvage concxes are ideal for underground con­ extra work wasn't done, then holes from either back­ struc tion. Th ey are strong, waterti ght and convenient. fill or people walking were made into the otherwise wa­ Additional strength is obtained by turning a conex tertight seal. Th e backfill of loose soil was then mold­ up-side-down since the bottom is better constructed than ed into a gable effect in order to enhance water runoff. the top. An ideal salvage conex is one that is in perfect The numerous people walking on or shoveling the watert ight condition, but with a damaged door. If one loose soil yielded acceptable comp action . The soil was attempts to use conexes with major faults such as bad then stabilized using portland cement handraked into skids or rust-outs an additional well planned prog ram the soil. The cement was watered and allowed to set. A of bracing and waterproofing must be added to the coating of pencprime was placed over the cement. A basic work schedule. The over-all work control qual­ layer of peneprime-sealed, plastic was added. Pene­ ity of base construction is greatly enhanced by careful primed sandbags were used as a final cover. The sand­ inspection and selection of salvaged conexes. bags must be the cloth type since the fiberglass type • Backfilling is a most delicate operation when disintegrate rapidly when peneprime is placed on them . using conexes. A medium -sized boulder can send a • A road design which minimizes the numb er of conex skating for six or seven fcet it it is allowed to culverts and good landscaping are the key to good drop against the side of the conex with uncontrolled firebase drainage. Culverts are a constant problem be­ velocity. cause large vehicles crush the ends of them and for­ • The PSP roof should have an overhang of at least eign matter continually clogs them. Culverts that were one foot. However, sandbagging should come flush to found necessary were designed to maintain a minimum the outer edge of the PSP. If the sandbags are placed flow of two feet per second or more where possible. back from the edge of the overhang, water has a tend­ The self cleaning properti es of this velocity made the ency to pool on the PSP and then work its way back drainage system work efficiently. Where slope factors into the bunker. This can be prevented in part by slop­ were unfavorable, open culverts were utilized to fa­ ing the roof to the outside, bu t there is always some cilitate cleaning. A very essential part of keeping the uneven settlement which will allow the water to run the culverts working is to prot ect their ends by some sort wrong way. of culvert marker. This was accomplished by com­ • Unless there is time to run a soil analysis and bining 155 canisters and 2x4s. A simple design such arrive at an acceptable spread footer design, one should as this not only keeps the culverts open, but adds to

24 the esthetic value of the firebase. The cannisters were • If at all possible, the latrines and showers should mounted on U shaped pickets so if hit by a vehicl e be prefabricated so that they can be set up and used they were simply knocked down. They could also be early in the con struction ph ase. They should be built removed for road spraying and then easily replaced. with durable skids so that frequent movement will not This eliminated a constant need for repainting. ruin them. • An acetylene set is the workhorse of a conex fire­ • A grease trap should be installed in conjunc­ base. Doors must be removed, windows cut, passage­ tion with the wash rack just inside the berm. This will ways fabricated, firing ports cut, PSP trimmed, and aid in the sanitation program, sinc e there will be no many other handyman jobs done. There are defication garbage inside the berm. A sanitary land fill should barrels, trash barrels and shower barrels to be cut. also be put into operation at som e distance from the Pipelines to the showers must be braised, and barrels fireb ase. to be used as hand wash facilities must have ven t! In the event the nine mile roa d from Bien Hoa to filling holes cut. Bunker Hill was cut by the enemy or weather, and • To facilitate air traffic control and aid the path­ air traffic wa s grounded, storage facilities to sustain finders in their duties, the log pad, combat assault pad the base for up to five days were provided. E ach fight­ and VP pad were centrally located on on e side of the ing position contained a pre-positioned basic load of firebase. This allowed the pathfinders to utilize one M79, M60, and 5.62 ammunition in addition to that of the corner observ ation towers thus eliminating the stored in the ASP. All artillery pieces had their basic need for an additional tower. The 35 meter fence was load stored on site in well sandbagged bunkers. The moved out to 50 meters to allow plenty of flying me ss hall had 800 square feet of pure storage area, space for the combat assault and VIP pads and keep and the S4 had 1,200 square feet of storage. The the troops inside the wire during combat assault opera­ medics used one complete conex for storage. Water tions. The log pad was located outside the 35 meter tank s with 7,200 gallons of storage cap acity were also fence but inside the 100 meter fence. Locating the pads located on the base. on one side of the firebase enabled the mess hall to be Construction of a fire support base like Bunker Hill located as far as possible from the pads. The aid sta­ requires a significant inve stment in time, effort, and tion was positioned close to the entrance to the base materials, but the result of the 35 da y effort was a and convenient to the helicopter pads. highly defensible, self-sustained, and efficient battalion­ • The water distribution system was centralized . sized operating base. Showers were located where water run off would travel While Bunker Hill will probably prove to be the the short est distance to the outside of the berm. This last of the major U nited States fire bases con structed minimized standing water from showers. The water in South Vietnam, the lessons learned in its construc­ point pumped to one main 16 foot high tower. Gravity tion still have lasting validity. e fed distribution led to the showers, drinking water tanks, mess hall, and mess hall wash rack area. The need for continuou s truck hauling on the firebase was minimized. The only remaining water haul was to fill Maj or Peter J. O fjringa is currently attending the the 55 gallon wa shing barrels that were maintained in Command and General Staff College at Fort L eaven­ the vicinity of the living and latrine areas for sanita­ worth. He served as the Engine er for the 3d Brigade tion purposes. The distribution method incorporated at Bunker Hill was similar to a standard high rise (Separate ), Jst Cavalrv Division ( A irm obile) in Viet­ water treatment plant. In stead of a heavy dut y high nam during the period that Bunker Hill was being lift pump, a small 50 gallon per minute pump and a built. He is a /961 graduate of th e United Stat es Mili­ two and one-half ton utility veh icle with two 600 gal­ tary A cade my and later served there as an instructor lon pods were used . Water was carried from the river in the Ch emistry Department from 1968-1971 . Th e to the firebase where it was treated and filtered. The major holds an MS degree from the Univ ersity of Cali­ security element was required only two hours each day . Water runs times could also be altered to mini­ fornia at Davis and is a registered professional engi­ mize the enemy's chances for ambush. neer in the State of Pennsylvania.

25 Ma;or Don W . Barber Equalio l or rnp

Quality Control-Product Tmprovement! This rather tively small team (4-5 personnel) of representative simplistic equation is univer sally applicable to the specialists who will sample A rm y-wide users of the producti on of an y item. While the product of the school's products with questionnaires and interviews. military training and com ba t devel opments system is Their intention is to gather data on which to evaluate unique, nonetheless, its production is governed by the the worth of these products. parameters of the same product improvement equation. • Debriefing of Assigned PersonneL This data col­ The achievement of improved readiness, which de­ lection mode formalizes a previous informal practice pends upon both better training and viable combat by using the basic collection devices associated with developments, is contingent upon a thorough under­ the Field Vi sitation Program. It will assure the back­ standing of the param et ers of the equation. gro und and experience th at an individual brings to Tn an effort to make true readiness a reality for the the sch ool on his assignment will be considered in the Army's engineer, the U SA ES h as embarked on an assessment of the USAES mis sion products. The in-depth progr am for the qu ality control of its products. mechanism for data collection is under development. This pr ogr am centers on one of the mo st important Implementati on is sched uled for 3rd Quarter FY 74. and unfortunately most ofte n forgotten clements of • Debriefing of Student Personnel. This mode will the communication process-feedback. Our products insure that the experience and background of selected are equipme nt, materials. organization s, doctrinal and students are tapped in the coll ec tion of appropriate trainin g literature. tr aining aids , a nd tr ain ed personnel. field feedback data. A pilot program wa s conducted Wh en prope rly prepared and bu ilt int o a common with the current EOAC class. sys tem- milita ry engineering-these pr oducts are cap­ • MOS Proficiency Test Data. Thc reports gener­ able of performing their readiness mission in superlative ated by the U. S. A rm y Enlisted Evaluation Center fashi on . The caveat " properly prepar ed ," is the fly in pr ovide a valuable sour ce of feedback and will be the ointme nt. Up to now the gauge for measuring the emphasized in the future implementation of the total value of our products has been somewhat peremptory Field Feedback Survey System. The data collection and at best cursory. In the past the USAES has reli ed device is under development. upon mailed questionnaires to graduates of school • Mailed Graduate Questionaire . T raditionally thi s courses and an occ asional comment on a field manual data mod e had been the sole collection device. Unde r by a few interested persons to evaluate our products. the new F ield Feedback concept, the mailed qu es­ Resp onses to mailed questionnaires h ave been poor tionnaire will be a stand-by mode for use only as a with les s than a 30% return rate. Thus the data used supplement for specified reasons. for combat and training devel opment was sketchy at • R esearch Feedback. This mode uses the feed­ best. Such a ca valier approach ca n no longer be tol­ back data of other service scho ols h aving significant e ra ted . After an in-depth study. a syste m for data blocks of Engineer-related instruction in their cur­ collection- T he Fi eld Feedback System-was estab­ ricula . Once implemented , the ana lysis of such fee d­ lished . It con sists of the following eleme nts: field back wiII complement the data received through other visita tion: debriefing of U SA ES staff and faculty: de­ modes. briefin g of student perso nnel; MOS test pr oficiency T he major collection vehicle in the Feedback Sys­ data ; mailed ques tionnaires, to USA ES gradua tes; and tem wiII be the F ield V isitation Program. For it is resear ch feedback. E ach of these elements is dis cussed through direct , face-to-f ace co mmunication th at the below­ most reliable data to be used both in the systems • Fi eld Vi sitation Program. This program provides engineering of USAES curricula and training develop­ for annual visits to units which use the U SA E S mission ments, and in combat developments will be accrued. products. These visits will be accomplished by a rela­ Systems engineering is a term that has recently

