Aportrait of a stern, khaki-clad

Transcription

1 Photographs and Text By Dennis Steele Senior Staff Writer Aportrait of a stern, khaki-clad MG Leonard Wood hangs outside the command group offices in the gleaming modern headquarters of the Using the latest technology, a soldier trains on a virtual combat convoy simulator (VCCS) at the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center, Fort Leonard Wood, Mo. The VCCS trains an entire vehicle crew to react as a team to various threats, including improvised explosive devices (IEDs). U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center (MAN- SCEN) on the Missouri fort that bears his name. MG Wood bridged the frontier Army 22 ARMY November 2009

2 of the 19th century and the emerging worldpower Army of the 20th century, pulling the force into the modern era with his determination and vision. As we are trying to develop our leaders for the 21st century, he is a great example, said MG Gregg F. Martin, the MANSCEN and Fort Leonard Wood commanding general. Leonard Wood was one of the great leaders of our country, a fascinating man, he continued. He was a certified licensed surgeon his entire career, possessing a deep professional expertise in his function. Warrior spirit: He gets orders, goes out to the Arizona November 2009 ARMY 23

3 New arrivals begin the transition from enlistee to soldier, processing into the Army and basic combat training at Fort Leonard Wood. Above, new soldiers get fitted for their boots at the fort s reception station. Soldiers go through a graded practical exercise to become engineer electricians during advanced individual training at Fort A soldier checks a circuit diagram during electrician training. territory, gets into a cavalry outfit and is awarded the Medal of Honor. As a doctor in the base camp, he said, This is not good enough; I ve got to get out into the fight. He was a real warrior. During his career, he rotated between being a doctor and a cavalryman, and established the Rough Riders [along with] Teddy Roosevelt, who made them famous. But what you don t hear is that he became the military governor [of Santiago, Cuba] and worked on stability operations, infrastructure, education and health care. He became the Chief of Staff of the Army, transformed us from a constabulary frontier Army to the World War I Army and institutionalized the Reserve Officers Training Corps. Here is a soldier who understood the role of good citizens and military education in a democracy, and ended up being the governorgeneral of the Philippines. He was an amazing guy. In many ways, MG Wood s legacy embodies the spirit and direction of Fort Leonard Wood today balancing the gritty work of preparing soldiers and leaders for combat with the intellectual pursuits of scholarly research and development. Over the past few decades, Fort Leonard Wood has 24 ARMY November 2009

4 Mike Smith, a retired first sergeant, continues to train military police (MP) soldiers at a Fort Leonard Wood military operations in urban terrain (MOUT) site. Below, a robot probes for IED or mine threats as its soldier operators go through the route reconnaissance clearance course at Fort Above, Chemical branch officers train in a live nerve agent environment at the Chemical Defense Training Facility, one of the few live chemical and nerve agent training facilities in the world. Right, during MOUT training, an MP soldier pulls his fire-team buddy into a building. inched its way from a clapboard basic training post to a multifaceted base that is a model for joint and interagency cooperation. Progress has taken place largely under the radar, however; the fort has remained shackled to a jaundiced, outmoded and undeserved reputation of being a backwater franchise the moniker Fort Lost in the Woods continues to plague its image, if not its efforts. I think we ve had a bit of a bad rap, MG Martin said. My message is that we re not lost in the woods anymore. We ve been found. The catalysts for modernization were the base realignment decisions of the 1980s and 1990s that brought the Army s military police (MP), chemical and engineer centers to Fort During the past decade, joint training activities with the Marine Corps, Navy and Air Force have been attracted to the fort, as have training activities from federal, state and local law-enforcement and first-responder agencies since 9/11. It is a very dynamic and diverse place, MG Martin explained. There s an amazing array of activities and train- 26 ARMY November 2009

5 A Husky metal detecting and marking vehicle leads a routeclearance patrol during R2C2 training. Above and left, a soldier uses a joystick of a portable control station to control a robot during the route reconnaissance and clearance course (R2C2). R2C2 students employ robots to find and defeat IEDs. Below, the forked probe arm of a mock Buffalo vehicle trainer unearths a mine during R2C2 training. Below, advanced vehicle simulators stand in the Joint Tactical Vehicle Simulator Facility. All Army truck drivers and truck drivers from all military services are trained at Fort ing, and different organizations and specialties. Here, there is everything from basic combat training to one-station unit training to Army Individual Training; the biggest NCO academy in the Army; the warrant officer courses; and all the officer courses and leader development from Military Police, Engineers and CBRN [chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear]. We train from private all the way up to colonel with all the pre-command courses as well as all the cutting-edge functional courses that are having a direct effect on what s going on downrange and in the fight right now. There is a huge joint presence here, the largest Marine detachment off a Marine base in the world, and the same with the Air Force and Navy, he added. The combination of all these different levels, echelons, services and branches as well as the FORSCOM [U.S. Army Forces Command] presence create an environment that is extremely dynamic. In addition to being a physical engine of educating, training and developing leaders and warriors, we re also an intellectual engine, developing doctrine and concepts, organization, November 2009 ARMY 27

