Engineer school commandant pins on 1st star

By Mr. Mike Bowers (Leonard Wood)August 4, 2015

Engineer school commandant pins on 1st star
(Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

Col. James Raymer, U.S. Army Engineer School commandant, will pin on the one-star insignia of a brigadier general during a promotion ceremony scheduled for 3 p.m. Aug. 6 on the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence Plaza.

The inclement weather site is Lincoln Hall Auditorium.

Raymer took command of the regiment less than two months ago when he was assigned to Fort Leonard Wood after duties at the Pentagon as director, Office of the Chief of Engineers.

The soon-to-be general is a member of the U.S. Military Academy Class of 1989 when he received a Bachelor of Science degree in mechanical engineering. He has also earned two Master of Science degrees from the Command and General Staff College and the School of Advanced Military Studies.

Raymer's first assignment as a second lieutenant was at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, after attending Engineer Officer Basic Course at Fort Belvoir, Virginia.

He attended Infantry Officers' Advanced Course at Fort Benning, Georgia, and was assigned to Fort Bragg, North Carolina, with the 20th Engineer Brigade and deployed to Operation Uphold Democracy in Haiti.

Raymer attended the Defense Language Institute and studied multiple years in Argentina in the Olmsted Scholar Program before being assigned to Camp Red Cloud, Korea. He would later deploy with the 2nd Brigade Combat Team to Al Anbar Province, Iraq, under the First and then-Second Marine Divisions.

He assumed command of the newly activated 20th Engineer Battalion at Fort Hood, Texas, in 2005 and, a year later, the battalion deployed to Baghdad, Iraq. After returning and serving as rear-provisional commander, he deployed again to Iraq with the First Cavalry Division.

After returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom, he remained with the division before becoming a Senior Service Fellow at the Bush School of Government and Public Service, Texas A&M University-College Station.

He deployed to Afghanistan to serve as chief of staff to the deputy commander for regional support, NATO Training Mission-Afghanistan, at Camp Eggers in Kabul. Upon redeployment, Raymer took command of the 20th Engineer Brigade.

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Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and Fort Leonad Wood