United States Army Engineer School

United States Army Engineer School (USAES)
Active	1778 – present
Country	United States
Allegiance	United States Army
Branch	Regular Army
Type	TRADOC school
Role	Generate military engineer capabilities for the U.S. Army
Garrison/HQ	Fort Leonard Wood
Motto(s)	Essayons (Let Us Try)
Colors	Scarlet and White
Commanders
Commandant	Colonel Stephen Kolouch
Command Sergeant Major	CSM Zachary Plummer

The United States Army Engineer School (USAES) is located at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. It was founded as a School of Engineering by General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge on 9 June 1778. The U.S. Army Engineer School provides training that develops a wide variety of engineering skills including: combat engineer, bridging, construction, geospatial, topography, diving, and firefighting.

USAES defines its mission as:

Synchronize and integrate the Doctrine, Organization, Training, Material, Leader Development, Personnel, and Facilities (DOTMLPF) domains to ensure the Engineer Regiment is prepared to provide engineer support now and into the future.

History

As with the United States Army Corps of Engineers, the Engineer School traces its roots to the American Revolution. General Headquarters Orders, Valley Forge, dated 9 June 1778 read "3 Captains and 9 Lieutenants are wanted to officer the Company of Sappers. As the Corps will be a SCHOOL OF ENGINEERING, it opens a prospect to such gentlemen as enter it...." Shortly after the publishing of the order, the "school" moved to the river fortifications at West Point. With the end of the war and the mustering out of the Army, the school closed. However, the Regiment of Artillerists and Engineers was constituted a military school and was reopened at the same location in 1794. For four years it constituted a school of application for new engineers and artillerymen. Closing in 1798, due to a fire which destroyed many facilities, the engineers were without a school for three years.

In 1801, the War Department revived the school, and Major Jonathan Williams became its superintendent. Less than a year later, Congress authorized the Corps of Engineers and constituted it at West Point as a military academy. For the next 64 years, the Military Academy was under the supervision of the Corps. Although the curriculum was heavily laced with engineering subjects, the Academy commissioned officers into all branches of the service. Following the American Civil War (1861–1865), supervision of the Academy passed to the War Department.

When the Engineer Battalion took station at the Fort at Willets Point (later renamed Fort Totten) in 1866, Engineer leaders saw the opportunity to develop a school oriented exclusively to engineers. From 1868 to 1885, an informal School of Application existed; its first commander was Major Henry Larcom Abbot, who developed the Army's first modern underwater minefield system there. Part of this effort involved the creation of the Essayons Club. This was an informal group which met during the winter months and presented professional engineer papers. In 1885, the School of Application received formal recognition by the War Department. In 1890, the name was changed to United States Engineer School.

In 1901, the School moved from Willets Point to Washington Barracks in Washington, D.C., and was renamed the Engineer School of Application. This name lasted only a few years. In 1904, the name was changed back to the Engineer School. The Engineer School remained at Washington Barracks for the next 19 years, although it closed from time to time because of a shortage of officers, or national emergencies. In 1909, certain courses associated with the field army moved to Ft. Leavenworth, and the Army Field Engineer School opened in 1910. That school, a part of the Army Service Schools, closed in 1916. The First World War forced a closing of the Engineer School as the instructors and students were needed to officer the expanding engineer force. The school resumed its instruction in 1920, but at a different location. Washington Barracks was transferred to the General Staff College and the Engineer School moved to Camp A. A. Humphreys, south of Mount Vernon, in Virginia. This was a World War I camp built on land acquired by the War Department in 1912. The original name for the tract was Belvoir. In 1935, Camp Humphreys was renamed Fort Belvoir.

After 68 years, in 1988, the home of the Engineer School was moved to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri "due to a shortage of land for training at Fort Belvoir" The move also allowed engineer training of officers, warrant officers and enlisted to be conducted in the same location.

USAES and Engineer Regiment symbology.

The distinctive insignia for the U.S. Army Engineer School was approved by the War Department on June 27, 1929. It had been used on diplomas and stationery since 1924. Scarlet and white are the colors of the Engineers. Scarlet represents the shared heritage with the Artillery. From 1794 to 1802, the Engineers were part of the Corps of Artillerists and Engineers. White is the traditional color of the Infantry. Its use on the shield reflects the Engineers’ secondary mission of fighting as infantry. Above the shield is the “Lamp of Knowledge”. The lamps represents the Engineer Schools mission to train and educate.

