Many of you reading this know already that HQDA has decided to assign a Military Police (MP) branch officer to command Fort Leonard Wood and the Maneuver Support Center (MANSCEN) later this month. Going back in time to when the Engineer School moved to Missouri from Fort Belvoir, Virginia in the mid 1980's, there has always been an Engineer branch officer in command. Later, when the Army decided to combine the Engineer School with the MP and Chemical Schools at Leonard Wood, that trend continued. Until now. Emotion aside for us Engineers, this is not a bad thing.
Certainly the other two branches involved with training at MANSCEN deserve to be represented at the top. To think that ONLY an Engineer is qualified to command the installation is absurd. I was for a time, deeply involved with working many of the initial coordinations pertaining to moving the MP and Chemical Schools to Fort Leonard Wood. I remember, for example, meeting directly with top leaders from Fort McClellan, Alabama way before the moves started. They came to see us and we showed them what we were all about. As they were about to depart, the Chief of Staff of the MP School sort of jokingly said to me, "Some day us guys will lead this place." At first, I did not take it as a joke, and my Engineer blood started to bubble a bit. But then, I realized he was right. The Army was transforming Fort Leonard Wood into a model for joint training, and we (I) needed to stop being so protective of our traditional turf.
So, I think it's a good thing that an MP branch general officer will now have a chance to lead MANSCEN. I wish him well and all of you should do the same.
