R2C2 class opening to NATO

By Mrs. Melissa Buckley (Leonard Wood)September 11, 2014

R2C2 class opening to NATO
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Starting in 2015, international students will be head to Fort Leonard Wood for the Route Reconnaissance and Clearance Course.

R2C2 for short, is a course designed for combat engineers executing route clearance missions, detection, investigation, marking, reporting and neutralization of explosive hazards and other obstacles along a defined route to enable assured mobility.

The two-week class is taught at the Counter Explosive Hazards Center.

"In this course they learn how to provide freedom of movement on the battlefield. Bottom line, it allows Soldiers to safely move a piece of equipment down a route," said Larry Jackson, CEHC chief of training supervisor.

Currently, the course is only open to U.S. Army Soldiers. R2C2 will be the first CEHC course offered to international students.

"We're helping other foreign military organizations ensure their soldiers are well trained in improvised explosive device detection and clearance," said Victoria Palmer, Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Foreign Disclosure officer. "The training will help to build partnerships with other foreign military organizations."

Disclosure restrictions state that data must be reviewed prior to release to non-U.S. personnel and permissions must be obtained in writing, which according to Palmer is not an overnight process.

"We've been working for two years trying to solve the disclosure dilemma. We are finally at a point where we can put together enough information for training," Palmer said.

The initial class will be approximately 12 German military students ranking from E-5 to 0-2.

"Future classes will include British, Canadian, Australian and New Zealand Armies, NATO and selected coalition partners. All of this will depend on the number of available instructors," Palmer said.

Approximately 400 Soldiers graduate from R2C2 each year; about 24 to 36 in each class.

According to Jackson, there are no solid numbers on how many international students the class will be able to host.

"This is being decided by the U.S. Army Engineer School and CEHC through the MSCoE foreign discloser officer and our NATO partners," Jackson said.

"After we go get through the first course, we will be able to determine how many people we can teach per year," he added.

Jackson said it is important for international students to have the route reconnaissance and clearance skills, because the more troops who can identify and reduce risk, the better.

"We have developed a course that will be as close to the American course as we can get. It will be 80 hours, just like our Soldiers do now," Jackson said. "We are in a world with a lot of unknowns. We have to change the way we fight -- it's a partnership. If I can use your equipment and you can use mine, it will only make us stronger. We need to share knowledge. It is important for us to train side-by-side so we can fight side-by-side."

Jackson said he is excited about this is new phase for the CEHC.

"We are looking forward to the first class," Jackson said.

Related Links:

Fort Leonard Wood GUIDON Newspaper

Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonard Wood