Engineer Memoirs _____________________________________________________________________
part. So, the emphasis of the briefing makes you think that's all that we're talking about in
EForce.
That was the genesis of EForce. It started at that point in time but, unfortunately, I briefed
General Vuono in his last month in command, and he was not receptive to new ideas in his
last month. Later he was to tell me it's like telling a brigade commander how to run training
in his last month in command.
I mean, he was receptive to the need, but it was one more thing that he wasn't going to be
able to follow through before he left. His plate was full in wrapping up what he was doing,
and so I sort of got the cold shoulder on it at the time.
Over the next year we worked some more on it and brought it back up to his successor,
Lieutenant General Bob RisCassi, and General Richardson. It had not been to Richardson
earlier. RisCassi sent it on to the TRADOC commander, who liked it. He wanted to send it
on up to the Army Staff.
At this point, it was toward the end of Richardson's last year. The DCSOPS of the Army now
was General Vuono. General Wickham was shortly about to leave as Chief of Staff. Once
again, it was not deemed opportune by General Vuono to send it up because General
Wickham had just slam-dunked a cavalry reorganization in his and General Richardson's last
days.
You know, one of the aspects of EForce all along was that it was never just an engineer
thing. We brought infantry in and armor in. A lot of folks with experience at the NTC,
maneuver commanders, said, "We got to have something like this." All that combined arms
input contributed to EForce from the beginning.
Now, maneuver commanders, as they went to the NTC, began ad-hocking EForce so they
could use the concept. Now we were hearing maneuver people really saying, "Hey, this
thing's really paying off." I mean, this from tankers and infantrymen. Pretty soon, as people
were hearing about it around the Army and trying it out, those people had done it as battalion
commanders and brigade commanders and then they were assistant deputy chiefs.
So, we had a whole wealth of maneuver people who said, "This EForce is better. It works
better. For the first time, I have the right level of engineer--a captain, not a second
lieutenant, at task force level, or a lieutenant colonel, not a captain, at brigade level--doing
engineer command and control. I have got enough engineer assets, and it's really tailored to
what I need."
This was coming out of the NTC in published lessons learned. People were getting it all over
the Army.
So, as General Vuono returned as the TRADOC commander, we continued working the
details and worked it throughout that year. When I left the Engineer School, Major General
Reno took it on the following year. When General Thurman came in as TRADOC
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