U.S. Army Chief of Engineers visits with the 130th Engineer Brigade

By 1st Lt. Grant Taulbee, 130th Eng. Bde.July 31, 2012

U.S. Army Chief of Engineers visits with the 130th Engineer Brigade
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U.S. Army Chief of Engineers visits with the 130th Engineer Brigade
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U.S. Army Chief of Engineers visits with the 130th Engineer Brigade
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U.S. Army Chief of Engineers visits with the 130th Engineer Brigade
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SCHOFIELD BARRACKS, Hawaii--Lt. Gen. Thomas P. Bostick, the U.S. Army Chief of Engineers, visited with the 130th Engineer Brigade on July 24, to meet with the senior leadership in the brigade and receive a capabilities briefing to better understand the role of the brigade within the Pacific theater.

Upon arrival, Bostick awarded coins to the top 12 Soldiers in the brigade.

"Whenever I award Soldiers for their actions I think not only of what they have done, but what their families have sacrificed as well," he said.

After offering words of admiration for the recognized Soldiers, Bostick received the command capabilities briefing from the brigade senior leadership, learned the capabilities of each company and detachment in the brigade as well as past, present, and future theater security cooperation program missions.

For lunch, select company commanders and first sergeants from the brigade had the opportunity to sit down for lunch with the Chief of Engineers at the 8th TSC K-Quad Dining Facility.

He offered advice drawing from his vast experience rising through the Engineer Corps.

Lt. Gen.Bostick spoke about the Engineer branch getting back to the basics, stating that in the current operating environment we are focused more on route clearance but we need to shift to focus on "the full spectrum of Engineer capabilities," citing the importance of those capabilities from a maneuver perspective.

The discussion also delved into leadership philosophy, Lt. Gen. Bostick urged leaders to know their Soldier and Families and have an open command climate where Soldiers are not afraid to ask for help before their issues get out of hand. "bad stuff is going to happen [in any unit], if you don't have an open command climate, you won't know about it until it's too late."

He urged the company commanders and first sergeants not to worry about making mistakes during training, "at your age, I would make as many mistakes as possible," stating that the only way to improve weak points is by working on them and learning from mistakes.

He spoke to the leaders about their Families and expressed deep gratitude to Soldier's Families. "You're all here because you and your families made the decision to stick with it".

"The Army is about people, and you can't spend [too] much time around people."

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