This week I was fortunate to have been able to receive a series of briefings from key personnel in the U.S. Army Engineer School & Headquarters of the Engineer Regiment, at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri. No way am I going into the details of those briefings here...you'll have to wait until the July-August 2011 edition of Army Engineer Magazine to read about all that. But, short and sweet news here is: the Engineer Regiment is in excellent hands as evidenced by the outstanding work which I saw first hand.
Fort Leonard Wood is BIG today, with joint training underway not only for Engineers, but for MPs and Chemical soldiers as well. On a Thursday and Friday of most weeks of the year, the population of the installation swells with the arrival of thousands of family members coming to watch with pride their young soldier graduate from training. It's an inspiring scene.
Then there's the off-post part of the area. I remember back when it was a pretty bleak place outside the main gate to post. Today there are numerous chain restaurants, motels and retail stores in large, well maintained shopping areas located nearby. It's light years ahead of what it once was, and is one of the most outstanding military installations in the world.
Every time I come out this way, I leave energized and more confident about our military than I was when I arrived. Kudos to all in charge who made this all possible.
