Effects of National Strategic Policy on the Military Engineer Force Structure from 1919 through 1991
Abstract
National strategic policy and strategic military leadership affected the engineer force structure over the last 90 years despite little change to the mission of the military engineer. Regardless of force structure issues, engineers performed their unchanging missions of general engineering, mobility, counter mobility, and survivability in support of both their specific service and other services. The changes in strategic policy also shaped the expertise of each service's engineers as the services determined their mission requirements for the time. As a general trend, the Army and Marines developed their tactical combat engineering skills, while the Navy and Air Force mission requirements called for general engineering expertise. The historical shaping effects on each service's engineers also created redundant skills across the military as each service struggled to determine the specific requirements of their engineer force. Military leaders and planners must ensure that each service retains the fundamental engineering support their particular service requires. The understanding of the historical evolution of the military engineers' mission requirements deserves consideration when developing a joint approach to training, educating and fielding the future military engineer.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Nov 30, 2009
- Accession Number
- ADA512539
Entities
People
- Aaron D. Bohrer
Organizations
- United States Army Command and General Staff College