First Sergeant Lon Mark Davis was born in 1963 in Lynchburg, Virginia. He graduated from Fort Defiance High School and enlisted in the Army in 1981. He attended basic training at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, in the summer of 1981. Following Basic Training, he attended Advanced Individual Training for U.S. Army Engineers at Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri and Fort Belvoir, Virginia. He was awarded the Primary Military Occupation Specialties of 12B, Combat Engineer and 12E, Atomic Demolition’s Munitions (ADM) Specialist.

His assignments include the 24^th United States Army Field Artillery Detachment, Landsberg, Germany from November 1981 to March 1986, where he served as an ADM Specialist and ADM Team Leader. He was then assigned to Fort Leonard Wood, Missouri, from March 1986 to December 1988, where he served as a Drill Sergeant and Instructor. His next duty station was the 54^th Engineer Battalion, Wildflecken, Germany, from December 1988 to May 1992, where he served as a Combat Engineer Squad Leader and Platoon Sergeant. He was transferred to the 19^th Engineer Battalion, Fort Knox, Kentucky, and served as a Combat Engineer Platoon Sergeant where he remained from May 1992 to December 1993. Again he moved to Germany where he served with the 130^th Engineer Brigade and the 38^th Engineer Company in Hanau, Germany, from December 1993 to June 1997, where he performed duties as First Sergeant, Brigade Operations Sergeant, and Brigade Operations Sergeant Major. He is presently stationed in the 40^th Combat Engineer Battalion, Idar-Oberstein, Germany, where he serves as the Headquarters Company First Sergeant.

First Sergeant Davis’ awards include the Bronze Star Medal, Army Commendation Medal (5th Award), Army Achievement Medal, Good Conduct Medal (5th Award), National Defense Service medal, South West Asia Service Medal, Armed Forces Service Medal, NCO Professional Development Ribbon (3rd Award), Army Service Ribbon, Overseas Service Ribbon (4th Award), NATO Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal and the "coveted" Drill Sergeant Badge.

First Sergeant Davis is a graduate of the Primary Leadership Course, Engineer Basic NCO Course, Drill Sergeant School, Engineer Advanced NCO Course, Battle Staff NCO Course, and the First Sergeant’s Academy. He is actively pursuing and is 16 semester hours away from completing a Bachelor of Science degree in Psychology.

His notable deployments include numerous rotations to the Combat Maneuver Training Center (CMTC), Hohenfels, Germany, the National Training Center (NTC), Fort Erwin, California, Grafenwöhr Training Area (GTA), Germany, Operations JOINT ENDEAVOR, JOINT GUARD, and JOINT FORGE, Bosnia, and Operation DESERT STORM, South West Asia.

First Sergeant Davis was the First Sergeant of the 38^th Medium Girder Bridge Company that enabled the historic Sava river crossing in December 1995.

First Sergeant Davis presently holds Primary Military Occupation Specialty 12Z5M, Engineer First Sergeant. He is qualified as a Battle Staff NCO and German linguist.

He is married to the former Rita Frank of Fürstenfeldbruck, Germany. They have three children, Christopher, 13, Michael, 9, and Annalisa, 5. Their family resides in quarters in Baumholder, Germany.

Mr Chairman and distinguished members of the Committee:

