412th THEATER ENGINEER COMMAND BY MAJ. AL AN MOSS, 412 th Theater Engineer Command
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U.S. ARMY RESERVE PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS TONY FOSTER
U.S. ARMY RESERVE PHOTO BY SGT. 1ST CLASS TONY FOSTER
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he 412th Theater Engineer Command (TEC), headquartered at the George A. Morris U.S. Army Reserve Center in Vicksburg, Mississippi, is one of only two units of its kind in the American military. During contingency operations, the 412th TEC provides command and control of theater-level engineer operations in support of unified land operations. During peacetime operations, the 412th TEC provides mission command of all Army Reserve engineer assets in 20 states, predominantly east of the Mississippi River to include two engineer brigades, a Maneuver Enhancement Brigade (MEB) and a Regional Support Group (RSG), a Forward Engineer Support Team-Main (FEST-M), an Explosive Hazards Coordination Cell (EHCC), and two digital liaison detachments (DLDs), totaling nearly 12,000 Soldiers and 300 civilians. The brigades are the 206th RSG, headquartered in Springfield, Illinois; the 302nd Maneuver Enhancement Brigade, headquartered in Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts; the 411th Engineer Brigade, headquartered in New Windsor, New York; and the 926th Engineer Brigade, headquartered in Montgomery, Alabama. The 206th DLD located at Fort Jackson, South Carolina; the 207th DLD located at Fort Bragg, North Carolina; the 368th FEST-M located in Decatur, Georgia; and the 475th EHCC located in Vicksburg, Mississippi, are also direct-reporting units to the 412th. An engineer two-star general, Maj. Gen. Stephen Strand, commands the 412th TEC, focusing the proper emphasis on unit training/readiness during peacetime employment and the proper emphasis on the theater engineer mission required for emerging threats and possible peer and near-peer adversaries. The 412th TEC provides theater-wide engineer support as well as engineer support to forces deployed within a joint operations area, geospatial support, construction, real property maintenance activities, line of communications sustainment, engineer logistics management, base development, and theater infrastructure repair or development as required. It serves as the senior engineer headquarters for the theater Army, as well as all assigned or attached engineer brigades and other engineer units. When directed, it may also command engineers from other services and multinational forces and provide oversight of contracted construction engineers. The 412th TEC’s combat capabilities consist of mobility augmentation, route clearance, area clearance, and counter-mobility. Construction capabilities consist of vertical construction, horizontal construction, and technical engineer support. The 412th TEC can also deploy two early-entry deployable command posts (DCPs) with all of these capabilities. Additionally,
Top: Maj. Gen. Stephen Strand (right) passes the colors to Command Sgt. Maj. Benny Hubbard during a change-of-responsibility ceremony held at the Vicksburg National Military Park in Vicksburg, Mississippi, Jan. 12, 2020. Hubbard assumed the role of the 412th Theater Engineer Command’s senior enlisted adviser from Command Sgt. Maj. Dennis Law. Above: The 680th Engineer Company fires an M58 mine-clearing line charge (MICLIC) during training with its active-duty engineer counterparts at Fort Irwin, California, Feb. 19, 2020.
the DCPs can expand and tailor their size to the operation as the mission requires. The 412th TEC currently supports U.S. Army Pacific, an operational-level Army force designated by the Secretary of the Army (SA) as the Army Service Component Command (ASCC) of the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command. The 412th TEC also supports U.S. Southern Command and U.S. Northern Command, U.S. Army South, and U.S. Army North with technical engineer capability to open and set theaters of operations.
