Company B, 14th Engineers A Unique Change of Command
Story by MSG William Kuhns - Photos by SSG Jonathan Crane - Posted Aug 1999
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CPT Ronald A. Bahr claimed a bit of Army National Guard history recently when he took command of Company B, 14th Engineer Battalion. It's the first Guard company ever to be assigned to an active duty battalion - part of the Army's first "multi-component battalion."
The Chief of Staff of the Army, General Dennis Reimer presided over the change of command of this unique Fort Lewis based unit.
[More on the 'Bravo Bulldogs']
Change is in the air. Where not long ago was empty ground, modern new buildings now ring an area dubbed "rugged field." New buildings are not the only change the "rugged engineers" of the U.S. Army 14th Combat Engineer Battalion (Corps) have seen.
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A windy April day and the battalion was on line for a change of command ceremony. This however, was not an ordinary event.
With the passing of the guidon, Bravo Company, 14th Engineers, U.S. Army, became Bravo Company, 14th Engineers, Washington Army National Guard.
You know an event is important when the guest of honor for a company change of command is the Chief of Staff of the U.S Army, General Dennis J. Reimer.
Designated a Multi-Component Battalion, the 14th is on the leading edge of the changes being seen by the Army.
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"We have a vision of what we are building here on this field. Our vision is to put a national guard company shoulder to shoulder with active companies in the same battalion - training to the same standard with the same modernized equipment, using the same world class facilities," said LTC Christopher J. Toomey, commander of the 14th Engineers.
The 14th is the only corps wheeled-combat engineer battalion left on active duty and with battle streamers going back to World War II - the most decorated. Using equipment that mechanized engineer units don’t have, the battalion is capable of doing major road construction, bunker building, mine clearing and demolitions. Like the other companies in the battalion, Bravo owns the new five-ton dump trucks, graders, loaders and diggers. With 10 full-time mechanics provided by the battalion, the guard engineers will be able to keep their rigs running and get the mission done. Part of a plan by the Army to integrate the active component, the reserve and the national guard, the 14th is one of three multi-component battalions.
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Bravo is the only one of the guard companies to be co-located with its parent unit. Saved from deactivation and the scrap heap by its multi-component designation, the 14th is a graphic example of the total force concept. Making the transition from active to Army National Guard is easier when the soldier joins the same battalion he served in on active duty. One such soldier is SGT Chad Potter, who after being released from active duty in the 14th, joined the same battalion as a guardsman. Potter found few challenges in switching hats from active to guard, "I know people already since I just left active duty. We were prepared for the transition since there had been talk of it since November we were prepared," Potter said.
With only 25 soldiers in currently assigned to the 118-person unit, there’s room for growth. According to Bravo Company’s full-time training NCO, SSG Bradley Paulson, the company is gaining soldiers from active duty, as well as other guard units in the state.
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With a two year period to build the unit, Paulson sees lots of challenges as well as opportunities. "We are going to mirror exactly what the active component has," Paulson said.
During peacetime, Bravo falls under the Washington Army National Guard while staying in touch with the 14th. With state missions that could include cutting fire breaks or building dikes for flood control, Bravo could have a real world mission at any time. If the 14th Engineers go to war - Bravo Company will be there with them. Plans are being made for several joint training events to be held throughout the year. "The time will come when walking around the area, you won’t be able to tell Guard soldiers from active," Paulson said.
To the outside observer, the buildings on "engineer row" all look the same. Guidons for Headquarters and Headquarter Company, Alpha, Bravo and Charlie flapping in the breeze, all look the same. The Battalion Commander LTC Toomey said, "I think the strength is that we are going to grow an entire group of leaders who are very accustomed, whether they are guard or active, to working side by side. No longer will the guard, for the active component, be an unknown quantity."
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