My name is 1SG Mark Davis, and I am the Company First Sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40^th Engineer Battalion of the Division Engineer Brigade, 1^st Armored Division from Idar-Oberstein, Germany. It is a privilege to appear before you today to discuss the issues of combat readiness for my company. I have been a First Sergeant since 1995 and have served as First Sergeant for Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 40^th Engineers for 5 months. I have had the unique opportunity to serve two tours in Bosnia-Herzegovina, first as a Corps Engineer with the 38^th Engineer Company of the 130^th Engineer Brigade, immortalized in the blinding snows of December 1995 during the historic spanning of the Sava River, enabling U.S. forces to enter the war torn regions of Bosnia-Herzegovina as part of IFOR. My second tour of Bosnia was with 1^st Armored Division during our most recent deployment from May 1998 to October 1998 as a member of the Stabilization Force, or SFOR. I have served a total of 14 months on the ground in Bosnia-Herzegovina as a combat engineer and have had the great privilege to lead our young men and women in this important peacekeeping mission. I have also served an integral role in the retraining of my unit and the battalion for our missions in high intensity conflict following our return from Bosnia. Having served with 1^st Armored Division in the Gulf War during DESERT SHIELD and DESERT STORM, I can attest to the high standards required of our soldiers in high intensity combat operations. These same standards apply equally during peacekeeping operations with much of the same skills and competencies being required for both missions. I would like to take the opportunity to address the opportunities and challenges that my unit faced as we trained for our peacekeeping mission while in Bosnia-Herzegovina and after redeployment, as we refocused our training efforts from peacekeeping to warfighting.

I first deployed to Bosnia-Herzegovina in December of 1995 as a bridge company first sergeant with the mission to span the swollen Sava River and enable the 33,000-plus U.S. forces under the command of the 1^st Armored Division to enter Bosnia and enforce the fragile peace. I redeployed from that mission in November 1996, returning to my units home station in Hanau, Germany. In November 1996, my family and I made the decision to stay in Europe, and I accepted a consecutive overseas tour in Germany, being reassigned to the 1^st Armored Division Engineer Brigade, with duty as a First Sergeant in the 40^th Engineer Battalion at Baumholder Germany. In March of 1998, my unit was notified that we would assume the mission as the U.S. Engineer Task Force in Bosnia, replacing our sister battalion, the 16^th Engineer Battalion. We immediately began training for the demanding mission requirements of peacekeeping operations, culminating in our participation in MOUNTAIN EAGLE VI in May of 1998, the mission rehearsal for the deployment of the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team and my battalion, the 40^th Engineer Battalion, to Bosnia-Herzegovina as a member of SFOR.

The foundation of our training program for peacekeeping operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina was ensuring that we were first trained in our high intensity combat tasks as a combat engineer company. This required us to conduct our individual and crew skills to standard, including breaching operations and engineer counter-mobility tasks. My unit completed this high intensity combat training during our annual rotation at the Combat Maneuver Training Center at Hohenfels, Germany in November 1997. We had to be proficient as warfighters before we could start training as peacekeepers.

Our comprehensive training program for peacekeeping included Individual Readiness Training, which focused our soldiers on the individual skills required during their deployments. These skills included mine awareness training, dealing with civilians and media, and searches and other checkpoint operations. Individual Readiness Training also included classes on the roots of the Bosnian conflict, the environment, and the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. This training was critical to ensuring all of our soldiers "had their heads in the game" and became our foundation for further training in the peacekeeping skills unique to the SFOR mission in Bosnia-Herzegovina.

At platoon and company level, our training included situational training exercises, performed in a "lanes concept" which allowed us to first learn, then perform our new tasks to standards. Many of the tasks, conditions, and standards for this mission were found in the 7^th ATC "White Paper" for the Bosnian mission. We also used the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team peacekeeping Standardized Operating Procedures (SOP), an excellent "how to manual" which builds upon 1^st Armored Divisions previous experiences in the Balkans during Operation JOINT ENDEAVOR from 1995 – 1996. Critical training tasks included monitoring entity mine lifting and demining operations, bridge classification and repair, and mine clearing and proofing. We reorganized our unit to perform these tasks in uparmored HMMWVs rather than our tracked engineer vehicles as the mission in Bosnia had matured enough to require a reduced military presence on the increasingly crowded Bosnia roads. All of this training required the constant involvement of small unit leaders, from my squad leaders to my platoon sergeants and platoon leaders in order to train our soldiers to standard in their new tasks. At the end of the training, we validated an old saying that well-led and disciplined soldiers can perform any task to standard.

