Egyptian delegation receives post's engineer perspective

By Mrs. Melissa K Buckley (Leonard Wood)May 22, 2014

Egyptian delegation receives post's engineer perspective
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

The U.S. Army Engineer School hosted officers from the Egyptian Armed Forces for an information and expertise exchange May 13 and 14.

"They are our partner engineers. It's critical that we maintain our relationships with our partners around the world," said Col. Philip Secrist, U.S. Army Engineer School chief of staff.

"A lot of the same challenges we have are the same challenges for engineers around the world. They have a different perspective. It's important to communicate and share information, because it leads to better solutions," Secrist said.

The Egyptian officers visited several training areas to learn more about heavy engineer equipment and maintenance, the assault breacher vehicle and bridging.

Brig. Gen. Naseer Fawzy Mohamed Khaliefa, Egyptian Armed Forces engineer, said the bridging operation tour was the most useful to him.

"We use floating bridges on the Nile River and Suez Canal. We have old and new. It's based on technology and methodology. It's good to have their knowledge," Khaliefa said.

Col. Amro Gamal Abdallah Sherief, Egyptian Armed Forces engineer, agreed.

"We use almost the same bridges. We especially use float bridges. We bring our bridges from the United States and Russia," Sherief said.

This is the second time Khaliefa has been to Fort Leonard Wood and the third time for Sherief.

"There are a lot of new facilities here. The way of teaching and thinking has changed," Khaliefa said.

Sherief said he was impressed by the number of new barracks on post.

The Egyptian officers said they were happy they were able to make the trip to Fort Leonard Wood.

"This is how it works. Each engineer needs their equal from different countries to communicate and share experiences," Khaliefa said.

Sherief said the engineers in Egypt do the same thing as the U.S. Army engineers in the fields of bridging, construction and minefield detection.

"The exchange of experience is important. We share techniques. We use east tactics, and the Unites States uses west tactics. We need to exchange the experience between east and west tactics," said Sherief.

The U.S. Army Engineer School chief of staff said the two days of exchanges are packed, and he is thankful to have the opportunity.

"We appreciate that they are willing to take the time to come and see us. This is a great opportunity. We have a lot to talk about when they come to Fort Leonard Wood. It's a unique post with a lot of engineer capacities," Secrist said.

Another delegation from the Egyptian Army is set to visit Fort Leonard Wood to see the post's Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear training.

Related Links:

Fort Leonard Wood GUIDON Newspaper

Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood