In October Soldiers from the 76th Engineer Company, 19th Engineer Battalion used a field training exercise to gain expertise on their Mission Essential Task List.

Capt. Trevor Gerard, the company commander of the 76th Engineer Company, and transitioning 1st Sgts. Tony Collins and Philip Goddard, focused on coordinating survivability operations and conducting tactical convoy operations. The weeks leading up to the field training exercise were spent completing training events to prepare Soldiers for their two main training objectives--mounted gunnery and vertical support to the defense.

In a combat scenario, construction engineers are employed in support of maneuver forces for mobility, countermobility and survivability operations. More specifically, vertical construction engineers can play a pivotal role in doing this by constructing the obstacles that shape the battlefield. To prepare for future deployments and ensure proficiency in their METL tasks, Soldiers from the 76th Engineer Company (Vertical) constructed a series of obstacles effectively forming an obstacle belt designed to achieve a tactical effect by disrupting, fixing, turning or blocking enemy movement and maneuver.

The obstacle belt consisted of several different types of anti-vehicle and anti-personnel obstacles. One of the more challenging structures built was an obstacle known as an abatis. An abatis utilizes existing trees along the edge of a road. For the greatest effect tall trees with a plethora of large limbs are used. The trees are felled, either manually or with demolitions by cutting the trunks so that they lock together, making the road nearly unpassable without the use heavy machinery.

To comply with environmental regulations and to maintain the freedom of maneuver through the Fort Knox range roads, Soldiers from the 76th Engineers stood up their own "trees" along a trail on Atcher Drop Zone. The company employed utility poles donated by Louisville Gas and Electric as replacement for the real trees. The daunting task of vertically erecting more than a dozen 20-foot utility poles tested the expertise of the equipment operators and required the combined efforts from different military occupational specialties. The task was given to Sgt. Tyler McBroom, a horizontal construction engineer, assigned to the 76th, whose expertise in the use of heavy equipment and rigging not only allowed the job to be completed on time, but also led to the cross-training of more than 30 Soldiers.

Once the "trees" were planted and the set up was complete, Soldiers received instruction on the tactical purpose and emplacement of an abatis. Following this, the trees were cut down using a chainsaw. This obstacle was the first in the obstacle belt and blocked the main avenue of approach, followed by an 11-row wire obstacle, which is an obstacle constructed with concertina wire, barbed wire and pickets. An 11 row is another type of anti-vehicle obstacle designed to block tanks and heavy vehicles. A perimeter was built along the edge of a hill top protected by, the abatis and 11 row. Atop the hill, the company's heavy equipment operators dug in fighting positions with backhoe loaders and tied into the obstacle belt with 100 meters of triple standard wire fencing.

This event provided the opportunity for the 76th EN CO (Vertical) and the 15th EN CO (Horizontal) to work hand-in-hand to train Soldiers. After the vertical construction training was complete and all the materials were removed from the hill top, Soldiers from the 15th EN CO (Horizontal) arrived with four D-7 dozers and restored the site by filling in all of the holes created by the fighting positions as well as leveling the spoil sites. Heavy equipment operators then used their equipment to reduce the large hill and move large formations of bedrock to the edge of the drop zone at the request of Fort Knox Range Control. The noncommissioned officers from 15th utilized this time to train inexperienced operators. Their efforts provide safer terrain for airborne units utilizing the drop zone as well as assisted the 76th with recovery operations.

This field training exercise could not have happened without the successful partnership and relationship building between military-to-military units and military-to-civilian agencies.

"These enduring relationships enable the installation to maximize capabilities and training opportunities while simultaneously managing time and resource constraints." Gerard explained "As time and resources become more and more restrictive, it is up to leaders at all levels to determine how to make the most of what is available. The leaders in the 76th used this FTX to demonstrate how this can be accomplished, proving that engineers will find a way."