Staff ride offers Soldiers insight on Civil War contracting
FORT CAMPBELL, Kentucky (Feb. 21, 2020) -- Members of the 922nd Contracting Battalion participated in a staff ride led by the Army Contracting Command historian Feb. 11 to the Fort Donelson National Battlefield in Tennessee.
The staff ride took place the same week the battle occurred 158 years earlier, facilitating an experience of similar weather and terrain conditions endured during the battle.
"The event provided the Soldiers with a better understanding of contracting support effects during the Civil War and at the Battle of Fort Donelson," said Lt. Col. Anthony Rogers, commander of the 922nd CBN at Fort Campbell, Kentucky.
Historian Mikhael Weitzel highlighted many facts throughout the staff ride including discussion on contracting fratricide, the fragmented efforts to secure contracts from both the Union and Confederate sides, and the bidding war for resources between the Army and Navy. The decentralized and insufficient acquisition methods ultimately led to extremely inflated prices of supplies and services. Discussion also included the importance of synchronizing efforts between Department of Defense contracting agencies to prevent and minimize contracting fratricide.
The Battle of Fort Donelson took place Feb. 14 - 16, 1862, in the proximity of Dover, Tennessee. This battle was well documented for the major exchange between the Confederate fort and the Union Navy's ironclad ships that were steaming down the Cumberland River. The Union's capture of Fort Donelson secured a strategic avenue for the invasion of the South.
Weitzel said the staff ride also presented a historical view on the importance and impact of contracting on U.S. Army operations, providing better understanding of current missions and instilling a sense of esprit de corps.
"We walked the battlefield, discussing the stages of combat from initial preparation to surrender, focusing on the Civil War contracting effects on the battle," he said. "I strove to ensure the staff ride provided the opportunity for the Soldiers to engage in discussion about the Battle of Fort Donelson, and how looking at the origins of modern Army contracting can provide inspiration to improve their mission today."
About the MICC:
Headquartered at JBSA-Fort Sam Houston, Texas, the Mission and Installation Contracting Command consists of about 1,500 military and civilian members who are responsible for contracting goods and services in support of Soldiers as well as readying trained contracting units for the operating force and contingency environment when called upon. MICC contracts are vital in feeding more than 200,000 Soldiers every day, providing many daily base operations support services at installations, facilitate training in the preparation of more than 100,000 conventional force members annually, training more than 500,000 students each year, and maintaining more than 14.4 million acres of land and 170,000 structures.
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