| Summary: | Major Dale Snider, a project manager with the United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), was assigned to the engineer staff section of Combined Joint Task Force 180 as the leader of a augmenting forward engineer support team (FEST-A) in support of Operation Enduring Freedom headquartered out of Bagram, Afghanistan. Snider begins this interview by flatly stating that it was the reachback capability of the FEST-As, including satellite communications, telephone and video teleconference, which made them exceptionally capable. "When someone says, 'I've got this problem,' their friend back in USACE will send emails, and within two minutes will come back with the answer you need," says Snider. "That is very capable, that is very powerful and that is free." Although rare before his deployment, a FEST package is now included in every rotation to the National Training Center, and the Army is discussing creating habitual relationships between USACE teams and combat divisions. One difficulty with pairing FESTs with combat units is deployment length, because the USACE's civilian volunteer force has been limited to six- or four-month tours. An additional difficulty is that the volunteers form a small cadre with a particular mindset who tend to repeatedly volunteer, and extra care has to be exercised to ensure they do not burn out. Snider explains that recommendations through the after-action review process have been captured in FEST training and with USACE representation at the various Army and Marine exercises. He says that the Air Force and Marines have a good initial assessment capability, but they cannot provide the 60 percent design or specific recommendations on sewer or power that the USACE can. The USACE downsizes every time there is a slowdown in national construction, retaining civilian personnel based upon seniority, which has resulted in a very experienced and mature workforce, but one that is older and more reluctant to deploy overseas. Snider recommends that all new employees have it written into their ...
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