Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
it." So, I spent a cold winter as a platoon leader, building the runway extension on the airfield
at Fort Leonard Wood.
Q:
I was going to ask you what sorts of projects the 62d was involved in there.
A:
Well, we had a couple but the airfield was principally mine. We were involved, as was a lot
of the 18th Engineer Brigade, in building the golf course that's there today.
We had regular training and took an Army training test there, but to do the right thing to
allow aviation at the airfield, they needed to extend the runway 1,000 feet. To extend it, we
either had to put in a big fill on one end or cut off a hillside on the other end. They elected to
cut off the hillside at the end near post. That was my platoon's job, and we worked on it
through those months in the cold winter of Missouri. I had most of the equipment assets of
the battalion--that is, the dozers, the tractor-scrapers.
In addition, because we had quite a hillside to cut away, I was given, on detail, the assets of
the tractor-scraper school. That is, they'd come out and use that hillside as their practical
experience. So, there were many days when my platoon sergeant and I would be out there
with 20 to 25 tractor-scrapers roaring about. We were not only trying to guide them, we were
trying to stay out of their way. There were always, of course, four or five that were changing
tires. These were not trained troops; these were troops having their first experience on a
tractor-scraper.
To finish that experience--we did all the grade work, took the hill down and then did the
shaping necessary with base course so that it could then be paved. Then a contractor paved it.
Q:
So, the Army engineer enlisted training was done at Fort Leonard Wood at that time, was it,
or a lot of it?
A:
Well, yes, a lot of it. Maybe all of it.
Q:
Equipment operation?
A:
I just don't really know. I know that the tractor-scraper school was there, but I was on the
troop side so I knew very little about what else went on at the installation. We had four or
five battalions at Fort Leonard Wood at that time. The 18th Brigade was a very substantial
brigade-level headquarters.
Q:
You referred to this earlier. Do you want to expand on the comparison you were making
between the 23d in Germany and the 62d at Fort Leonard Wood--perhaps a bit of an unfair
comparison, but it's interesting in terms of at least what's going to come later with Vietnam.
A:
It is a point of one unit, the 23d, which has a really cohesive mission and a high priority
versus a unit, the 62d, which did not have a focused mission that prompted much get up and
go and enthusiasm and also suffered from a low priority. I just mentioned the number of
officers as an example, but it also was reflected in the kind of equipment we had. The Army
has its priority list now. It was the same priority thing then.
48
Previous Page
