Engineers recommend the best use of their units to achieve these
goals.
Force commanders then establish tasks and priorities for
engineer activities.
b. Anticipate events on the battlefield. Engineer commanders provide
timely, effective engineer support.
A responsive logistics system
makes materiel and transportation assets available for engineer
units to prepare the terrain for the operation.
Engineer plans
include provisions for changes in the operation.
c. Concentrate combat power against enemy vulnerabilities.
Effective
force commanders and their engineers thoroughly understand the enemy
and his weaknesses.
Viable schemes of maneuver consider the
capabilities of engineer forces to alter terrain, reduce enemy
obstacles, hinder enemy breaching of friendly obstacles, and protect
the force from enemy firepower. Engineer mobility operations enable
the
maneuver
commander
to
exploit
enemy
vulnerabilities;
countermobility operations protect the friendly force and conserve
combat power.
d. Designate, sustain, and shift the main effort. Engineers are combat
multipliers for the maneuver force's main effort.
Maneuver
supporting efforts receive fewer engineer resources. Engineer units
concentrate in key areas, and everyone does not get an equal share
of engineers.
As the main effort shifts, the engineer force's
posture enables engineers to shift with it.
e. Press the fight. Engineer units support the fight to the endurance
limit of their men and machines. Prior planning allows commanders
to position forces and materiel where they can be replaced when
exhausted during the battle.
f. Move fast, strike hard, and finish rapidly. Engineers enable units
to concentrate rapidly over clear routes and reduce enemy obstacles
without losing momentum.
g. Use terrain, weather, deception, and operations security (OPSEC).
Engineers are experts on the use of terrain and the effect of
weather on terrain; they convert terrain to the commander's
advantage.
h. Conserve strength for decisive actions.
The number of available
engineers is insufficient to meet all requirements. Commanders must
focus engineers on mission-essential tasks. They must balance the
decentralized employment of engineers into a close-combat force
against the need to mass engineers for critical tasks.
i. Complement and reinforce the combined-arms team and sister services.
When used properly, engineers are a combat multiplier that
significantly increases the effectiveness of other combat arms.
Engineer units are fully integrated into the combined-arms team.
They also work with other services to ensure that the theater's
infrastructure permits support to all forces.
EN5483
1-2
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