My unit participated in MOUNTAIN EAGLE VI with the 2^nd Brigade Combat Team in May 1998. The intent of the mission rehearsal exercise was to replicate as much as possible the environment that my soldiers and unit would face during our deployment to Bosnia. During the mission rehearsal, my unit had the opportunity to practice and refine our procedures for many of the complex and new tasks facing us in Bosnia. But there were many tasks trained during MOUNTAIN EAGLE that we did not execute in Bosnia, such as deliberate checkpoint operations, due primarily to the rapidly changing and evolving environment in Bosnia. Following MOUNTAIN EAGLE VI, my commander and unit leadership completed our preparation of our families for the separation. We deployed to Bosnia in June 1998 and assumed transfer of authority for our mission from the 16^th Engineer Battalion within weeks of arrival.

During our deployment, my company was based at Camp McGovern, astride the strategically important Posavina Corridor, and only kilometers from the strategically important city of Brcko, the one city that the Dayton Peace Accords could not solve. Recent arbitration hearings held in Vienna, Austria in late February 1999, illustrate the strategic importance of Brcko, as all three entities continue to lay claim to the city. Its final resolution could ultimately determine the fate of the Dayton Peace Accords. The continued and engaged presence of U.S. forces in Brcko, including my soldiers, has enabled the city to be rebuilt from the rubble of the civil war, becoming a paradigm for multi-ethnic integration, albeit still under international supervision. Our soldiers were proud of their contributions to a safe and secure environment to promote civil implementation of the Dayton Peace Accords. Because of our soldiers, children now go to school in Bosnia and can safely play in rebuilt playgrounds, without fear of landmines or snipers. Brcko is returning to life, with businesses and homes being rebuilt daily. We also shared in the responsibility to ensure force protection along our base camp perimeter, conducting guard mount and guarding our wire 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Force protection remained our number one priority. We overcame challenges daily meeting these requirements, including manning shortcomings, an issue that I will address later. I can proudly say that we lived up to our promise to our soldiers and their families, and safely redeployed every one of our soldiers to Baumholder, Germany on 22 September 1998, arriving safely back to the awaiting arms of our spouses and families.

During our deployment, our family support groups were critical to ensuring an open flow of communication and support for our spouses and families left back in Friedberg. My spouse, Rita, served as an advisor of our volunteer family support group. This is a completely volunteer effort which required countless hours of work and dedication. I can never thank her enough for what she has done for my unit and our soldiers. She and the other dedicated members of our family support group, such as Diane Gramig from Kentucky, Julie Lane of Tennessee, and Carletta Foreman of South Carolina, ensured that any problem which arose during our deployment was handled quickly and by the appropriate authority or agency. No family problem was too difficult or too big for them to assist in its resolution. It is important to a soldier’s sense of well-being that while he or she is away, their families are being taken care of by those that understand. We also need to take care of the special needs of our single soldiers during their deployment. Our Rear Detachment Commander, Sergeant Todd Bradley of Kentucky, was critical to this mission. He was my right hand or "assistant" if you will. He balanced his schedule and mine and protected the home front. He and our family support groups are critical to mission success.

Our first focus after redeployment was accountability for all of our equipment. As we had left much of our Bosnia-specific equipment with our replacements in Bosnia from the 1^st Cavalry Division, we found that the inventories back in Germany went fairly quickly. The battalion and company rear detachment leadership ensured that our equipment was well-maintained and serviced during our absence. We also had the task to reintegrate our soldiers with their families, which extended well beyond the welcome home ceremony. We had to reintegrate our unit with our base support and Germany communities. We had to rebuild our team.

