POD coordinates FFE training for 130th Engineer Brigade Soldiers

By USACE Pacific Ocean Division, Readiness and Contingency Operations Division and Public AffairsAugust 1, 2016

POD coordinates FFE training for 130th Engineer Brigade Soldiers
1 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Military Planner Peter Gitto, from the USACE Pacific Ocean Division (center) observes as Howard Durkee, from the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) USACE Reachback Operations Center, conducts U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Fo... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
POD coordinates FFE training for 130th Engineer Brigade Soldiers
2 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Jerry Rushing, from the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) USACE Reachback Operations Center, conducts USACE Field Force Engineering (FFE) training for Soldiers of the 130th Engineer Brigade at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. The USACE Paci... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
POD coordinates FFE training for 130th Engineer Brigade Soldiers
3 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Military Planner Peter Gitto, from the USACE Pacific Ocean Division (left), and Howard Durkee, from the Engineer Research and Development Center (ERDC) USACE Reachback Operations Center, review plans for the USACE Field Force Engineering (FFE) traini... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
POD coordinates FFE training for 130th Engineer Brigade Soldiers
4 / 4 Show Caption + Hide Caption – Soldiers from the 130th Engineer Brigade head out to gather field data as part of their Field Force Engineering training, which began July 25 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii. Emergency Operations Specialist Reginald L. McCoy (center), from the Enginee... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT SHAFTER, Hawaii - Soldiers of the 130th Engineer Brigade are getting a boost in their technical engineering skills during two weeks of U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) Field Force Engineering (FFE) training. The training began July 25 at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.

About 50 Soldiers are learning new reconnaissance and base camp development skills through classroom and hands-on training, as well as practical exercises.

USACE Pacific Ocean Division's (POD) Readiness and Contingency operations officer Lolly Silva coordinated to bring a Mobile Training Team (MTT) of USACE subject matter experts to the home of the 25th Infantry Division at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii to conduct this on-site training.

POD's military planner Pete Gitto said, "We are giving this brigade the same training that is given to our Forward Engineer Support Teams at the USACE Readiness Support Center in Mobile, Alabama." "The MTT brings this valuable training right to the brigade's foxhole."

"Field force engineering is USACE's expeditionary capability that brings technical engineering support to the joint forces commander, commander, Army service component command or theater Army subordinate commands," said Gitto.

"FFE leverages the Corps of Engineers' technical expertise through the deployment of small, forward elements with state of the art tele-engineering communications and reconnaissance equipment along with reach-back capabilities."

MTT members from the Engineer Research and Development Center's (ERDC) USACE Reach-back Operations Center (UROC) brought all the necessary equipment to ensure each Soldier gets the hands-on experience of operating tele-engineering communications, automated route reconnaissance equipment.

In addition, other USACE experts are providing instruction on the base camp master planning and design process. Instruction will be reinforced with practical exercises that Soldiers will use to demonstrate their proficiency in the areas of mission analysis, location selection, land use planning, facilities development requirements, general site planning, and base camp clean up and closure.