SAME’s Response to the Global War on Terrorism

As we enter our fourth year in Iraq and Afghanistan, it is well to reflect on the impact of the Global War on Terrorism (GWOT) on SAME and its members. Feedback from SAME leaders has provided a glimpse of GWOT’s impacts, as have my personal observations as I have traveled around the world and to the Middle East and met with our engineer team. First and foremost is the most positive impact—the tremendous commitment to GWOT by the citizens of this great country and our military, civilian and contractor members of SAME. Our military recruitment and re-enlistment rates are holding steady, despite the strong economy, low unemployment rates and knowledge of frequent deployments by our active, guard and reserve forces. The days of our National Guard and Reserve engineer forces not being engaged in the fight have passed. More than 75 percent of our engineer force structure is in the Guard and Reserve and they are doing a magnificent job supporting GWOT.

It is truly gratifying to see the volunteerism of the civilian workforce in the U.S.  Army Corps of Engineers, as well as the teamwork displayed by the U.S.  Air Force and U.S. Navy engineers in support of our joint organization in Iraq.  At the SAME Joint Engineer Senior NCO Symposium at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., last month, the message came through loud and clear: the engineer community is making a difference in Iraq and Afghanistan as a “joint” effort. Seabees, Marines and Army and Air Force engineers are working together to accomplish the mission. It was great to see SAME sponsor a symposium in support of our NCOs, a talented group of engineers. I see our NCOs as becoming a vital part of SAME in the years ahead.

Aside from our joint engineer operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, we are truly blessed with the tremendous support of our contactors. Large and small businesses have answered the call by committing resources to accomplish some of the most difficult missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The conditions are severe, yet contractors have persevered. Through months of tough challenges, contractors remain ready to answer the call. SAME represents the best of the private and public sector partnership. Our Sustaining Members have emulated the foundation of SAME from World War I, when the nation realized that it could no longer fight a war without active engagement and participation of the private sector. Thank you to all the SAME Sustaining Member Companies that have made a commitment to GWOT and shared in its successes and challenges.

As we look to our Posts, we also realize the impact of GWOT on SAME’s operations. We see a decline in public sector membership and participation resulting from the stresses of frequent deployments, a heightened state of readiness and the continued downsizing of engineer organizations. Despite the challenges of GWOT, more than 50 percent of our Post leaders come from the public sector. This truly represents a commitment of public sector engineer leaders to SAME, and to them, I say, “Thank you.” It also represents the value of SAME as a professional organization, worthy of our time and efforts.

With the continued downsizing of the uniformed services, SAME again has answered the call by planning its first Transition Workshop and Job Fair for Feb. 2-3, 2007. The event is designed to assist those military and civilian members of the uniformed services who are being asked to leave the service, or who have decided that it is time to pursue a civilian career. SAME’s goal is to keep these talented and dedicated men and women in the private sector or civil service workforce in support of GWOT and Department of Defense (DOD) missions. I applaud SAME for initiating this important program and the Sustaining Member Companies and Public Agencies that will be participating in the event. I am sure that it will be a tremendous success for both individuals taking off the uniform and the federal agencies and companies hiring new personnel in support of DOD programs.

One of the major benefits of SAME membership is that it fosters “joint” relationships as well as supports public and private sector partnerships. I am delighted to learn that SAME will be supporting the Joint Engineer Operational Course, undergoing its second pilot session in early December. This course is long overdue. The Engineer Service Chiefs support this joint course, which will be attended by NCOs, company and field grade officers, and DOD civilians. I look forward to SAME’s active involvement to bring the experience of the private sector to the students and faculty.

While SAME continues to pursue its focus on the installations mission, I am pleased with our additional focus on “joint” engineer contingency operations.  As long as our nation is engaged in GWOT—which appears to be a long-term fight, as was the Cold War— SAME must continue to focus its attention on all aspects of military engineering, including installations and contingency operations in support of GWOT.

I look forward to meeting many of our Post Leaders and all SAME Members who are working to keep our organization strong. I wish all of you a
joyous holiday season and ask that you keep our deployed forces and their families in your thoughts and prayers.

Lt. Gen. Carl A. Strock, P.E.
U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
SAME President, 2006 – 2007