Benning: Tip of the Bayonet

Lori Egan

Public Affairs

MCOE to meet BRAC milestone

Fort Benning will reach another milestone in its transformation to the Maneuver Center of Excellence Oct. 1 when MG Michael Ferriter becomes the center's first commanding general and its Soldiers don the redesigned MCOE patch.

COL Bryan Owens, who was nominated for promotion to the rank of brigadier general Aug. 28, will become the commandant of the Infantry School. MG James Milano, who assumed command of the U.S. Army Armor Center Aug. 27 at Fort Knox, Ky., remains the chief of Armor, and COL David Teeples becomes the commandant of the Armor School.

Because of the Base Realignment and Closure 2005 legislation, the Army is satisfying a need that has existed for 91 years, said Infantry historian Dave Stieghan.

Infantry and Armor need each other - an Infantryman can't carry 120 mm cannon or walk over barbed wire, and a tanker can't see a RPG gunner or a mine.

"To survive on the battlefield and to operate effectively, Infantry and Armor Soldiers need to train together and know each other's doctrine," Stieghan said.

As the Infantry and Armor schools co-locate as the MCOE, the goal is to ensure "we can do this without interrupting the training and education we provide," said GEN Martin E. Dempsey, the U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command's commanding general, when he was in Columbus for TRADOC's Initial Entry Training Forum earlier in the month.
Both schools are the Army's premier outfits for teaching Soldiers how to close with the enemy, he said.

"We're connected now, but having them physically together will enhance our ability to do that," said the 1974 U.S. Military Academy graduate who was commissioned as an Armor officer. "We're pretty excited about it."

Jay Brown, Fort Benning's BRAC program manager, said with the Oct. 1 standup, staffs are no longer operating in a virtual capacity, but the changes will be transparent to most. There will be a ceremony recognizing the Maneuver Center's activation, but it's being planned for mid-October.

With nearly $1 billion in construction and another 14 projects to be awarded by the month's end, "we are on track to have all courses relocated before Sept. 15, 2011," Brown said.

The Federal Register published the record of decision for the MCOE's environmental impact statement Sept. 4. It's available online at www.hqda.army.mil/acsim/brac/nepa_eis_docs.htm.

People interested in job opportunities on Fort Benning should visit Civilian Personnel Online Web site at http://acpol.army.mil/employment or USA Jobs at http://usajobs.com.

For bidding on construction-related jobs and BRAC contracting opportunities, use the Web site www.fedbizopps.gov. To open and view project specifications, register under the vendor portion. When searching for opportunities, type "Fort Benning" in the search engine.

Editor's note: Bayonet staff writer Vince Little contributed to this article.

For more MCOE information, call Bridgett Siter at 706-545-6169 or bridgett.siter@us.army.mil, or visit the

Maneuver Center of Excellence website.