Theater Engineer Support and the Theater Support Command

摘要

The effectiveness of the engineer organization described in the Concept forSupport Command and Control at Echelons above Corps (Theater Support Command Concept) is analyzed in this monograph. The research hypothesis was: The engineer command and control organizational structure described in the Theater Support Command (TSC) Concept is the organization to most effectively meet the military engineering needs of the force projection Army of the twenty-first century. This monograph describes the TSC organizations that were experimented with in the Prairie Warrior 95 and 96 Advanced Warfighting Experiments. Key observations made by the TRADOC Combined Arms Assessment Team (CAAT) regarding theater engineer support and the TSC during these exercises were identified. The CAAT's key observations were then analyzed to identify what organizational characteristics the theater organization must have to best meet the Army's future engineering needs. The findings from this study do not fully support the research hypothesis. The findings indicate that the TSC may require a habitually associated, modular and tailorable engineer command and control (and/or planning) capability that is primarily focused on the engineer battlefield function of general engineering in the communications zone. The findings also indicate that theater commander may also require a habitually associated, modular and tailorable engineer command and control element that is focused on all five engineer battlefield functions throughout the theater.