26 roved eadiness Major Matthew J . Jones, Jr. entered the lexicon of the service school staffs and sidered as totally representative of the training and faculties. In essence, it is an elaboration of the classic combat development universe, several clues evolved problem solving scheme-identify the prob lem, de­ on how to improve the visitation program, i.e., what termi ne alternative solutions, and redu ce or eliminate questions to ask, how to ask them , and how to man age the problem through the application of the optimum the volume of data gathered. This visit proved con­ feasible alternative solution. Systems engineering is clusively tha t the field has many lessons learned that being ap plied to all USAES courses and training de­ need to be passed on and that these lessons are more velop ments. It consists of elements shown in Figure 1. likely to be tra nsmitted to a person through direct In tra ining or in combat developments, qua lity con­ communication than via a piece of paper to a faceless, trol is fundamental to produc t improvement. Quality nameless offic e an infinity away . An initial analysis control cannot be effected without feedback . The re­ has been made of the unit training portion and cert ain fore , feedback is essential to product improvement of the individual training portions of the USA REUR It mu st be a continuous process in order to keep pace Field Visit. The results arc summarized below: with the dynamic training and combat development • Unit Training. There were 245 Unit Training environment that surrounds the Arm y engineer in the questionnaires sent to USAR EU R. Approximately field. 60 % ( 144) were retur ned, 51 % (74) enlisted and Wha t Has Been Done? In order to obtain more re­ 49 % (70 ) offic er. By unit, respondents were abo ut liable data from a more representative sample of prod­ equally divided between engineer combat and con­ uct users , the USAES proposed the Field Feedb ack struction units. Highlights of the findings were : System. With concept approval from CONARC and -Drug/ alcohol abuse and short age of key MaS's aCE, the USAES fi elded a pilot Field Visitation were the major personnel obstacles impacting on Program to survey 19 engineer units in Europe durin g training. March 1973. -It is also significant that enlisted personnel re­ The Field Visitation Te am (co mposed of 5 person­ ported unit mor ale and discipline as verging on nel) visited two combat engineer brigade headquarters, being a major problem. an engineer group headquarters, seven engineer bat­ -Significantly, neither the shortage of TOE, nor talion s, and five separate engineer companies. The inoperative TOE, equipment was reported as creat­ team survey included questions pertaining to: MaS ing a serious problem affecting tr aining although tasks for 24 of the 164 engineer skills; equipment combat units indicated a more severe problem usage; training liter ature usage; non-re sident (corres­ ( 26 %-major problem) than did construction units pondence) subcourse rsage; a unit training survey (l 3% - major problem) . abo ut training problems (a follow-on to the En gineer - Demolition areas and qua rry/borrow sites were Dynamic Training Survey of Ja nuary 1972 ) and reported in short supply with combat units having missions assigned to units; proposed assault engineer major problems in demolition training area avail­ functions ; and revision to the Ca reer Management ability (46% -major problem ) . Fields (eMF) for engineer soldiers. Overall , the - Practice/inert mine availability was seriously de­ return rate for questionnaires was ap proximately 68 % . grading realistic mine-countermine training of com­ The other 32% did not respond for various, reasons, bat engineer units. viz, personnel not available at home station, the survey - General construction materials such as plumbing was too difficult or too long, shortages of surveyed and electrical supplies, and lumber were in short MOS 's, and five of the 1200 personnel surveyed just supply. didn't give a damn. -Twenty-five percent indic ated tha t local safety/ While the data from USAREUR cannot be con­ environmental restrictions were major problems af­

27 fecting training. This response was prim arily keyed in quality control of course design ; obtain reactions to the range restric tion for demolitions (ma ximum to publi shed training literature for the purpose a of 40 pounds per shot) and not being allowed to improving its utility to the user ; and assess the cut nati ve timber. effectiveness of USAES correspondence courses. -Many personnel indicated little or no knowled ge Sixty-three combat engineer and 24 construction of thei r unit Army Training Program and hence had engineer officers responded to the questionnaire no real concept of what to train or how to train comprising a 66 % and 61.5% return rate, respec­ - Only 23 % had read ATP 5-35T, but of those tively. who had 69% indic ated tha t it was an improve­ Figures 2 and 3 depict the tasks rated most difficult. ment ove r the existing ATP . Note in Figure 2 that only one task, No. 26, involved -There was a wide divergence of opinion between a knowledge of combat engineer expertise. Both offi cer and enlisted personnel regarding the value Figures 2 and 3 show a great deal of agreem ent in of the ATTS/ORTT'S received in the past year. tasks found diffi cult and their relative order of priority. The officers believed that the ATT's were not a Most tasks fou nd difficult were those that fall in the good test of mission, staff act ions, logistics, and general area of L eadership. The preponderan ce of the materiel readiness while the enlisted personnel , in remainder of the tas ks in both Figures 2 and 3 pertain the main, felt that the ATT's were excellent. to defi cienc ies in Training Managem ent . - T here was little usage of non-MOS Army Sub­ Figures 4 and 5 show the most fre quently done tasks ject Schedul es. and average frequency by functional are a for combat - Over 33% of those responding had never par­ engineer officers. Th ese data show that combat engineer ticipate d in a test or exe rcise at the company, pla­ officers in USAR EUR are spending relatively little time toon , or squad level. Approximately 40 % had never on comba t engineer related tasks. Thi s finding cor­ parti cip ated in a combined arms FTX and over relates with the data in Figure 2 and partially explains 70 % had never parti cip ated in engineer airm obile the dearth of combat engineer tasks found to be most training. difficult, since the level of difficulty will vary with the - T he training support from the next higher head­ scope of tasks perform ed. quarters- schedulin g of training facilities, guid­ Figures 6 and 7 show the most frequently done tasks ance, etc-was rated as poo r to fair. and average freque ncy by funct ional area for construc­ - Approximately 36 % indicated th at mandatory tion engineer offi cers. An analy sis of these data show subjects are a major impediment to unit training. most construction tasks are verti cal in nature and the - On the average about 27 days/ year were spent preponderance were in the building ren ovati on and in field trai ning near home station, 50 days in field self help categories. It appears th at construction eng­ train ing away from home station, and 15 nights in ineers in USARECR do not extensively work on large field training. Of particular significance, however, scale, MCA type, construction projects. Oth er findings was the low average percentage of personnel avail­ included: able for such field training (over 43 % indicated - A suggested increase in EOB C instruction for that only 60-75 % of the troops were present for comp any admini str ation. field training) . Additiona lly, the average num ber - A gene ral acceptance of the adequacy of exist­ of days spent in the field was indicated by con­ ing training aids and publications. struction unit pr oject TDY and does not accurately -Satisfaction with the tech nical con tent of USAES reflect the actu al time spent in the fi eld by combat corresponden ce courses. engineer unit s. Reserve Com ponents Feed back - Only 37 % had heard of the Engineer Dynamic The Field Visitation Pro gram is a phased program . T raining Coun cil. A higher percentage 44 % , had Ph ase I consisted of the pilot USAREUR study . Phase read the Dynamic T raining Ar ticles in the engineer. n will consist of visits to both Active Army and Magazine. Reserve Component enginee r unit s. In view of the • Ind ividual T raining. The indi vidual training sur­ increase d emp hasis being accorded the Reserve Com­ veys ana lyzed to-da te pertain to combat and con­ ponnts, the liaison subprogram of the USAES Expanded struction officer questionnaire s. The object ives of Reserve Compo nent Support Pr ogram was seized on as these su rveys were to : validat e job task inventories an interim measure for soliciting feedback from the for the 1328, 1330 , 1331, and 1342 officer MOS's ; R eserve Components until phase II is initiated. The determine on-the-job p roficiency of USAES officer visiting team has been composed of officer representa­ graduates in the above MOS's; assess the effective­ tives of the two Deputy Comm andants of the USAES ness of USAES teaching methods/media as a step to insure full coverage of the two major aspects of

