412th THEATER ENGINEER COMMAND

BY MAJ. ALAN MOSS, 412th Theater Engineer Command

The 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, the DCPs can expand and tailor their size to the operation as the mission requires.

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.

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.

In addition to providing wartime support as the ASCC, the 412th TEC performs key roles in large-scale training exercises, in contingency planning, and other theater security cooperation plan engagements within these same areas of operations.

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.

During 2020, the command enabled Soldiers from more than 100 subordinate units to participate in numerous major events, exercises, and operations across the continental United States and around the world.

As part of the nation’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the 368th FEST-M mobilized to support the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers setting up alternate care facilities (ACFs). Technical experts from these teams traveled to sites in Chinle, Arizona; Shiprock, New Mexico; Phoenix, Arizona; and Memphis, Tennessee. They performed site assessments, aided in construction management and quality assurance tasks, and provided technical engineering support to help repurpose existing buildings into ACFs, where patients could be seen and treated by physicians.

By the Numbers

• Provides command and control of theater-level engineer operations levels above brigade in support of unified land operations.

• Mission command and oversees all Army Reserve engineer assets, predominantly east of the Mississippi River.

• Commands three brigades, a regional support group, and four smaller direct reporting units, totaling nearly 12,000 Soldiers and 300 civilians.

• Combat capabilities consist of mobility augmentation, clearance companies, sapper companies, and multi-role bridge companies. The construction capabilities are vertical, horizontal, and engineer support.

• In October 2017, the 412th TEC became regionally aligned with U.S. Southern Command and the U.S. Northern Command (U.S. Army South and U.S. Army North, respectively).

• Performs key roles in large-scale training exercises, contingency planning, and in-theater security cooperation plan engagements.

PEACETIME EMPLOYMENT

• Executes mission command of all Army Reserve engineer units predominantly east of the Mississippi, ensuring trained and ready forces available to U.S. Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) and U.S. Army Reserve Command (USARC).

• Supports and participates in FORSCOM/USARC training exercises in the continental United States (CONUS) and combatant command/ Army service component command (COCOM/ASCC) exercises and training opportunities outside the continental United States (OCONUS) to maintain unit readiness.

• Maintains communications with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) and the ASCCs to ensure continuous support focused on the long-term goals of both organizations in their areas of responsibility (AORs).

• Maintains communications/ties with sister service engineer organizations, in order to enhance joint readiness and interoperability.

WARTIME EMPLOYMENT

• Manages and executes the ASCC’s maneuver support mission at theater level. The TEC is modular and scalable, enhancing its versatility. It deploys in part, combination, or in its entirety. The 412th TEC can also deploy two early-entry deployable command posts (DCPs) with all of these capabilities. Additionally, the DCP can expand and tailor its size to the operation as the mission requires.

• Executes mission command for all Army theater engineer assets in the ASCC AOR and is expandable enough to manage the joint, allied/ coalition engineer effort, as well as many contracted construction operations.

• Supports engineer operational-level planning, coordination, and technical services supporting the ASCC, geographic combatant command, or joint task force (JTF).

• Participates in joint civil engineering support planning (CESP) in support of the ASCC/COCOM.

• Provides command and control of theater-level engineer operations levels above brigade in support of unified land operations.

• Provides trained and ready forces in support of global operations utilizing the Army Sustainment Readiness Model; and provides policies, guidance, resourcing, and administrative support as an operational command over assigned Army Reserve units.

• Provides command and control of assigned or attached engineer brigades, groups, and other engineer units engaged in general, geospatial, and combat engineering missions for an ASCC or JTF.

• Provides engineer support to joint exercises, humanitarian civil assistance, exercise-related construction, installation-related construction, and theater security cooperation plans and partnership for peace missions.

• Operates as the senior engineer headquarters to command, plan, and control engineer assets within the theater of operations. The TEC supports an ASCC or JTF in theater.

• Develops and validates plans, procedures, and programs for theater-level engineer mission command and support to the ASCCs.

• Communicates to the ASCCs the capabilities of the theater engineer commands and opportunities where the TEC can support those commands.

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412th Theater Engineer Command

1265 Porters Chapel Rd. Vicksburg, MS 39180

(601) 631-6103