Under the shield is the motto of the Engineers-Essayons. It is a French term which means “Let us strive”, “Let us try”. The use of this term reflects the contributions of French Engineers to the Nation’s struggle for independence and the influence of the French Engineers on the early development of the Corps.

The castle symbolizes the classical role of Engineers as those who build fortifications and those who breach their walls. The castle has been used by the Corps since 1840, when it was adopted as a device on the uniform of the Cadets of the United States Military Academy.

Organization

The U.S. Army Engineer School is composed of Headquarters staff, the Directorate of Training and Leader Development, the Directorate Of Environmental Protection and Management, 1st Engineer Brigade, the Counter Explosive Hazards Center and the Engineer Personnel Development Office.

Visual representation of the U.S. Army Engineer School structure

Command

As of 2024, the Commandant of the U.S. Army Engineer School is Colonel Stephen Kolouch. The Regimental Command Sergeant Major is CSM Zachary Plummer. The Regimental Chief Warrant Officer is CW5 Willie Gadsden Jr.

Commandants

Image	Name	Period of Office
	Colonel Jonathan Williams	1802–1812
	Brigadier General Joseph Gardner Swift	1812–1817
	Brigadier General Sylvanus Thayer	1817–1833
	Brigadier General Rene' E. De Russy	1833–1838
	Major General Richard Delafield	1838–1845 & 1856–1861
	Brigadier General Henry Brewerton	1845–1852
	Colonel Robert Edward Lee	1852–1855
	Major General John G. Barnard	1855–1856
	Captain Pierre G. T. Beauregard	1861
	Lieutenant Colonel Alexander H. Bowman	1861–1864
	Major General Zealous B. Tower	1864
	Brigadier General George Washington Cullum	1864–1866
	Major James C. Duane	1866–1868
	Major Henry Larcum Abbot	1868–1886
	Major Cyrus B. Comstock	1886–1887
	Major William R. King	1887–1895
	Major William T. Rossell	1895
	Major John G. D. Knight	1895–1901
	Major William M. Black	1901–1903
	Major Edward Burr	1903–1906
	Major Eben Eveleth Winslow	1906–1907
	Major William Campbell Langfitt	1907–1910
	Major William Jones Barden	1910–1913
	Major Joseph Ernst Kuhn	1913–1914
	Major William Preston Wooten	1914–1916
	Major Gustave Rudolph Lukesh	1916
	Major General Mason Mathews Patrick	1916–1917 & 1921
	Colonel William Wright Harts	1917
	Colonel Henry Jervey	1917
	Colonel Frederic Vaughn Abbot	1917–1918
	Colonel Richard Park	1918
	Brigadier General Charles William Kutz	1918
	Colonel Jay Johnson Morrow	1919
	Major General Clement A. F. Flagler	1919–1920
	Brigadier General William Durward Connor	1920
	Colonel Meriwether Lewis Walker	1920–1921
	Major General Mason M. Patrick	1921
	Colonel James Albert Woodruff	1921–1924
	Colonel Harry Burgess	1924
	Colonel Sherwood Alfred Cheney	1924–1925
	Colonel Edward Murphy Markham	1925–1929
	Colonel Edward Hugh Schulz	1929–1933
	Colonel George Redfield Spalding	1933–1935
	Colonel Laurance V. Frazier	1935–1936
	Colonel Julian Larcombe Schley	1936–1937
	Colonel Thomas Mathew Robins	1938–1939
	Colonel James Alexander O'Connor	1939–1940
	Brigadier General Roscoe Campbell Crawford	1940–1943
	Colonel Xenophon Herbert Price	1943–1944
	Brigadier General Edwin H. Marks	1944
	Brigadier General Gordon Russell Young	1944
	Brigadier General Dwight Frederick Johns	1944–1945
	Brigadier General Patrick Henry Timothy Jr.	1936–1937
	Major General Francis B. Wilby	1945–1946
	Colonel Willis Edward Teale	1946–1947
	Major General William Morris Hoge Jr.	1947–1948
	Major General Douglas Lafayette Weart	1948–1951
	Major General Stanley Lonzo Scott	1951
	Major General A. W. Pence	1951–1954 (Died in office)
	Major General Louis W. Prentiss	1954–1956
	Major General David H. Tulley	1956–1958
	Major General Gerald E. Galloway	1958–1960
	Major General Walter K. Wilson Jr.	1960–1961
	Major General Stephen R. Hanmer	1961–1962
	Major General Lawrence J. Lincoln	1962–1963
	Major General William F. Cassidy	1963–1965
	Major General Frederick J. Clarke	1965–1966
	Major General Robert F. Seedlock	1966–1967
	Major General Arthur William Oberbeck	1968
	Major General George H. Walker	1968–1969
	Major General William C. Gribble Jr.	1969–1970
	Major General Robert R. Ploger	1970–1973
	Major General Harold R. Parfitt	1973–1975
	Major General James A. Johnson	1975–1977
	Major General James L. Kelly	1977–1980
	Major General Max W. Noah	1980–1982
	Major General James Neal Ellis	1982–1984
	Major General Richard S. Kem	1984–1987
	Major General William H. Reno	1987–1988
	Major General Daniel R. Schroeder	1988–1991
	Major General Daniel W. Christman	1991–1993
	Major General Joe N. Ballard	1993–1995
	Major General Clair F. Gill	1995–1997
	Major General Robert B. Flowers	1997–2000
	Major General Anders B. Aadland	2000–2002
	Major General Robert L. Van Antwerp Jr.	2002–2004
	Major General Randal Castro	2004–2006
	Major General William H. McCoy	2006–2007
	Brigadier General Gregg Martin	2007–2008
	Colonel Robert A. Tipton	2008–2009
	Brigadier General Bryan G. Watson	2009–2011
	Brigadier General Peter “Duke” DeLuca	2011–2013
	Brigadier General Anthony C. Funkhouser	2013-2015
	Brigadier General James H. Raymer	2015 - 2017
	Brigadier General Robert F. Whittle Jr.	2017 - 2019
	Brigadier General Mark Quander	2019 - 2021
	Colonel Daniel H. Hibner	2021–2022
	COLONEL JOSEPH C. “CLETE” GOETZ II	2022-2024
	COLONEL STEPHEN J. KOLOUCH	2024-present