28 the USAES mission, viz., training and education, and principal concern of the commanders and their staffs combat and training developments. Units visited to-date was the devising of some motivation/incentive which include the 41 2th ENCOM ( USAR), 416th ENCOM would stimulate interest in training. Personnel need (USAR), 41lth Engineer Brigade (USAR), 16th to be stimulated to the point where they are ea ger Engioeer Brigade (OHARNG ) , and 168th Engineer to participate in and , indeed, look forward to realis­ Brigade (MSARNG ). The feedback through this team tic, hands-on, mission training during weekend has presented a generally consistent picture of the MUTA ( Multiple Unit Tr aining Assemblies). status of tr aining within Reserve Component Engineer - Those units that have received additional paid Units. This picture reveals the following : drill time for training preparation have experienced - The mor ale and esprit de corps is high within a greater level of improved training than those units those units visited. without sueh authorization. - A positive desire to improve training was - The engineer mogazine is widely recognized abundantly evident in all units visited. as a useful media to share the wealth of trainingin­ - The constraints which act upon the Reserve Com­ novations being developed. pon ents are in many cases different from those - A need is seen for larger unit exercises and de­ which drive the Active Arm y with time being the velopment of CPX's to train and test major engineer principal constraint. headquarters. - By and large the Active Army is uninformed, or In conjunction with the evaluation of selected Re­ worse mi s-informed, as to the Reserve Components. serve Component unit annual tr aining, a testing of - Training of construction units is progressing ex­ questionnaires to be used for the Field Visitation tremely well through a variety of site/ installation Pr ogram during Phase II is being conducted. and domestic action con struction proj ects. What is Being Done Now? The USAES is currently - Conversely, the over-commitment of combat analyzing the remainder of the myri ad of data collec­ engineer units to site/installation and domestic ted in Europe for MOS 's. Th e major results from feed­ action project s is severely degrading combat engineer back recei ved to dat e are being used for development dynamic mission training. of USAES and USAT C-Engineer/Fort Leonard Wood - T he lack of weekend 101' (Inactive Du ty Train­ curricula, MOS ASUBJSCD' s, ATP's/ ATT's/N-MOS ing) sites to cenduct realistic mission training is AS UBJSCD's, and training literature such as the one also severely degrading training, particularly for stop MOS study guides. combat engineer units. What is Planned? - The R. C. units need more assets in the way of - Expansion of the Engineer School team VISitS, training funds and/ or train ing materiel , both con­ down to and including separate engineer groups. sumable and non-consum able, to make train ing more - Implementation of Phase II of Field Visitation dynami c. Pr ogram with visits by the selected specialist team -Trainin g assistance can be met in man y cases to Reserve Component and Active Army unit s in from resources close at hand such as increased use the field . of USAR Schools, sharing of expertise and/ or equip­ Field Fee dback is the principal element of the en­ ment among un its in close proximity to one another gineer traini ng community quality control effort. It both USAR and ARNGUS, and incre ased use of training institutions both public and private. will be the major driving force in the continuing re­ - Equ ipm ent availability vari es among the uni ts cvalnation and updating of USAES products. with steady improvement in program. All commanders and staffs are ur ged to keep the - T here was an intense interest in the new ATP/ USAES in their communication cycle as we try to ATT / N-MOS ASUBJSCD development using the keep you in ours. F or it is only through dialogue ( read systems engineering ap proa ch,-objective/ task com­ that dual feedback ) that Qu ality Control = Pr oduct pleti on rather th an the cyclic B UT / AUT approach. Improvement. e - T he R.C. units were most receptive to the Field Fe edback Visitation Pr ogram and, indeed, anxio us Ma jor Matthew J. Jones Jr. is the Chiej, Reserve to participate and be given the opportunity to have Com ponent Support Division, Department oj Army a voice in the form ulation of programs gove rni ng Wide Tr aining Support, U S A rmy Engineer School. their training. Since his commissioning in 1962 , he has served with -Although there have been num erou s obvious suc­ the 326 th Airborne En gineer Battalion, 8th and 2d cesses in improved/dyn amic training, commanders Engineer Battali ons, U S A rmy Supp ort Command­ recognize that much more needs to be done. A Vietnam, MACV, and Test Command, Defense Nu­

29 clear Agency. He has a M asters Degree in civil en­ eluding Sp ecial A ssisian t to th e Commandant of the gineering from Stanford Uni versity and is a graduate USAES , Li eutenants A ssignment Office r for the En­ of th e Engin eer Officer Advan ced Course and the gineer B ranch, the U. S. Na val Support Force for 16 Com mand and General Staff College. m onths in A ntarctic a on the ice, Con struction Staff ------_..- O fficer in Vietnam, and with the 27th En gineer Bat­ Major Don W. Barber is the form er Chief of th e talion. He has atte nded the En gineer O fficer Basic Unit Training Branch for the Deputy Commandant of Course, and the A irborne and Ranger courses . The Co m bat and Training De velopment at the En gineer major also attended Graduate School at th e Uni versity School , Fort Belvoir , Virginia, and is a member of of T ennessee in 1966 and the Command and General the Dynamic Training Council. Sin ce entering the Sta ff College in 1970-1 971. A professional engineer, A rm y in 196 2 and receiving an R A commission', he he is current ly the S-3 o f the 12 th Engineer Battalion has serv ed in a number of engineer assignments in- in Germany.

Figure 2

Most Di f f icul t Tasks - Combat Of ficers Sample Size = 48

Task 11 Di ff % Diff

1 . Develop r esponsibility i n subordinates 2 7 56% 2 . I mprove uni t mor ale , espr i t de corps, et c . 26 54/0 3. Ha ndl e disruptive influences 25 52% 4 . Motiva te s ubor d i na tes e f f ec t i ve ly 24 50% 5. Improve pe r s onal qua lifi ca t ions t o be be t t e r leader 22 46% 6 . Develop good human r elations within unit 21 44% 7. Conduct l awful search/seizure 19 40% 8. Identify drug/alcohol a bus e r s for disciplinary action 17 35% 9 . Eva l uate unit f or morale, exprit, e tc . 17 35% 10 . Commu ni ca t e e f fec t ive l y 17 35% 11 . Choose pr ope r style of leadership 16 33% 12 . I dentif y pee r group pressure wi t h i n unit 16 33% 13 . Initiate elimination procedures 16 33% 14. Prepare enlisted effici ency r eport 15 31% 15. Us e AR 635-206 a nd AR 635 -2 12 14 2 9/0 16. Ana l y ze time and resources for training 13 2 7% 17. Pr e pa r e unit training s chedul e 13 2 710 18. Counse~ sub or dina tes 13 2 770 19. Enforce supp ly ec onomy 13 2 7% 20 . Advi se subordinates on s e r v i ce bene fits 12 25% 21 . Interpret pay voucher 11 23/0 22. Eva l ua t e un it training requirements 11 23/0 23 . Supe rvi s e unit a thl e t i cs 11 23/0 24 . Check morning report f or accuracy 11 23%

25 . Se l ec t training methods 11 23/0 26 . Pr epa r e demo target r econ report/target folder 10 2 1/0 27. Develop unit training ob j ec t i ve s 10 21/0 28 . Pr e pa r e unit training directives 10 21%

29. Suppo r t drug and alcohol abuse programs 10 21/0 30. Coordinate operator testing/licensing 10 21%

30 Fi gure 1. Sys t ems Engineering Pr ocess

Individual Training Unit Tr aining

~e p 1 J ob Ana lys i s Mission Ana l ysis Pr oblem Step 2 Selecting Tas ks for Training Selec t i ng Tas ks f or Training Identification Step 3 Tra ining Analys i s Task Analysi s

Al ter na t ive ~ep 4 Developing Tr a i ni ng Ma terials Soluti ons ATP/ATT/N-MOS ASUBJS CD Developme nt Determination Step 5 Developing Evaluation ~~ te r i a l s

Op timum 6 Conduct of Tra i ni ng Conduct of Tr aining Sol ut i on rep Application Step 7 Qualit y Control Quality Control

