Is It Time to Give the U.S. Army Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy) a Facelift
Abstract
This thesis focuses on a construction unit in the United States Army, the Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy). The Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Heavy) is the organization providing the U.S. Army the bulk of its heavy construction capability. The author examines the organization and capabilities of the battalion and determines if the U.S. Army should make changes to the battalion organizational structure to make it a more effective combat multiplier for full spectrum operations in the 21st century. The concept of modularity is defined from doctrinal sources and an assessment is made to determine if the battalion configurations affords the flexibility required to achieve this. There is a tendency to look to civilian models, which generally have functionalized companies, when recommending changes to military construction organizations. This monograph examines the differences between operating environments of civilian construction firms and military construction units and assesses how this might impact the organizational design of a U.S. Army troop construction organization. The author briefly covers the history, employment and reasoning for the present organization of the battalion. Case studies of the use of combat heavy engineer battalions in Operations Desert Shield/Desert Storm (1990-1991), and operations in Bosnia (1995-2000) are examined to determine the battalion's overall effectiveness in providing general engineering support to these operations. These case studies provides a basis for examining the use of the battalions in Major Theater War (MTW) operations of short duration in a relatively mature theater, and Stability and Support Operations (SASO) of long duration in an immature and battle damaged theater. Additionally, the present organizational structure of the troop heavy construction organizations in the U.S. Navy and the U.S. The author determined that overall, the present
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Mar 08, 2001
- Accession Number
- ADA394599
Entities
People
- Anneliese M. Steele
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College