Regimental Command Sergeants Major

Image	Name	Period of Office
	SGM Frederick W. Gerber	1867–1875
	SGM A.M. Wagner	1961–1962
	SGM G.F. Humphreys	1962–1964
	SGM M.H. Philips	1964–1966
	SGM A.M. Wagner	Jan-Mar 1966
	SGM M.H. Philips	1966-1968
	SGM Harry W. Dawson	Mar-Jul 1968
	CSM Griffith A. Jones	1968–1969
	CSM M.H. Philips	1969–1971
	CSM H. Salazar	1971–1973
	CSM Adriano W. Benini	1973–1975
	CSM Robert G. Cady	1975–1977
	CSM Lucion L. Cowart	1977–1979
	CSM Frederick J. Eisenbart	1979–1981
	CSM Marvin L. Knowles	1981–1982
	CSM Orville W. Troesch Jr.	1982–1984
	CSM C.T. Tucker	1984–1986
	CSM M. Lee	1986–1988
	CSM Acie Gardner	1986–1991
	CSM W. E. Woodall	1991–1992
	CSM Richard N. Wilson	1992–1993
	CSM Roy L. Burns	1993–1996
	CSM Julius Nutter	1996–1997
	CSM Robert M. Dils	1997–1999
	CSM Arthur Laughlin	1999–2000
	CSM Robert R. Robinson II	2000–2002
	CSM William D. McDaniel Jr.	2002–2003
	CSM Clinton J. Pearson	2003–2008
	CSM Robert J. Wells	2008–2011
	CSM Terrence W. Murphy	2011–2013
	CSM Butler J. Kendrick Jr.	2013 - 2015
	CSM Bradley J. Houston	2015 - 2017
	CSM Trevor C. Walker	2017 - 2018
	CSM Douglas William Galick	2019 - 2020
	CSM John T. Brennan	2020 - 2023
	CSM Zachary Plummer	2023 - Present

Regimental Chief Warrant Officers

Image	Name	Period of Office
	CW5 Robert K. Lamphear	2007–2011
	CW5 Scott R. Owens	2011 - 2015
	CW5 John F. Fobish	2015 - 2017
	CW5 Jerome Bussey	2017 - 2019
	CW5 Dean A. Registe	2019 - 2023
	CW5 Willie Gadsden Jr.	2023 - present

Engineer

The school published Engineer (ISSN 0046-1989), a professional bulletin.

See also

• U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
• Prime Power School

External links

• U.S. Army Engineer School Official Website