Figure 3

Most Difficult Tasks -Construction Of f icers Sample Size - 21

Task 1t Diff /0 Diff

1. Develop responsibility in subordinates 11 52% 2 . Develop go od human relations wit h i n unit 9 43% 3. Improve personal qua l ities t o be better leader 9 4 3% 4 . Ide ntif y pe er group pres s ur es wi t h i n un i t 9 43 '10 5 . Prepare enlisted efficiency repor t 9 437, 6 . Conduct lawful search/ seizure 8 38/0 7 . Improve unit mor a le, e s prit de corps , etc. 8 3810 8 . Estimate c ompaction equipment r equirements 7 33 /~ 9 . Mot iva t e subordinates effec tively 7 33% 10. Handle disruptive i nfluences 7 33% 11. Initiate rec ommendations f or awa rds/de co r a t ions 7 33% 12 . Advise subordinat e s on serv ice bene f its 6 29/0 13. Perfor m a cti vities i n accordance w/profe ssiona l e t h i cs 6 297, 14 . Evaluate unit training requirements 6 29/0

15. Establish effe c t i ve wor k r elations w/subo rdinat es 6 29/ 0 16 . Establish e f f ective work r elations w/supe rior s 6 29% 17. Direct EH t o prope r channe l for a s sistance 6 29% 18 . Identi fy alcohol and drug abu ser s for disciplinary act i o n 5 24% 19. Plan vertica l construction 5 24/0 20 . Evaluate sui tab i l i ty of ma ter ia l s ava i lable 5 24/0 21 . Ana l yze area being drained 5 24/0 22 . Select training methods (incl dynamic training) 5 24/0 23, Instruct a class. 5 24/0 24 . Coun s el subordinate s 5 24% 25 . Evaluate u ni t for mor a l e , espri t , e t c . 5 24 "10 26 . Select routes f or unit mov ements 5 24% 2 7 . Check unit or de r s 5 24%

31 Figure 4

Most Frequently Done Tasks - Combat Of ficers Sample Size '" 48

Task 1f Done % Done

1 . Prepa r e enlisted efficiency report 43 89"10 2 . Direct EM to proper cha nne l f or assistance 43 89'1, 3 . Rec omme nd individualS for promotion/demotion 42 8n 4 . Land Navi ga t e 39 8 1% 5 . Pe r f orm duties as class A agent 39 81% 6 . ~~ i n t a i n personal physical fitness 37 77% 7. Appr ove leave or pass r equests 36 75'10 8 . Use/supervise use of M16Al/M203 35 7310

9 . Use protective ma sk 35 73/0 10. Use tactical radio equipment 35 73% 11. Inspect wea po ns 34 71% 12. Use and Supervise use of . 45 cal pistol 32 67% 13. Supe rvi s e un it athletics 30 62% 14. Serve as member o f unit pr omot i on board 30 62%

15 . Check mor ni ng r e port f or a ccuracy 29 60/0 16 . Check duty r oster 29 60%

17. Enf orce supply econ omy 29 60/0 18. Sup ervise unit physical t r a i ni ng pr og ram 28 58% 19. Supervise unit movements 28 58% 20 . Check military correspondence 28 58/0 21 . Perform unit mess sanitation insp 2 7 56% 22. Ana lyze transportation requirements 27 56% 23 . Supervis e use of equip ope r a t iona l rec 27 56% 24. Evaluate phy s i ca l secur i ty 26 54% 25. Select transportation r ou tes 26 54% 26. Perform duties of convoy/serial c ommand er 26 54% 2 7. Inspect vehi c l es f or proper l oading 26 54% 28. Insure proper use pho ne t i c alphabet 26 54% 29. Initiate recommendations for awar ds z'decor a t i ons 26 54% 30. Supervise use of DA Form 2408-14 26 54% 31. Perform preventive ma i nt e na nce operat ions 26 54% 32. Obtain mil geog r aphi c documents for op n 25 52% 33 . Supervise use of dump trucks 25 5 2"10 34. Ana l yze transportation routes 25 52'70 35 . Perform ve hic le sa fety inspection 25 52'70 36. Enf orce authentification procedures 25 52'70 37 . Initiate e l i mi na t ion proceedings. 25 52'70

38. Super v i s e use equi p ma i nt r ecords 25 52/0 39. Control platoon/comp any org ma i nt 25 5210

32 Figure 5

Average Frequency by Functional Area - Combat Of f i c e r s

Se c t ion Av g /v Done

1. Bridging 27% 2 . Vertical Construction 19/0 3 . Horiz ontal Construction 6% 4 . Ut ili t i e s 4% 5 . Ce o logy and Quarrying 1% 6 . Equipment Utilization 15 /0 7. Combat Construction Managemen t 31% 8 . Pipeline Construction 0% 9. Engineer Reconnaissance 3 1% 10 . Explo sives and Demoliti on 25% 11 . Mi ne/Cou nter mi ne Wa rfare 15'10 12. Field For t i fic a t ions 8/0 13 . Camoufla ge 12% 14. Co ncrete 12% 15. Atomic Demolition Mu n i t ions 4% 16. As saul t Rive r Crossing s 19% 17. Engineer Combat Support 23% 18. Rig ging 4% 19. En vironmental Considerations 1010

Figure 6

Mos t Frequentl y Done Tasks - Construction Of ficer s Sample Size = 21

Task if Done % Done

1. Esimate c onstruction equipment requirements 17 81% 2 . Mai n ta i n per sona l physical fitnes s 17 81% 3. Recommend individuals for promotion/demotion 17 81% 4. Direct EM to proper channel f or assistance 17 81/0 5. Prepare enlisted efficiency report 16 76/0 6. Evaluate suitability of materials available 15 71% 7. Initiate reconme nda t i ons for awa r d s/d e cor a t i ons 15 71% 8. Ana lyze c onstruction directive 15 71% 9 . Conduct inv estigation of wor k site 15 71% 10. De velop a c t ivi t i e s list 15 71% 11. Estimate res ource requirements f or an a c t ivi ty 15 71% 12. Estimate material requirements f or a n a c t ivi ty 15 7110 13. Estimate equipment requirements f or an activity 15 71/0 14. Esti mate manpower requirements for an activity 15 71/0 15. Estimate duration of an activity 15 71/0 16. Estimate projec t duration 15 711'0 ~ 7 . Prepare c onstruction schedule 15 71/0 Revise c onstruction schedule 15 711'0 19. Use c onstruction schedule 15 71/0 20. Evaluate c anst site (subdiv/drng/eartwk) 14 67%

33 21 . Interpret s pecificati on /construction draw i ngs 14 67% 22 . Inspect building constructi on 14 67h. 23 . Es t ima t e dum p truck r e quireme nts 14 67'7. 24 . Prepa re l ogic ne t work 14 67'7. 25 . Appr ove leave or pa s s r eque s ts 14 67% 26 . Plan vertica l constructi on 13 62% 27 . Pl a n s i t e pr e par a t ion 13 62% 28 . I nspect mas onry cons t r uc tion 13 62'70 29 . Supervise use of TOE cons tructi on t oo l s 13 62'70 30 . Plan r enovations a nd r emodeli ng 13 62% 31 . Inspect r enova t i ons a nd r emode l i ng 13 62/0 32 . Pe r f or m duties as cla ss A a ge nt 13 6n 33 . Super v i se ver t i cal constr uction 12 5 71. 34 . Sup ervise pl acement of con cr ete forms 12 5 7% 35 . Supervise r enovations and r emodeling 12 5 7% 36 . Prepa r e qua l i t y control plan 12 57% 37 . Implement quality c ontrol pl a n 12 5770 38. Pl an unit movements 12 5710 39 . Ana l yze transportation requ irements 12 5 7"10 40 . Al l ocate transportati on a s s et s 12 5 7"1. 41 . Plan ma s onry constr uction 11 5n 42 . Supervi se plac ing/f i nishi ng / cur ing concrete 11 52% 43 . Conduct small scale r enovation and r emode l i ng 11 52io 44 . Check r enovati on/remodeling of buildi ng 11 52% 45 . Esti ma te scoop loader r e qui r ements 11 52'70 46 . Admi ni s t er physica l prof i ciency t ests 11 52% 4 7. Use /supervise use of . 45 cal pi s tol 11 sn ,

Figure 7

Average Frequency by Functional Area - Construction Officers Sample Size = 21 Section Avg % Done