6 Right, soldiers training as engineer bridge crewmembers at Fort Leonard Wood lift a bridge section. Below, bridge crewmember trainees heave a section into place. Right, a soldier attending basic combat training climbs a cargo net ladder. Below, Air Force, Army and Navy students work with advanced global positioning system equipment while training as surveyors. A soldier from Barbados listens to instructions during the surveyor course. Soldiers from many allied nations attend training at Fort An Army diver goes through his first phase of training at Fort Leonard Wood. new materiel, and science. Proponency for the Engineer, MP and Chemical branches resides at Fort Leonard Wood, as does proponency for defeating improvised explosive devices, countering weapons of mass destruction and developing nonlethal technologies. In recent years, the fort has become home to advanced technology development, harnessing cooperative efforts by the military, 28 ARMY November 2009

7 On Point for Homeland Security Fort Leonard Wood s 4th Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) has assumed responsibility as the consequence management reaction force to support the homeland-security mission under the Defense Department s joint task force-civil support. In an emergency, the 4th MEB s primary responsibility is to assist the federal, state and local response to a chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear or high-yield explosive (CBRNE) attack on the United States as the CBRNE consequence management response force under U.S. Northern Command. It will also be the operations element on call to respond if Defense Department assistance is required for a natural disaster. The 4th MEB is the U.S. Army Forces Command element based at Fort The brigade commander, COL Rob Risberg, explained that the unit s headquarters will serve as the joint task force s operations task force to assess, plan and coordinate DoD assistance at the site of an emergency, initially having the assets of a first-responding aviation brigade task force and medical brigade task force, and a specialized military search-and-rescue task force. In part, the mission statement is to save lives, mitigate human suffering and facilitate recovery. It calls upon the 4th MEB to work alongside and assist Federal Emergency Management Agency efforts and to work strictly under the guidance of state and local authorities. In addition, the 4th MEB s 94th Engineer Battalion is currently an alert unit on-call for DoD response to a weather emergency such as a hurricane, flood or tornado. You don t see much about it in the media, but DoD is putting a lot of effort into supporting people at home in addition to the warfight, COL Risberg said. It s a mission that no one wants to execute, but it s an important mission because it s a mission to come to the aid of our fellow Americans. A Unique Collaboration Fort Leonard Wood has established itself as a high-tech research and development center for the Army by forging a cooperative relationship among academia, private industry, regional economic interests and the military. It is home to the Leonard Wood Institute and its companion institution, the University of Missouri Technology Park. The Leonard Wood Institute is a congressionally established nonprofit dedicated to building collaboration by funding research to meet the Army s identified technology needs, resulting in a stronger overall technology base and a boost for the local, state and regional economies. It receives direct funding from Congress through a cooperative agreement with the Army Research Laboratory the only such enterprise in the Army. (The Navy has a similar project.) The institute focuses on needs and opportunities at Fort Leonard Wood and the U.S. Army Maneuver Support Center. Results, however, could yield much broader application. Project funding is allocated through three programs: Collaborative research and development (R&D), competitively awarded and currently funding 50 projects (26 by universities and 24 by private business) totaling $30 million. Special projects R&D, aimed at meeting unanticipated Army requirements and currently funding five projects totaling $1.5 million. Early-stage business R&D, aimed specifically at assisting small Missouri-based companies with high potential, funding 10 projects totaling $600,000. A number of other projects will be funded later in this fiscal year. Adjacent to the Leonard Wood Institute is the University of Missouri Technology Park, which has a long-term lease for 60 acres (expandable to 250 acres) on Fort Leonard Wood and is designed to attract and facilitate industry partners to establish R&D activities at the park. The Fort Leonard Wood Institute and University of Missouri Technology Park collaboration is designed to benefit all parties. The Army gains by having a streamlined conduit for developing technologies that soldiers need, businesses with good ideas get the opportunity to develop and introduce products, and the region gains jobs and increases its economic base. November 2009 ARMY 29

8 A soldier and marine train together during the interservice nonlethal individual weapons instructor course (INIWIC) conducted by the fort s Marine Corps Detachment. Below, a soldier armed with a simulated tear-gas spray can warns roleplayers during an INIWIC exercise. Right, drill sergeants from the 787th Military Police Battalion oversee combatives training during MP basic combat training. Above, soldiers conduct a training exercise at the 1LT Joseph Terry Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear (CBRN) Responder Training Facility at Fort Here, a CBRN respondercourse student is decontaminated. Engineer equipment operators train at Fort Right, an engineer in training. academia and private defense companies at the University of Missouri Technology Park and its companion Leonard Wood Institute, a congressionally authorized nonprofit agency established to rapidly facilitate collaboration and innovation to develop advanced technologies. Fort Leonard Wood has fashioned itself as a platform for progress that would make its namesake proud. 30 ARMY November 2009