SPLA: The army corps of engineers is vital

By Maker Costa

December 24, 2008 — The author has once elaborated on other important branches of the Army like the Air Force for the Sudan People’s Liberation Army (SPLA) which indeed did materialize at a later date, but the Army Corps of Engineers (A CE) stands out in that it is broad in scope and mission. Unlike the Air Force and other branches of the Army that are only meant for combat, the ACE has a duol mission: it undertakes civil works projects in addition to its military technical role. Therefore, elaborating on this critical branch of the Army is worthwhile and may mark a turning point on how we do business in our young nation. In that context, we will draw parallels as to how the ACE helped other countries, especially the USA, strengthened their armies as well as laying down their infrastructures. In doing so, we are hopeful that the new leadership in the person of the new minister of the SPLA may be willing to modernize the SPLA into a conventional army.

Why Army Corps of Engineers (ACE) for the SPLA?

Let’s first look at the historical context in which the ACE ascended to prominence in most of the developed countries’ armies. For instance, take the US Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), it started in 1775 when a chief engineer was hired to manage the US Army construction projects, as a consequent, and in 1802, the USACE was officially instituted, in concomitance with the establishment of US Military Academy (at the West Point). In fact, the USACE was in charge of the US Military Academy at West Point for a long period afterwards until the later became a separate institution in a later date. Most of USACE employees are civilians who are overseen by a small group of military personnel, i.e., the USACE is composed of 34,600 civilians and 650 military personnel. Its main objectives are: technical support in combat, infrastructure, homeland security, water resources control, and protection of the environment. It is worth noting that the USACE is a robust entity; in fact, it is the largest public engineering organization ever assembled. To give the readership a sense of what it does, the USACE manages more than 609 dams in the US, more than 75 hydroelectric power generation facilities, and is in charge and controls all of the water passages in the US of which it maintains and operates more than 257 navigation locks on the Mississippi and the Ohio rivers. Not to mention its role in building and maintenance of roads and bridges and other important infrastructural systems. In short, the things that the USACE does are countless and can not all be enumerated here, but you get the point.

Having examined the USACE and how it has helped the USA in general and the US Army in particular, let’s now look at our army: the SPLA. The situation in Southern Sudan now is similar to that of America in the eighteenth century; hence, it should be intuitive that mimicking some of what America did back then, in order to upgrade its Army, is not a bad idea at all. After all, we don’t have to reinvent the wheel but take advantage of its existence.

The conditions are ripe for the SPLA to establish a functional ACE:

The SPLA has the manpower represented in its huge army of which many are sitting idle now
The SPLA has its 40% of South Sudan’s revenues as its budget
Southern Sudan is starting from scratch; hence, it needs a robust investment in infrastructure. In addition, its army is transitioning for a guerilla status to that of a conventional army, which makes it profitable for the SPLA to establish such a branch

Therefore, it is high time that the SPLA establishes its own ACE which would mimic the US model (USACE) but relevant to our unique situation in Southern Sudan. Other countries that have copied the US model are very successful today; take for instance Egypt, which is one of Africa’s most developed countries, the Egyptian Army is one of the most productive armies in the world because it has a carbon copy of the USACE. Sarcastically, the Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak, in his recent visit to Juba, touted the success of his army and urged Southern Sudan to follow suite.

What would the Army Corps of Engineer’s do?

The things that the Army Corps of Engineers can do are but not limited to what follows.

Civil Works:

Roads and bridges: the ACE can help in building of roads and bridges that has stalled now. The reason why this would be effective is because the army has a ready and well-organized work force (soldiers) who usually work under orders.
River control: River Nile and its tributaries, which span South Sudan’s land escape, needs to be control such that it becomes more navigable for steamers and barges, this would be achieved by employing dredging mechanisms and the like. In fact, the newly proposed hydroelectric dams for Juba and Wau are good examples of where the ACE would do a great job.
Public buildings and parks: all government buildings would be built quicker and cheaper by the ACE if it is involved or manages such projects.
Water treatment and sewage systems: this is very important in that the army can afford the kind of labor that is needed in building and maintaining such systems
Agricultural Schemes: the agricultural sector would prosper if the proposed ACE is to help run such schemes.