1. Bridging 5% 2. Vertical Construction 40% 3. Horizontal Construction 10% 4. Utilities 10% 5. Geology and Quarrying 1% 6. Equipment Utilization 19% 7. Construction Management 71% 8. Pipeline Construction 010 9. Engineer Reconnaipsance 5% 10. Explosives and Demolitions 4% 11. Mine/Countermine Warfare 3% 12. Field Fortif ications l io 13. Camouflage 5% 14. Concrete no 15. Atomic Demolition Munitions Oio 16. Assault River Crossings 0/0 17 . Engineer Combat Support 5% 18. Rigging 1% 19. Environmental Considerations 5% 20 . Soils Engineering 5% 34 gained in popularity as a repl acem ent for dynamite .....UJ LL is an explosive closely rela ted to ANFO cal1e d slurry . To comprehend fully the evolution of slurry explos ives, one must start with the discovery tha t adding fuel oil to pelletized ammonium nitrate. (fertilizer) . called prills, resulted in the making of ANFO . Unfortunately, ANFO is not with out severa l draw­ backs, including its low density and ability to att ra ct and abso rb moisture. Paradoxically, it was found tha t through the addition of water . with suitable sta bilizing au agents, and, if desired, gelling agents, most problems could be overcome . Hence. slurry. And. as a bonu s, hand ling of the explosive is simp lified. Water-based slurries or gels vary in consiste ncy from a heavy paste of jelly to a solid rubbery mass, depending on the gell­ SergeClnt First Class Cha rles T. Lewis ing agents used, the most comm on being a type of gum . Gelling agents serve to insure a homogeneous n ancient times, the term "explosives" meant only consistency and fac ilitate handling. I one thing: black powder, a mixture of po tassium It can be only too obvious, even to the casual nitrate, sulfur, and charcoal. It was Roger Bacon who, observer, that the recent intr od uction of ANFO and in 1249, first published the formula to save himself slurries ha s already revolutionized construc tion bla sting from an accusation of witchcr aft. with the adva ntage s of econom y. safety. varied ap­ Of course, black powder con tinu es to survive to plicati on . compatabili tv with rock transmitt al velocities, this day but the commercial produ ction of th is first and rap id. voidless le ading of holes. Unlike his civil generation explosive by civilian manufacture rs has had counterpar t, the military engineer is fortun ate in th at a rap id decl ine in recent yea rs. T he U.S. Army is the conv entional demolition-type explosives main tained currently the greatest single consumer of black powder , in the Army 's arse nal includes M-l milit ary dynamite. and during 1967 and 1968 the Army pr ocurement which because of the exclu sion of nitro-glycerin in its was more than 4,000,000 poun ds per year, and about make-up and its ready availability in the face of dwindl­ 1,500,000 pounds in 1969, and about 800 ,000 in 1970. ing commercia l dynamite sources. offers the user some The " boom" also has fad ed from the business of of the adva nt ages sought after. and obtained, from manufacturing and using dynamite a long and faithful AN FO/ Slur ries. In a word, military dynamite, etc., workhorse for both civilian and military engineers. The provides a natur al stepping-stone to that day in the DuPont Corporation , the giant of the industry, has future when ANFO/Slurries are in common usage by closed down all but two of its dynamite manufacturing U.S. Army En gineers. plants and the number of facilities owned and oper ated Ju st a little foresight allows one to visualize a mobi le. by ot her com pa nies th at remain so engaged has . in pump-equi pped , transit-mi xer arriving at the construc­ just the pa st l2 years, gone from 36 to only 14. tion Engineer Battalion 's qu arr y, safely blending the Estimates are that dynamite will drop to five percent slurry chem icals at the blast site to a va riable, con­ of the explosives mark et by 1890. tro lled density, and pumping it int o a boreh ole all With the apparent pas sage of an explosive that ha s in a single, smoot h opera tio n.- Fi re-In-The-Hol e! e done a "bang-up" job for so many years. one must wonder what factors co nstribute to its demi se. Safety Sergeant First Class Charles T . Lewis entered the is a definite factor but sophistic ation in the state-of-the­ A rmy in 7961 and has served with the 17th Engineer art has resulted in blasting agents which can do a Battalion, 2d A. D.; 11th Engineer Battalion, Korea; better job , mor e efficiently, and are 80 percent less 78th Engineer Battalion, Germany; and the 65th expensive than dynamite. One example is ANF O (Am­ Engineer Battalion, 25 th ln fantry Division in Vi etnam. monium Nitra te/Fuel Oil ) . ANFO. as of 197 i , has His military education includes graduation from the "blown-up" to the 70 percent mark on the scal e that Combat Engineer Noncommissioned Officer Course in measures the nation 's explosive mark et. A cost of Germany, the En gineer NCO Course and the Engineer from four cents to six cents per pound make s ANFO NCO Advanced Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia . The ver y attractive for large scale production blasting and sergeant is currently assigned as the senior enlist ed ea rthmoving. Instructor of the Dem olition and Mine Warfare Divi­ A second example of a blasting agent that ha s rapidly sion, U.S. Army Engin eer School at Fort Belvoir.

35 E-CU TER

Colonel W. R.

Why can't the Army do a better job of training of the Working Group on Training Chaired by (me) for mine-countcrmine (M /CM) operations? Is is Colon el Hylander at a Barrier/ Countcrbarrier Con­ because: ference held at Fort Benning in May 1973. As such • Commanders are not concerned? they are causing a new look at a number of actions, TRUE FALSE and they should be of interest to trainers in the field, • Of poor guid ance from the Pentagon? Mine and boobytrap personnel casualties, as per­ TRUE FALSE centages of total casualties, rose from three percent • Of inadequate advice from Engineers? in World War II to 13 percent in Vietnam , Combat TRUE FALSE vehicle casualties, alread y high in World War If almost • M/CM doctrine is wrong? quadrupled in Vietn am . Commanders in Vietn am did TRUE FALSE get concerned, and in the late sixties that concern trig­ In my opini on, all are true. Commanders are not gered studies by a board of general officers, by the concerne d- at least not enough. Current guidance Combat Developm ent s Command, and by others. But from the Pentagon is poor, in part because it was it's now 1973, and let's look at that concern as it is based on inadequ ate advice fro m Engin eers. Our mine­ reflected in mine-c ounr errnine training today, countermine doctrine is wrong, when it comes to who In Basic Combat Training, trainees get only two is responsible for what. hours (of a seven week, four day course) ; it is es­ Th ese views obviously do not represent a n. offi cial sentially an introduction to countermine warfare plus position of the Army nor The Engineer School at Fort how to employ a Claymore mine . Th is is half what Belvoir, Virginia. They do, however, reflect a consensus it was in 1971, but at least better than noth ing in

BAS IC r,:,Q .~_~ .~.Ll ~ ~..l!:JJ.r\.!.q. 16 HR, (% OF TOTAL CASUALTIES)

KOREA

PERSONNEL 3 13

CO M BAT 2\ 2 HRS VEHICLES 38 7 9 o _1_" 19 ..,n 19 6 0 1971 1973 PATr l RN CM CM 1\ LAYING CLAYMO RE

Mine and Boobytrap Casualties Mine-Countermine Emphasis in Basic Combat Training

36 MIN TRAINI NG

Hylander, Jr.

,'1966 . It is mu ch less than th e BCT trainee gets in givmg mine-counterrnine and LAW trammg to all Fir st Aid, CBR, or gua rd duty, for example. In ad­ elem ent s of the 4th Division. There is good mine­ vanced Individual Training there are similar patterns: co untermine training elsewhere , fr om our observations In fantry cut in half; Armor by 80 percent; Artillery to on liaison visits, but there is also poor tr aining and zero; and Engineer from 33 to 30 hours. This de­ none at all sometimes. If the shoe fits, you be th e emphasis of min e-countermine training is also evident judge . I kn ow it fits some commanders in the Engineer s in NCO and officer courses. The re ason s for these as well as th e combat arms, in the Reserve Components reductions are obvious : course lengths have been cut and in th e acti ve Army. to save money and manpower ; and min e-counterrnine Let's look now at guidance from the Army Staff in training has suffered bec ause it was not as important the Pentagon, and at the Engineer advice upon which i s other subjects. that guidance was based . So the trainees are not getting taught mu ch about In 1971 , the CDC Enginee r Ag ency completed its mines and boobytraps, and-marc importantly-the Mine-Counterrnine Study (MICMIS ), calling on the NCOs and officers who will have to teach them during Army to: unit training are not being adequately taught how to • Increase emphasis on countermine and non­ fill the gap. Are commanders concerned? standard mine warfare, and including scatterable mines. It should be noted that th is does not necessarily • Teach the total resource approach in all NCO, co nde mn unit commanders for downgrading training OCS , and officer school programs. conducted in th eir units. There is som e good training • Expedite boobytrap simulation devices. at Fort Carson, where the 4th Engineer Battalion is • Establish mine-countermine exp erts in all combat

ADVANCED INDIVIDUAL ~ .~ . t~. t:J_~.~.L !'cf)_~_~~ .gg_.! !:!.P L~~. ~~ .l ~ .~ ENGR · .. .U'.! !tJ.G. 16 HRS TRAINING 3 3HRS

