U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division welcomes individual mobilization augmentees for annual training

WINCHESTER, Va.-Soldiers arrived here this month to participate in a variety of training and readiness events as part of their duties as individual mobilization augmentees assigned to the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division.

The Soldiers completed their training and participated in some Army Birthday week esprit de corps activities including a leadership development seminar with guest speaker Dr. Christine Altendorf, Director of Military Programs, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers and a cake cutting.

Unlike many reserve-component Soldiers who serve in a unit comprised of other reservists, individual mobilization augmentees are assigned to an active-duty organization like the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division, a selective service system, or a Federal Emergency Management Agency, according to U.S. Army Human Resources Command. Soldiers assigned as individual mobilization augmentees are typically senior noncommissioned officers and officers.

The program provides career broadening opportunities for reserve Soldiers and provides the commands with an additional pool of trained Soldiers to draw upon. “Individual mobilization augmentees bring a unique perspective with their leadership experience, civilian career experience and Army experience. It’s a win-win-win for us,” said Col. William C. Hannan Jr., commander U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division.

Lt. Col. Vince Makiling, is a military intelligence officer newly assigned to U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division as an individual mobilization augmentee. In his civilian capacity, Makiling works as a special agent for the United States Army Criminal Investigation Division in Kaiserslautern, Germany. He has a broad military career spent entirely with U.S. Army Reserve and National Guard units. He’s deployed to Iraq, supported the Southwest border mission, and commanded an Army Counterintelligence Command detachment.

As a new addition to the team, he’s excited to learn more and contribute to the organization. “I’ve always wanted to work with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers,” he said. “I admire the organization. They have a lot of important missions. Being here on the ground and seeing the culture here has been great.”

Makiling supports the organization with intelligence duties as well as being ready to deploy should the organization need him. That readiness is a key component to the individual mobilization augmentee program, according to Lt. Col. Robert Leonard, Deputy G3 U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division.

“One of the largest benefits of the individual mobilization augmentee program, is to have these Soldiers ready to go in the event we need to deploy or provide additional support at our various locations worldwide. These Soldiers have already trained with us and know the unit. We can call them up quickly when needed. In fact, right now we have eight Soldiers activated and supporting the mission throughout our command,” he said.

Having an in-person annual training period been a positive for the individual mobilization augmentees. The training period and increased the Soldiers’ readiness and improved integration with the team.

“Remote is great and definitely works, but being in-person provides many intangible benefits,” said Makiling. “I’m looking forward to continuing to support the mission and learn more about the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Transatlantic Division.”

The Transatlantic Division provides engineering solutions for our mission partner’s toughest full spectrum challenges in one of the most complex construction environments in the world that includes United States Central Command’s area of responsibility consisting of 21 nations stretching from Northeast Africa across the Middle East to Central and South Asia. The organization has oversight of a more than $5.4 billion portfolio of more than 275 ongoing projects supporting the nation, and allied partners.