________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
Engineers; nevertheless, for the engineer force, those same connotations of what he ascribed
to the commandant of the Infantry School pertained to me as the proponent for engineers.
One of those other things that I did not understand was the fact that we are responsible here
at Fort Belvoir, as engineer proponent, for the programs of instruction that are taught at Fort
Leonard Wood. We have here those kinds of responsibilities and have, in fact, a field team
permanently located at Leonard Wood to exercise those responsibilities.
Q:
What guidance did you receive at the beginning of your tour?
A:
Well, I met with my two major bosses. General Vuono, who was the commander of the
Combined Arms Center, wanted me to be proactive, wanted me to absolutely ensure the
integration of engineers into the combined arms team, told me if he was the Corps
commander, I was his Corps engineer and we ought to make things fit that way. He wanted
me to focus on AirLand Battle doctrine and ensure we embedded the tenets of AirLand Battle
doctrine in all things we do. Basically, he emphasized that we set the standards for the Army
in TRADOC and CAC and I should be the standard setter for the engineer force and I should
actively pursue bettering that force through TRADOC and throughout the Army. That meant
working things through the Pentagon and working things through CAC.
General Richardson actually was probably more specific describing the proponent's role. He
specifically laid that out in the terms that I used for the last question. He expected me, as the
engineer proponent, to take charge, make sure we did everything possible to improve the
effectiveness of engineers. He told me he didn't think we engineers were very effective and
we were badly broken and we needed a lot of work to be repaired. He said, "Your job is to go
General Kem (right) and Major General
General Kem (second from left)
James N. Ellis, departing Commander of
received the school colors from
the U.S. Army Engineer Center and Fort
General Carl Vuono, Commanding
Belvoir, Virginia, at the change of
General, Training and Doctrine
command ceremonies on 21 August 1984.
Command, when he became
Commander of the U.S. Army
Engineer Center and Fort Belvoir,
Virginia.
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