12 HRS ARMOR ARTY

S HRS 10HRS 9HRS 6H RS

2HRS 1960 19 66 19 7 1 1973 ~[l Ih!J:l' l 0 PA1H RN INTRO CM BALANc e D LAY ING M!C'Il 71 73 71 73 71 7 3

Mine-Countermine Emphasis in Advanced Indi:vidual Mi ne-Countermine Emphasis in Infantry Advanced Training Individual Training

37 and combat support units, and teams on high staffs. really viable. To get an expert, a unit must obtain a • Train these experts by quota and identify them by quota, then send a man off and pa y his TDY for Speci al Qualifications Identifier (SOl ) or prefix. several weeks, and then when he returns try to spread Th e Army Staff approved this study a year later, him over his normal job plus his added special duties. in 1972, but que stioned the recommend ed den sity and Even if a man already has the SOI or prefix added to location of mine-countermine experts, particularly those his MOS, the Ar my's present computerized personnel below batt alion level. In 1973 , still another year later, replacem ent system just cannot identify him and get we are still trying to refin e the requirements for these him to a unit where his skill is needed. experts. Disagreements still exist, and we are a long The Engineer School is designin g a rigorous hands­ way from seeing ;.IDy of them appear in uni ts. on training course for enlisted mine- counterm ine ex­ The first three points above are motherhood. No­ perts, and oth er training for the combat enginee r tra cks body in his right mind would disagree. Nonetheless, of officer and NCO basic courses. We are also seeking we sec no increase of emphasis, and I haven't been to reach some solution to the problem of providing able to fi nd out just what the "total resource approach" minc-counterrni ne experts in the combat arms, and is. It isn't being taught, at any rate. Th e expediting we hope by the time this issue of the engineer is of boobytrap simulation devic es has hit some snags, published that problem will be solved. too, that are covered in another article in this issue. In the meantime, however , this problem is with us So let' s examine the recommenda tions to establish because the Engineers gave poor advice to the Pen­ mine-countermine experts in units, and to train them tagon, and it resulted in equally poor guid ance com ing by quota and identify them by SOlar prefix. back from the Pentagon. One oth er part of that Th e original Mr CMI5 recommend ed density placed Engineer advic e was a conclusion that mine-counter­ one enlisted specialist in each infantry and engineer mine doctrine is sound. The more we struggled with squad, with ot hers at platoon level. At company level the training problem, the more I began: to look into just there would be an M/ CM NCO or officer, or both, how sound the doctrine was. I've become convinced and there would be an M / CM offi cer on the battalion it has some flaws. staff (IN, AR, FA , EN , MP , MI ) . There would be FM 20-32 outl ines mine-counterrnine responsibilities team s of t\VO to five M/ CM experts on brigade and as follows: higher staffs. In an effort to refine this density down­ • All troo ps are respon sible for ind ividual counter­ ward to me et DA guid ance , the Engineers proposed min e actions. that there be one officer and one NCO on each bat­ • Combat arms and combat engineers are re­ talion staff. the sa me teams at higher level, and two sponsible for empl acing mines and for deliberate MOS-rrained expe rts in each comba t engineer squad. countermine actions. You should note that there is no Combat engineer plat oon leaders and NCOs would difference between combat arms and engineer re­ also receive special M/ CM training as part of their sponsibilities here. You should also note that it doesn't regul ar trainin g courses. with emp hasis on their roles specify wheth er they are individual or unit responsi­ to advise, assist, and train others. Engineer experts bilitie s or both-just "combat arms" and "e ngineers." would be identified by MOS ; others by SOl or prefix; • Engineers also provide technical advice and as­ and all would be called "Sappers." This appeared to sistance, and " participate" in the planning, coordina ­ be a good compromise , but objections arose over two tion, and emplacement of large- scale barr iers. features : Elsewhere in the manu al, the small unit commander • Units have too man y special du ty positions now. is reminded that he is responsible for anything and Th e infa ntry , in particular , object s to any new specialist everything to do with mine-c ountermine operations , tags. The Army is too short of manp ower to add but he's told very little about how to do it. M/CM experts to TOEs, so the only recourse is to There are two fl aws in this doctrine as it is currently mak e it an additional dut y for someone like an assistant stated. The first is that individu al and unit respon s­ 53, and to iden tify him and his position by a prefix. ibilities are not clearly spelled out-either for combat It is similar to the system for CBR specialists. All too arms or engineers. As a result, mine-counterrnin e re­ often, the man becom es a part-time assistant S-3 and sponsibilities have not been picked up and carri ed over a par t-time specialist, proficient in neither and not into MOS definition s nor TOE capability statements, really his fault. except for combat engineers. In today's Army, with • A lot of people, myself included, believe that it's con straints on manpower and resources, individual training by quota and identification by SOl are not and unit training is being very carefully analy zed

38 ,{I (systems engineered) . Those sub jects not cle arly re­ qu ired by MOS duties or unit ca pability statements are being screened ou t of or ganized training and left up to the harassed unit co mmander to "insure proficiency." I believe thi s is th e fun damental reason for th e de­ crease d emphasis described above; it has been sys­ tem s-engineer ed out, in favo r of other high er priority subjects. The other flaw conc erns a gap between the respon si­ bilit ies of combat arms and engineers. Both are rea lly res pon sible fo r ever ything, but com bat arm s officers can look at the enginee r's role for adv ice an d assistanc e and decide very conveni ently "I don 't re ally have to train mu ch for thi s; I can call on the engineers when I need them. " Engineers, on the other ha nd, do almost no training for that advice and assistance role ; they tra in themselves for employ ment in mine-coun tcr min e companying unit tr aining kit, aimed at telling the operations and decid e. aga in very co nveniently. "If small un it lead er (of all arms) how to do it and how I'm ever aske d for advice , I'll give it; meanwhile we to tr ain to do it. This is pictured as the future "Bible" have a lot of other things to do." So th is ro le rar ely for the co mbat engineer's adv isory and tr aini ng role. gets exercised in pe acetime trai ning. Wh en the casualties .. Actions to create a "Sapper" min e-countermine start fallin g in wartime, eac h can poi nt to the ather enlisted exper t and to deve lop an M OS p rod ucin g and say, " It's your job, go out there and lay (or clear) course. .' a th ose min es." It hap pened in Vietnam, and Korea, and • C hanges to combat en ginee r officer and NCO • in World War n. If you do n't train for it before com ­ MOSs. and training courses, to add more mine-counter­ bat, you do n't do it very well when the guns ar e going mi ne expertise. off. • A dding the mine-counte rmine training ro le to the I n order to co rrect th ese do ctrinal gaps, The Engineer capability statements in combat engineer unit T OEs. School is pr op osing to rephrase the responsibilities of . T her e are also ac tions to ex pedite the developm en t individu als and units, and of unit commanders. These of new trai ning devices for bo obytraps and scatter able are described in another article in this issue. and are mines, bu t th ese are ou tside th e scope of this already intended to be in the 1974 edition of F M 20 -32, Mi ne­ Ierigt hy article . Coun ter min e Operations. Tn summary, there i ~ a lot tha t needs to be done T he re is one addition al combat engineer un it re­ to get the Army (and the E ngin eers ) with the pr oblem sponsibility being co nsider ed for incl usion- -to provide of mine-counterm ine training. M uch of it is underway. training in min e-c ou ntermine (a barrierz'counterbar ­ If you have ideas about how we can do a better job , rier ) oper ations. This is rea lly the heart of the solution or do it more quic kly. just let us kn ow. to the overal1 pro blem. If others habitually com e to If you would like to kn ow about the p roblems with .. co mbat engineers for help in training. and if engineers camou flage training, go back th rou gh this article and ar e ready to provide it, then we will be practicing -the insert " ca mouflage" wh erever yo u see "mine-c ounter­ way it ought to wo rk in wartime. Tt's already happening mi ne ." at Fort Carson and a few oth er places. and it ought to be happen ing everywh ere. Colonel Walter R . R ylander, Ir ., Deputy Com ­ In addition to chan ges to th e ma nu al, T he Enginee r mandant for Combat and Training Development, at School has un dertaken the following: the En gineer School, has had tours with the l st, 2nd, • TF 5-4256, Mine and Booby tr ap Training. R e­ Srd , 138t h, and 288th Engineer Com bat Battalions; leased in 1972 , this is a good color film aimed at th e the 487th Aviation En gineer Battalion (USA R), and ind ividu al sold ier. at the R epublic of V ietnam A rmed Forces E ngineer • "Don't Ge t Blown Up", a confidence-builde r car­ School. He holds a m aster's degree in Civil En gineer­ toon pamphl et bein g dev eloped jointly with the Co mbat ing from MIT. , and is a registered professional engi­ Arms T rain ing Board. It shoul d be distributed this fall. neer in New Y ork and a Fellow, A m erican Society of • A new rnine-counterrnine manual, with an ac­ Civil Engineers.

