The Future Of The Army Engineer

The Future of the Army Engineer
The events of September 11, 2001 fundamentally changed the landscape of the United
States Army. Among all the branches the Army Corp of Engineers has seen the biggest changes to its mission set. The engineer mission of providing mobility, counter mobility, and survivability to the maneuver commander transformed into a pure route clearance mission as the improvised explosive device threat in Iraq and Afghanistan became more pronounced. There is a need within the engineer community to shift back into pre 9/11 mission focus and reteach the fundamental skills. Within this research I will address the traditional role of the Army Engineer, the transformation, the future role of the engineer, and conclude with

The deeper question of whether the engineering community should continue to refine methods for combating unconventional warfare techniques such as IED’s, or should they return to the more traditional engineer mission? Such a question should be addressed at the strategic level in depth and would include economic, political, and security considerations. That being said, the implementation will come at the lowest level with the NCO’s training Soldiers on basic engineer skills and tasks. This is where the disconnect seems to occur the greatest because the knowledge base is quickly deteriorating as some of the most well trained and successful NCO’s and officers are departing from the Army, and also those that were around prior to the start of the Global War on Terror (GWOT) near their retirement age. As future leaders continue to grow, they need to focus on getting back into the basics, along with maintaining the knowledge base that they already

As the United States exits conflict with Islamic idealists in the Middle East after over a decade, there is a need to assess the current global threat level and what the next conflict will look like. The current situation in the Middle East is growing increasingly hostile, and there is a chance that the military may have to modify tactics and techniques to ensure that the engineer is being used to their full potential, providing the most support possible to the troops around them. The situation currently is unpredictable, and without flexibility and willingness to change what is normal and what has become increasingly comfortable, the engineer corps could fail to sharpen skills and versatility that could greatly benefit them in future