Jack of All Trades, Master of None: Combat Engineer Officer Assignments in the Marine Corps

Combat engineers are assigned throughout the Marine Air Ground Task Force (MAGTF) and provide a wide variety of capabilities. The skill sets a combat engineer officer employs differ significantly depending on what element of the MAGTF to which he or she is assigned. The nation's current conflicts are both engineer intensive and rapidly changing. More and more, contemporary personnel assignment procedures take a seasoned, specially trained Marine and throw him into an environment that requires skill sets that he has never exercised. With limited preparation, this Marine is then expected to employ these significantly different skill sets as a subject matter expert. As a result, traditional officer assignment practices in the case of combat engineer officers (MOS 1302) do not properly support all elements of the MAGTF with well-prepared company grade officers. Assignment policies should be revised to conform to the realities Marines face today. EWS Contemporary Issues Paper.