Combat Engineer Equipment Support To The Air Assult Division

Engineers have the mission to provide combat support to the United States Army maneuver forces. These missions fall into the five categories of mobility, countermobility, survivability, sustainment engineering and topography. In these areas, the engineers in support must focus their assets on the needs of the maneuver commander. To maximize the effectiveness of the engineer force structure, engineer units have historically been augmented with equipment to help accomplish their missions. In some cases, engineer equipment scheduled to be placed in the Air Assault Engineer Battalion is too heavy. Future force structure documents authorize heavier equipment which is not needed. This study reviews the requirement for equipment, the availability of equipment and some alternatives. It also suggests the direction the United States Army may wish to follow to procure lighter engineer equipment, not only for the Air Assault Division, but for Airborne and Light Infantry Divisions as well. Keywords: Army aviation.