ARMY RESERVE SOLDIERS
The Decisive Edge by LTG Jack C. Stultz, Chief, Army Reserve
Company, hit the ground in southern Af- ghanistan last fall, nearly 3,000 troops in Iraq and Afghanistan had been killed by improvised explosive devices (IEDs), and an estimated 10 times that number had been wounded. By the time he left, DeHart, an engineering technician, had cobbled together a prototype that, once implemented, would thwart the enemy’s efforts and reduce future risk to life and limb for both troops and allies.
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A native of Birnamwood, WI, DeHart embodies the decisive edge of today’s Army Reserve, no longer a supplemental reinforcement to the Army’s deployable strength but a crucial component of the warfighting team.
Army AL&T Magazine hen CPL Eric DeHart,
a combat engineer as- signed to the Army Reserve’s 428th Engineer
A decade of war and the resulting strain on the active component have shaped the Army Reserve into an inextricably inte- grated force, offering strategic agility and an enhanced depth not achievable in its former strategic reserve structure. As an enduring part of the operational force, the Army Reserve provides responsive capabil- ities in a complex security environment as the military continues to respond to the nation’s global operational requirements.
The Army Reserve provides integral sup- port units and specific functions with a specialized range of capabilities. Engag- ing Reserve Soldiers and leveraging their civilian skills brings a depth and breadth of experience across the spectrum of operations.
DeHart’s platoon leader was able to lever- age the senior designer’s civilian-acquired
skills as an engineer when he questioned whether the corporal could devise a new way to prevent enemy forces from hiding IEDs along roadside culverts. Although culverts in America are uniformly sized, gutters in Afghanistan are each built dif- ferently. In order to make culverts safe from roadside bombs, the design had to obstruct access to hiding places, yet permit water and debris to pass through. Though culvert denial systems had been devised in the past, DeHart’s idea, which created a screen across the opening, was simple, cost-effective, efficient to install, and difficult to tamper with.
Around the world, Army Reserve Sol- diers are making a difference. They are conducting intelligence, security, medi- cal, logistical, civil affairs, and engineering missions, as well as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance. The indelible
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