History Of The Engineer NCO (Noncommissioned Officers)

The NCO’s (Noncommissioned officers) have a long history and it all started with the Revolutionary War in 1775 and still carries out the tradition today. We will take a look through different periods in history of the Engineer NCO and the roles and task they performed as a whole. You will see how the NCO’s are known as “The backbone of the Army” and live by the NCO creed. NCO’s are trained professionals and experts in their MOS (Military Occupational Skill). The Engineer NCO always have to be ready for any mission he or she is given, whether it’s combat or humanitarian related. The NCO has a great responsibility to accomplish the mission, watch over their soldiers. All NCO’s have proven to have courage and selflessness and put their lives in harm’s way so others could survive or evacuate to safety. The Military depends on the noncommissioned officer to train up the privates coming out of basic training to be proficient at their MOS and become professional soldiers.

Throughout history the United States of America has been engaged in various wars, conflicts, and humanitarian efforts. Even in the Cold War the Engineers contributed in other countries infrastructure.

It all started with George Washington in 1775 when he was assigned his first Engineer officer to help him fortify positions against the British. A few years later in 1779 congress promoted the corps known as the Cops of Engineers. These Engineers were made up of primarily American and French Engineer officers.

The earliest Engineer NCO’s were responsible for neatness and sanitation due to sickness and disease running through the camps. They kept the discipline and maintained records of everyone in the company. They helped map out the west by producing topographical maps with longitude and latitude, managing costal strongholds, establishing light houses and constructed jetties for harbors.

As and young nation the greatest legacy for the Corps of Engineers was their work on roads, rivers and canals. They produced routes from the eastern towns to the settlements in the rural west. As for rivers their work consisted of removing sandbars and debris in the well-known Mississippi and Ohio rivers through the act of 1824.

From 1841 to 1860 the Engineers surveyed and created charts and maps of some 6,000 miles of shoreline and the dangers that lie in the discharge waters of the Great Lakes.

The road project that stood out the most in the 19th century by the Engineers was the Cumberland or National Road that was built from 1811-1841. The road started at Cumberland, Maryland, went through the Appalachians to Vandalia, Illinois. The western expansion in the 1800’s brought forth the need for Engineers to survey the land for a railway system to ship goods from the Mississippi river to towns going all the way to the west coast.

During the Mexican War Era there was a famous Sergeant Major, his name was Frederick W. Gerber. The reason why he was known was, not only did he save an Engineer officer but he was one of the only few by receiving the Medal of Honor in 1871 for just his service alone. He served for 32 years and was offered a commission numerous times but always declined it.

A few years after the Mexican War, our country was in a civil war. In 1862 the Army Engineers constructed floating bridges across the Rappahannock River made up of pontoons, despite being under fire from Confederate sharpshooters. The Engineers also built the longest bridge across the James River in 1864 that measured 2,170 feet long and was the longest bridge built prior to World War II.

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World War I was known as “The Great War”. This war kept the 20th Engineers busy constructing nearly a 1000 miles of railway near the front line, produced 200 million feet of lumber and built more than 20 million square feet of storage in France.

First Sergeant Paul Smithhisle was a draftsman in the Headquarters Company for the Engineers and volunteered to recon German positions along the Escaut River in Belgium. Along with two other volunteers and the cover of darkness First Sergeant Smithhisle made his way across the 100 foot river undetected by the Germans and successfully drafted out the critical gun nest and artillery positions that extended over a 500 meter front. However, when dawn arrived he was discovered and the enemy sent artillery and gunfire his way. He managed to swim the length of the river back but not without being wounded in the process. On January 28, 1919 he received the Distinguished Service Cross and the French Croix de Guerre with Silver Star.

During the Great Depression President Roosevelt struck The New Deal in 1933, he wanted to restore the economy quickly and give the country relief to people that were struggling. This consisted of new programs which involved the Engineers constructing dams for hydro power and preventing floods on the Mississippi and Ohio River valleys.

Nearly 20 years later yet another world war against the Axis powers, Engineer NCO’s lead the way clearing paths under heavy enemy fire taking out mines in the water making way for the landing crafts that carried allied troops. With bulldozers they made their way up narrow passage ways to connect to important roadways so the allied troops could advance farther into enemy territory. They slowed up the Germans by demolishing important bridges so the allies had time to fortify their Army.

The Vietnam War opened up a different kind of fighting tactic. This war was fought mostly in heavy vegetation which made it hard to see and be vulnerable to ambush. This led the Engineers to roll out the Rome Plow. This was a military tractor with a special tree-cutting blade and a protective cab. In the summer of 1967 the Engineers had 30 Rome Plows and cleared 30,000 acres. Other obstacles that were found on search and destroy missions was series of tunnels that contained “Booby Traps” which killed and wounded many of our troops. This prompted the Engineers to form 10 man teams to search these tunnels and were known as “Tunnel Rats”.

Nearly three decades later the United States was attacked on September 11, 2001 the United States responded with the War on Terror Campaign. The Engineer NCO’s were called upon the clear roads and paths free from IED’s (Improvised Explosion Devices). The Engineers used Buffalo trucks, Huskys and working dogs to locate IED’s and other explosive devices. The M9 earthmover was used to create obstacles out of abandon cars, trees and poles to protect the troops from suicide bombers.

Sergeant First Class Paul R. Smith received the Medal of Honor for his heroic effort on April 4, 2003 by manning a .50 caliber machine gun on a M133 so wounded troops from a Bradley could be evacuated. He was killed in the process as a result of heavy enemy fire, the Bradley he was manning did not have the protective shields it should have.

Engineers responded to humanitarian efforts when called upon, here are just a few: Honduras in the 90’s building roads, schools and sanitary systems. Haiti in 2010 after a 7.0 magnitude earthquake and in 2014 to Liberia, Africa to fight Ebola.

Currently the Engineer presence is spread out over the world and is not only in the Middle East but in Eastern Europe preparing and training for Peer to Peer battles such as Russia. The Engineer NCO role is more critical than ever. Building FARP (Forward Arming and Refueling Point) and MAT (Moving Armor Target) range for tanks to practice and qualify on.

References

1. Bouilly, R.H. Dr. History of the NCO Corps (October 16, 2017) NCO Journal Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from https://www.armyupress.army.mil
2. History.com editors The Cold War History (October 27, 2009) www.history.com Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from https:www.history.com/topics/cold-war/cold war-history
3. John B. Mahaftey Museum Complex 495 S. Dakota Ave. Fort Leonard Wood, MO. 65473
4. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers: A Brief History Retrieved on April 21, 2019 from https://www.usace.army.mil