My battalion commander, LTC Hoffpauir, the battalion command sergeant major, CSM Jones, and company commander, CPT Peloquin, then set us on the path to retrain to high intensity combat readiness. Our culmination to this retraining will be our upcoming deployment to the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Apr 99. But the road to readiness began with reintroducing our squads and platoons to their tracks. We found that many of our competencies required for high intensity combat had not eroded much during our short deployment. In deployments under 6 months, we are able to retain much of our combat readiness as our training plans are based on six-month cycles. Additionally, most of our combat skills and competencies were put to good use in support of peacekeeping operations in Bosnia. The Commanding General used to refer to Bosnia as the "engineers’ playground". My soldiers had unparalleled opportunities while serving in Bosnia to use demolitions, clear and proof minefields, conduct bridge classifications, repair and construct bridges and roads, and to work with many multinational partners. We constructed bridges with Russian and British engineers, rebuilt roads with Serb and Bosniak engineers, worked on the Brcko railhead with Italian engineers, and surveyed bridges and lines of communications with Hungarian and Romanian engineers. All of these peacekeeping tasks directly related to our wartime competencies. But more importantly, soldiers came away from this mission with faith in their leadership, their equipment, and their training. Confident that they can rise to any mission in a dangerous war-torn region, and safely execute any task. Bosnia was a positive experience for our unit and helped to sustain our current combat readiness for future operations.

The manpower shortages that I addressed earlier were evident during both of my deployments to the Balkans. The goal for manning is presently at 92% in the Division. In 1995 my bridge company deployed below 80%, while we did meet 90% in June of 98. I would like to see a perfect world. I would like for "America’s Tank Division" to deploy at 100%. Particularly challenging is the shortage of junior NCOs. These sergeants are the mentors and coaches that directly supervise the actions of soldiers on the ground. In my opinion, they are the critical link that truly holds the NCO corps together.

During my last tour in Bosnia, I saw young soldiers like PVT Scheffel from New York and PFC Drane from Kentucky gain confidence in their ability to soldier and blossom under the threat of a real world deployment. I watched an inexperienced young specialist named Grissom of Illinois develop into one of the strongest junior leaders in the company. And I was blessed with the experience and knowledge of my platoon sergeants as they trained their soldiers, NCOs, and young lieutenants. This equates to many people living, eating, working, and improving together under circumstances labeled "peacekeeping".

Our retraining efforts have focused on refining those few skills and competencies that we were unable to train on while deployed to Bosnia. Over the past several months, we have deployed to our local training areas in Baumholder as well as ranges in Grafenwoehr and the Combat Maneuver Training Center in Hohenfels to retrain critical tasks to high intensity combat standards. To name but a few, those tasks included deliberate and hasty breaches of minefields and obstacle belts and emplacement of counter-mobility obstacles for a deliberate defense. We have leveraged our successes in Bosnia as tight-knit, well-led teams, and we have integrated those soldiers who arrived after our return from Bosnia. We have taken great strides toward our critical retraining. This, again, is possible because of the engagement of our junior officers and NCOs and their daily contact with soldiers in Bosnia, which has directly translated to tight-knit, well-led squads and platoons. Leaders additionally took advantage of the time available in Bosnia to conduct limited training on perishable high intensity skills, using a combination of professional development classes and hands-on training, to continue to hone our warfighting edge, even while deployed on a peacekeeping operation.

Our deployment to Bosnia enabled my company to reinforce unit cohesion and camaraderie, focused on small unit leadership engagement in our soldiers’ every action. My soldiers learned the value of self-discipline to standard, which is as essential in peacekeeping as it is in high intensity combat. Our junior officers and NCOs learned the value of small unit leadership by example. Many of our Army values, those of loyalty, integrity, selfless service, and respect, that we built during those 4 months spent at Camp McGovern, have served us well in our retraining efforts and they will serve us in combat.

I am proud of what we have accomplished, of making a difference in the lives of the people of Bosnia-Herzegovina. I am proud of the constant changes that I saw during my two tours in Bosnia—a Bosnia being reborn, with smiles on the faces of her children, hope echoed in the voices of her people. I am proud of the sacrifices of our soldiers and their families. I am proud of what we have accomplished since our return to Germany. We are ready for our next challenge: to fight our nations wars, whether that is high intensity maneuver warfare in the deserts of Iraq or another peacekeeping mission in Bosnia, Macedonia, or Kosovo.

Thank you Mr Chairman and ladies and gentlemen of the committee for the opportunity to share my pride in my soldiers with you today. Dignity and Respect.