39 The Henry LarC0l11 Abbot Award Contract Construction For A Troop Unit

Captain Wordsworth A. Soders III

"To work on a multimillion dollar construction give to command an outfit on that kind of a job." job." "To share the joy of participating in the con­ Recently, such a dream became a realistic chal­ struction of something BIG that will remain long after lenge for one of the Arm y's construction battalions, our lives have ended ." Dreams of engineer soldiers and consequently, for many of the Corps' young offi­ of the seventies are written in those lines. cers and hundreds of its enlisted personnel. The proj­ Only a small lot of us normally see the cement and ect of projects came to life when directive for con­ aggregate of tho se dreams become concrete. Ordinarily, struction of the Chinh ae Ammunition Storage Facili­ the joys of seeing such dreams become reality are re­ ties Depot was received by the 44th Engineer Battal­ served for those whose assignment darts pierce the ion (Construction ) , (THE BROKEN HEART BAT­ Engineer District ring on OPO's big board. For the TALION), 2d Engineer Group, Eighth United States enlisted engineer soldier of the seventies; the dozer Army, Kore a. operator, or the carpenter who shares those dreams, The Depot comprises better than half of a multi­ the chance of awakening in his next assignment and million dollar Military Construction project under su­ finding them is slim, and more often than not, next to pervision of the U. S. Army Far East Engin eer Dis­ impossibl e. Th e average soldier reads about the big trict of the Pacific Ocean Division , and is the largest projects, or passes them on the highways and thinks to troop construction proje ct in the world today . Includ­ himself: " J surely would like to operate a pan on a ed in the total project are a new port facility capable big job like that", or "My squad could work rings of handling oceangoing ships, and a facility to store around those guys" , or maybe even, "What I wouldn't and maint ain large quantities of ammunition. Con­

40 ({astruction of the port was contracted to a civilian firm, 'Wand the maintenance and storage facilities construc­ tion was divided between a civilian contractor and the 44th Engineers. In essence, the battalion is working as a constructing agency for the District. The scope of work for the Depot includes construc­ tion of 26 earth covered, reinforced concrete Stradley ammunition storage bunkers, seven maintenance build­ ings of reinforced concrete and masonry construction, a railroad loading and off-loading facility, and con­ struction of several miles of all weather access road to the above mentioned structures. The average dimensions of each storage bunker are 25 feet wide by 80 feet long with a height of 1g feet. The configuration is that of a concrete shell arch 30 inches thick at the base and eight inches thick at the apex. Due to the continuous pour volume requirements of the bunkers and other buildings, their construction was let to the civilian contractor. This left the excava­ tion of bunker sites, preparation of the maintenance building pads, construction of the access roads and parking areas, and construction of the railroad loading off-loading facility to the letter companies of the bat­ talion. Companies "B" and "C" are accomplishing the major eartlunoving task, while Company "A" pro­ vides maintenance, quarrying, and paving support. All roads and parking areas of the Depot will be paved. A typical bunker site is 50 feet above the toe of the slope of the mountains in which it is built, with a hori­ zontal inset distance from the toe of slope of 150 feet. Such severe locations necessitated average vertical cuts

I of 30 to 40 feet through earth and rock with extremes of as much as 93 feet through solid rock in order to bring the sites to proper elevation for construction. Each bunker cavity requires a floor space of approxi­ mately 103 feet by 96 feet to allow proper orientation for construction of the critically spaced bunkers. Each control inspections were conducted by the battalion bunker requires a horizontal distance of ] 80 feet at civil engineer section during this phase of the construc­ its closest points to adjacent structures. The tolerance tion since failure to complete work meeting the re­ in elevation between adjacent structures is ] 8 feet. quired specifications on scheduled dates would result in This critical layout in the rugged terrain of a South delay of the contractors vertical work and substantial Korean mountain range was enough to keep at least penalty cost. two of the battalion's survey teams working continu­ The railroad loading off-loading facility consists of ously during that phase of the construction, Specifica­ a one mile access spur and a platform capable of tions required that the rock faces of the cavities be handling two bays of freight cars for loading or off­ cut to given slopes, thereby producing a need for close loading simultaneously. The entire railroad facility as coordination between the survey teams and the quar­ well as fi vc of the seven building pads and a large por­ rying crews. Coupled with the tremendous volume of tion of the road network were built on rice paddy sur­ blasting work to cut the cavities was the requirement face . to crush the blasted rock for use in concrete and pav­ During the latter part of 1972, following a contract ing work. To keep up with these requirements, Com­ mixup, the battalion found itself having to construct pany "A" operated four pneumatic track drills and an embankment approximately 80 feet high and 500 a 75 ton per hour crusher seven days per week to keep feet in length to provide road access to three of the on schedule during critical times. Frequent quality 26 Stradley bunkers. Having this unforeseen require­

41 These five photos vividly show how engineers get their job done in any place where u. 5. troops are stationed. Look­ ing clockwise from top left: First photo-Five ton trucks haul fill that will be placed on a com­ pleted bunker by 0-4 dozer. 0­ 4 can be seen on the top of a bunker in the right center of the picture. Second photo-This road will be the same elevation as the bunker in the upper left hand corner when the massive fill job is completed. Third pho­ to-Thousands of yards of fill will be needed to brin.9 this road to final grade in front of the bunkers at the upper left and upper center of this picture. Fourth photo: A completed bunker awaits its turn for water proofing and back filling. Fifth photo: This bunker is ready for ammunition. Grass will be planted to prevent erosion of the backfill. Of course, all of these actions were completed -mission a success.

42 ment placed on them in addition to having to construct during the project has averaged 22 officers, 460 U. S. several protective berms in front of various structures, enlisted personnel, 340 Korean Augmentees to the and being hampered by a long rainy season, the de­ United States Army, and approximately 200 Korean cision was made to augment the battalions earthmoving Nationals of the Korean Service Corps. capability. Thi s augmentation was accomplished by a The camp built to house the soldiers contains some platoon of earth movers from Company "B" of the semi-permanent buldings that will be left for use by S02d Engineer Battalion (Construction) . the units manning the Depot. The major shelters and While the earth movers hammered out their work other needed faciliti es of the camp however, are com­ between rains, the concrete work on the bunkers was prised of portable moduls called Porta-Kamps. These being finished. With the earth movers bogged down in are l O ft. by 30 ft. and 12 ft. by 30 f1. trailer hou se work, the task of backfilling the completed bunkers type structur es mounted on skids which the battalion was assigned to the vert ical construction platoons of has found suitable for every practical purpose from the battalion . This task was accomplished using five sleeping quarter s to supply and orderly rooms as well ton dump trucks, front end loaders, D-4 dozers, D­ as day rooms and recreational clubs. The camp is handle shovels and gasoline powered hand compactors. completely self-supporting. From its beginning in lat e 1970, until its comple­ Soldiers of the battalion along with their Korean tion , the total volume of earth moved for this project co-workers man a mini Facilities Engineer Shop for will be in excess of 1.5 million cub ic yards including the camp. This has provided the opportunity for sol­ the bunker site excavations and backfilling, the road diers to install and maintain an electrical distribution network cuts and fills, the pads for the maintenance system, a water purification and distribution system, and buildings, the railroad loading off-loading facility and a limited sewer system. All of these systems were de­ the berms for protection of various structures in the signed in the battalion civil engineer section. Even the complex. electrical power distributed throughout the camp is To provide security for all of this, several small se­ produced by troops in the appropriate MOS. curity buildings will be built by the battalion. Addi­ The living conditions at the "Broken Heart Com­ tionally, there will be fences buill totaling approxi­ pound" , as the camp is called by the members of the maely three miles of triple standard concertina and one BROKEN HEART BATTALION, are not the best, and one-half miles of chain link fence. and the soldiers often complain, but the morale is Naurally, no project of this magnitude could be un­ high when the work is good, and what better work is dertaken without giving due consideration to adequate there for the engineer soldier than that contracted by drainage. Moving as much earth as this project dic­ a District Office of the U. S. Army Corps of Engineers? tates constitutes a considerable change in the natural runoff of the area. Consequently some of the major vertical construction effort is being expended on drain­ Captain Wordswortli A . Soders III calls Marlin, age structures. These include a 45 foot span steel Texas home. He is a graduate of Prairie View A & M stringer, reinforced concrete deck bridge, a reinforced College of Texas, with a BS Degree in Architectural concrete double box culvert spanning a 30 foot stream, Engineering. He was comm issioned in The Corps of and a double barreled 72 inch reinforced concrete pipe culvert. Also being constructed as an intgral part of En gineers upon graduation in August, 1967 through the drainage system is a 2,300 foot paved tr apozoidal the ROTC program. Military assignments have been: canal with varying bottom width. Platoon Leader, 497 En gr. Co. (PC) , Vietnam, 68-69; When the Depot is completed, there will be an in­ Engineer Representative to the U. S. Army Military herent danger of possible explosion from the arnmuni­ Police School, Ft. Gordon, Ga . 69-71; S-3 Officer, tion stored there. For this reason, its location had to 44th Engineer Battalion (Const.); and Commanding be an isolated one . Due to the isolation, the 44th En­ e gineers were also tasked with construction and main­ Officer, Company C, 44th Engineer Battalion (Const.) , tenance of a temporary cantonment to quarter them­ 71-72 . He is presently a student in the Engineer Offi­ selves during construction. The battalion strength cers Advance Course, class 1-73.

