Jack of All Trades, Master of None: Combat Engineer Officer Assignments in the Marine Corps

Abstract

Combat engineers are assigned throughout the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) and provide a wide variety of capabilities. The skill sets a combat engineer officer employs differ significantly depending on what element of the MAGTF to which he or she is assigned. The nation's current conflicts are both engineer intensive and rapidly changing. More and more, contemporary personnel assignment procedures take a seasoned, specially trained Marine and throw him into an environment that requires skill sets that he has never exercised. With limited preparation, this Marine is then expected to employ these significantly different skill sets as a subject matter expert. As a result, traditional officer assignment practices in the case of combat engineer officers (MOS 1302) do not properly support all elements of the MAGTF with well-prepared company grade officers. Assignment policies should be revised to conform to the realities Marines face today.

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Document Details

Document Type
Technical Report
Publication Date
Feb 07, 2006
Accession Number
ADA503471

Entities

People

  • W. G. Carr

Organizations

  • Marine Corps University

Tags

Communities of Interest

  • Counter IED
  • Human Systems
  • Weapons Technologies

DTIC Thesaurus Topics

  • Commerce
  • Construction
  • Employment
  • Engineering
  • Engineers
  • Explosive Devices
  • Explosives
  • Field Grade Officers
  • Ground Support
  • Improvised Explosive Devices
  • Job Training
  • Marine Corps
  • Personnel Management
  • Standards
  • Task Forces
  • Training
  • Warfare

Readers

  • Maritime Combat Support and Expeditionary Logistics.
  • Military History of the United States in the 20th Century.
  • Military Science