FORT LEONARD WOOD, Mo. - Members of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Kansas City District, paid a visit to Fort Leonard Wood last week, as part of their ninth annual Leadership Development Program.

The class was composed of 13 civilian Corps of Engineers employees, only two of which have military experience. For six, it was their first time on a military installation.

For three days, the civilians wore the Army Combat Uniform, took an "Army 101" class, toured the John Mahaffey Museum Complex, and were challenged with Soldier tasks.

"It's the first time that this particular group has come together to get to know each other," said Bryan Smith, Leadership Development Program coordinator.

The group formed a bond that will help them, as Corps employees, to better serve Fort Leonard Wood, Smith said.

"It gives some of the folks that haven't seen (the post) before an opportunity to see what goes on down here. Fort Leonard Wood is one of the five installations the KC district serves; it's a large customer for us," Smith said.

The KC District also serves Fort Riley, Fort Leavenworth, Whiteman Air Force Base, and McConnell Air Force Base.

The leadership development program members took part in the same team building exercises that Soldiers go through in Basic Combat Training and engineer Advanced Individual Training, including the Teamwork Development Course, optional Army Physical Fitness Training, Engagement Skills Trainer, Urban Operations Training, the Grenade Assault Course and Heavy Equipment Simulator Training.

Members of the group said they enjoyed the inside look at Army operations.

"Not only do we do civil works, we do military jobs and understanding why they need these facilities is important, said Brian Rast, civil engineer.

The U.S. Army Engineer School was happy to host the group, said Capt. Derek Benz, Company C, 554th Engineer Battalion.

"It's kind of a family reunion, because these are our civilian counterparts. We had the privilege of Col. Wilson and Mr. Iverson, his civilian counterpart come down, and so you had both sides of the house (here). Going through the engineer museum, you saw the military history, but you also saw the civil side," Benz said.

The museum does a good job of showing the importance of the Corps of Engineers, Benz said.

"You see the dams, and how large the districts are and how diverse everyone's projects are, from both the military from (Operation Iraqi Freedom), (Operation Enduring Freedom), back to Korea and the Revolutionary War to what is going on now, just on Fort Leonard Wood with all the development that is being done here. It's very inspiring, because with all the minds at work you can actually see that what these people do every day you can see that what these people do everyday is going to endure, and it's going to last long after we're retired," Benz said.

The last event of their visit was an aerial tour of post, on their way back to Kansas City, Mo., in a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter.

(Story first printed in Fort Leonard Wood GUIDON on Oct. 15, 2009. Luke Waack is the assistant editor of the Fort Leonard Wood GUIDON.)