LIVORNO, Italy -- Hundreds of military personnel from the Italian, American, British, Norwegian and French armies temporarily transformed themselves in a "pontoon corps" during a unique exercise called Livorno Shock held Oct. 19-24 at Camp Darby's Leghorn Army Depot here.
Training started in Piacenza several weeks prior with the construction of an 18-meter-long and four-meterwide ACROW 700XS bridge over the Po River, and continued later in Camp Darby where two portable, pontoon-style bridges are part of the Army Prepositioned Stock (APS).
"This is not a standard piece of equipment throughout these various armies," said David Gaa, a contractor for Bridging Acquisition. "This equipment is, however, part of the Army Prepositioned Stock, and this bridge can hold the heaviest loads the U.S. Army has."
According to Col. Daniele Bajata, commander of the 2nd Regiment of the Pontoon Corps in Piacenza, one of the main goals of the exercise was to practice forming specialized teams around the theater that can respond to bridging needs in both military and civil emergencies.
"This is a great experience that sees mixed teams ready to intervene in any American, Italian, French, British and Norwegian soldiers train at Camp Darby Leghorn Army Depot during the Livorno Shock exercise. The large-scale exercise, which took place Oct. 19-24, consisted of constructing two commercial bridges.type of emergency. Emergencies can happen in a military environment but occur mostly during natural disasters where the capacity to cross damaged areas safely and quickly is vital," said Bajata.
According to Bajata, this is the first time the Italian military has taken part in this type of exercise.
"This type of exercise is critical in developing the ability to conduct complex, combined operations with all the NATO forces, which may need to respond together to emergencies," said Col. Rento Vaira, Italian base commander of Camp Darby.
"This exercise is an opportunity to increase the relationship among various military forces, but mostly to strengthen the ability to operate as a team."
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