Military Works:

This is where it is intuitive that the ACE would be vital as a technical support unit in the SPLA vis-à-vis the Army Medical Corps. The things that the army uses: vehicles, weapons/ammunitions, planes, barges, and so on, need engineering on a massive scale. The ACE would take care of the recondite aspects of combat in regards to its high tech support role; for instance, it would be responsible for erecting mobile bridges to allow for rapid crossing of water passages, help erect radar systems across Southern Sudan, build military airports and air bases, build barracks, provide repair and inspection services in all of the SPLA’s weaponry and military vehicles/planes, and above all it would play a technical role in planning for combat and train analysis, should the war resume.

How would the ACE be assembled?

It is a fact that the SPLA has some form of ACE already in existence, although it doesn’t qualify for the name, the proposed comprehensive ACE should build on what is already in existence. As such, the SPLA will have to enlist many professional engineers from all engineering disciplines, mechanics, fitters, craftsmen, plumbers, carpenters, and the like in order for the ACE to perform its prescribed role with measurable results. Except for professional engineers, the rest of the professions enumerated above can easily be filled by either recruiting such craftsmen and fitters, or by training some of the soldiers in the SPLA for such roles, which could be done with ease. Regarding engineers, ten to thirty engineers would be enough for the job, after all, the role of engineers would be either to design new systems, or analyze the existing ones for better performance; thus, few engineers can do the job.

But the most important aspect of the ACE is how it is structured. The ACE will be made up of two braches: a civil branch which will be responsible for the civil works, and a military branch that will take care of the military works as explained earlier. The two branches will be headed by two chairpersons who, by necessity, must be engineers and military officers at the same time. Then there will be an overall command that will command the two branches; this command will be led by a chief of staff, who should be a professional engineer and a military general, and who should automatically be a member of the Joint Chief of Staffs of the SPLA. The details would be worked out by this team as to how the recruitment, training, and allocation of resources would proceed. Believe me or not, the results of the proposed ACE would be seen sooner than it appears if the SPLA opt for it.

Is the ACE feasible, given our situation?

Yes! In fact, the ACE will be the only branch of the Army (SPLA) which would generate revenues. For instance, the SPLA may spend billions of dollars in order to constructs barracks, training facilities, military airports, repair and inspection services, and the like, but with the ACE in place, all that money would be saved. Also, the SPLA would save the money it spends on recondite consultancy in regards to its purchase of weapons and other military equipments, because the ACE will have in its ranks the best and brightest of engineers and scientists.

In addition, the ACE will save the Government of Southern Sudan (GOSS) billions of dollars in civil works projects like the building of roads, bridges, sewage systems, power generation, flood control, dredging of rivers for navigation, agricultural schemes, dams’ construction/management, and so on.

In short, the ACE pays for itself and its members’ wages; in addition, it generates additional revenues for the military through its activities.

In conclusion, allow me to cite one more example as to how the ACE could tilt the balance of power. During World War Two, the Germans were already working on an atom bomb but the US beat them to it because it has the largest ACE at the time. The USACE managed to build a complete industrial town in just two years upon orders from President Roosevelt to do so; consequently, USACE managed to produce the first atom bomb in what was known as the Manhattan Project. That atom bomb was enough to tilt the balance in US favor when it was used against Japan, and since then, the US took the initiative and never lost it again. That victory was brought about by the power of brain –allow me to call it the American way!

In contrast, the reason why most African countries lag behind is because their armies are improvised to only destroy and fight wars, but they are never meant to build anything. We should not fall in that trap in Southern Sudan –it will be detrimental if we did. It is always tempting to opt for the easy options which are normally obvious, but such easy options seldom produce any results; hence, let not try it that way -the African way if you wish, but let’s try it this time the American way –the brain power way- it may produce better results. After all, better results are what matter, not whose way was employed!

The author is based in New York. He can be reached at [email protected]