43 MIN -C UNTERM E T AN G DEV CES Major A. J. Christensen The best way to train a soldier in mine-countermine F oreign mine s, both friendl y nad enem y types, must subjects is to train him using live mines and fuzes. Most also be duplicated in neces sary quantities to enable Americans would disagree with this type approach them to be used for classroom instruction. These mines and moth ers would have ap oplexy if they thought their are essenti al for rounding out the mine-countermine 'So ns were going to be trained in such a dangerous way. training of the US Army. There also needs to be a Since these situat ions exist, there have to be training meth od developed for adding realism to mine-counter­ devices available which can be used repetitively; which mine training. will assist in making the train ing effective, and which An urgent requirement exists for more effective and are of little or no danger to the trainee. realistic training in the detection, recognition and Th ere are presently seven AP mines (non-chemical) avoidance of mine antidisturbance devices. Th e need in an inert or practice version listed in Supply Catal og is for a modul ar device which provides stress and 1340 / 98IL. Of the AP mines listed, there are existing realism in mine-countermine training by simulating stocks of the inert M1 8A 1 and the pra ctice M8 (com­ the characteristics and effects of existing service mines. pone nts only) . One solution is a universal scoring modul e (USM) The situation on AT mine s is not much bette r. There which is now under developm ent. Triggering of this are two practice versions listed in the supply cat alog; device by personnel or equipment causes a noise and however, only the M20 pr act ice mine is avail able in a spray of a nontoxic, easily removable, dye or powder any quantity. Since the practice and inert versions ar e which marks the triggerin g cause, if it is within the not presently stocked in sufficient quantity for issue, spraying pattern. there needs to be a rapid means available to mak e up Th e proposed USM is compatible with M 16, a model mine that can be qui ckly and economically MI6AJ , MI8AI , M14, M19 , and MI2 mines but it produced . does add to the depth of cover requ ired , and burying A plastic mine model approa ch has been taken by it in soil affects its performance. the Combat Arm s Training Board (CATB ) at Fort Soluti ons to the current shortage of training devic es Benning, Georgia. Two AP and three AT plastic must be arrived at as expeditiously as possible , but mines were produced for the CA TB and tested at Fort any solution must not sacrifice the ultimate goal of Carson, Colorado by the 4th Engineer Battalion ( C) being able to conduct reali stic and meaningful training. and Infantry and A rm ored Units of the 4th Infantry M ajor A . .I. Christensen is the Chief, Training Di vision (Mechanized ) . These plastic mines were Publications Bran ch. Doctrine and Training Literature very effective trainin g devices. Other agencies have Division, Department of Doctrine and Training Devel­ been wor king on a different appro ach. opment, US A rmy Engineer School. He was with the A recommendation was submitted by the US Arm y Combat Developments Command Engineer Agenc y Engineer School (U SAES) to HQ CO NARC for as Chief, Doctrinal Literature Branch. Organization changing CTA 23- 103. This change, if adopted, will and Doctrine Division for two years prior to the merger authorize issue of practice or inert mines in suffi cient with USAES in Mar ch 1973. He holds a BS in Agricul­ types and quantities to allow Combat Engineer Bat­ tural Engineering, MS in M echanical Engineering and talions to inst all a 300 meter-front minefield with a is a graduate of the Basic and Advanced Officer courses 1-2-2 density using M20, M35 and Ml7 practice mines at Fort Bel voir, Virginia. The major has served with and for classroom hands-on instruction for a platoon­ an engine er brigade in Europe, Construction battalions size class on the M2, M3 , M16A 1, MI 8A 1, M26, in CONUS and Thailand, as an advisor in Vietnam MI9, M2I, M25, and M14 inert mines. and as a Facilities Engineer. e

44 Bridging the Gap FIXED QUOTAS TO BE SET FOR MAINTENANCE WARRANTS NEW rNTERMEDIATE COURSE IN FY 74 BEGINNING IN FISCAL YEAR 1974, fixed quotas will be established for those eligible individual s who desire to attend the new Maintenance Warrant Officer Intermediate Course. The course, comparable to an officer's advanced course, was launched last year through the combined efforts of the Ordnance and Engineer Schools. Th ose selected will be considered in light of manner of performance, potential value to the Army , education and type of assignments in which the officer has served. The course is conducted in two phases: the first, approximately 11 weeks in duration, consists of general military subjects and is taught at Aberdeen Proving Ground , Maryland, to both Ordnance and Engineer Warrant Officers; the second phase, lasting approximately five weeks for MOS 621 A, consists of engineer technic al subjects, and is tau ght at Fort Belvoir , Virginia . Since / the entire course is less than 20 weeks duration, it must be funded as TDY from local training funds. To be eligible ' for consideration, an individu al must have completed the Engineer Equipment Repair Technician Course and have between 5-13 years of warrant service. For those individuals who have not had the opportunity to attend the EERTC, there are quotas available that can be allocated on a TDY and return basis. The Engineer Branch will provide the quota, the individual's unit cuts the orders and funds the TDY. For EERTC quota information, call the Engineer Branch: AUTOVON 325-7434. ENGINEERS MUST NOW REQUEST THAT NEW MAP READING HANDBOOK FROM AG PUBLICATIONS CENTER THAT NEW DEPARTMENT OF THE ARMY Training Circular 21-26, "Don't Get Lost," a cartoon style pocket hand book that simplifies map reading for the individual soldier is going over big. Conceived by the U.S. Army Engineer School at F ort Belvoir, Virginia , and developed jointly with the Defense Mapping School and the Combat Arrns Training Board, this new look in informal training litera ture will soon be followed by "Don't Get Shot" (Camouflage and Field Fortifi cations) and "Don't Get Blown Up" (Mines and Boob y Traps) . Engineer units that need copies should send their requests to the U.S. Army Adjutant General Publications Center , 2800 Eastern Boulevard . Baltimore, Maryland 21220. Earlier, Engineer units were requesting copies from the Comb at Arms Training Board at Fort Benning, Georgia. OA SELECTION BOARD PICKS THREE SFC'S FOR ATTENDANCE AT PHOTOLITHOGRAPHY NCO COURSE THE ADVANCED COURSES of the NCO Education System (NCOES) were initiated in January 1972 . Th ese courses are designed to prepare personn el in grades E-6 and E-7 to perform duty as noncommissioned officers in grades E-8 and E-9 . A DA Selection Board comprised of officers and noncommissioned officers selected a number of personnel to attend the advanced courses programmed for Fiscal Year 1973. Three Sergeants First Class Everett D. Bogle, Frederic M. Church, and Donald W. Koons were named to attend the Photolithography Chief NCO Advanced Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia from April 22 through July 18 of this year. &!llX THE CORPS OF EN INEERS ~9

They've a song about the Army, The Navy and Marines; They've got one fo r the Air Force, The whole damned works it seems;

But they've never taken trouble, Though we've served them all these years, To even pen a line, For the Corps of Engineers We've built all their roads and airfields, Their pipelines and their camps; From underground munition dumps , To concrete loading ramps ;

Railroads, dams, and bridges, Electric high power lines, Canals and docks and harbors, Even coal and iron mines; But the Engineers aren't kicking, For when those outfits do come in , We know it's just another place, Where we've already been;

Before they even got there, We had to break the ground, And build it all to suit their needs, Solid, safe, and sound;

If the Army and the Navy, Ever look on heavens scenes, They may find that it is guarded, By the United States Marines. Now who will guard the streets up there, We aren't disposed to say, But we offer this suggestion, If they look at things that way;

When the Marines have taken over, In the land that knows no years, We're:sure they'll find- It w as all designed, By the Corps Of Engineers. H. W. Willhoite