GRAFENWOEHR TRAINING AREA, Germany - With a heavy force of tanks and fighting vehicles behind them racing to beat a notional adversary to a defensive battle position, combat engineers with 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, worked against the clock to bridge a dry gap.
The engineer support platoon of Company A ("Nomad"), 588th Brigade Engineer Battalion, employed bridging equipment, the M9 armored combat earthmover (ACE) and plows to force their way through a dirt embankment and over a dry gap. Breaching this obstacle was key to a highly synchronized brigade-level defense practiced by 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div., during Combined Resolve IX at the Grafenwoehr Training Area, Germany, Aug. 21-23.
"We were launching the bridge on an armored vehicle-launched bridge (AVLB) so that vehicles are able to cross a gap for the Combined Resolve IX mission," said Spc. Brittany Coffey, a combat engineer for Nomad Co.
The bridging in a simulated combat situation was a new experience for both Coffey and her track commander, Sgt. Deshawne Pitts. As they maneuvered the AVLB up to a gap in a dirt wall cleared by an ACE crew, mechanized infantrymen poured out of a Bradley fighting vehicle to pull security on the embankment.
"I went to a school two years ago where I learned how to operate an AVLB, and this is my first time operating it for an actual mission. Usually I use it for maintenance purposes, so it's been a long time, and I'm proud of myself," said Coffey.
The AVLB carries a bridge on its tracked back that can span a gap up to 60 feet long. Setting a bridge takes about 10 minutes in ideal conditions but that depends on how many vehicles need to cross over and the conditions in which the bridge is being placed.
"Timing is everything and time on target is the key to conducting bridging operations," said Pitts, also a combat engineer for Nomad Co. "We rehearsed quite a bit to ensure that we were proficient at it during the mission. Not a lot of people can say that they know how to conduct bridging. It's very beneficial to have this (experience) when you go to a breach and lay the bridge down to get vehicles across the battlefield. That's why it's important for us to have rehearsed."
The bridge showed its strength as 72-ton tanks rolled over the gap.
"The bridge can hold a tank with no attachments, Bradley, Paladin artillery - most of our armored vehicles," said Coffey. "Usually one vehicle at a time crosses the bridge."
The dry gap crossing was just one obstacle that Nomad Co. engineers breached. Sappers also employed a mine-clearing line charge, or MICLIC, to demolish concertina wire impeding the way of M1A2 Abrams tanks from the 3rd ABCT's 1st Battalion, 68th Armor Regiment.
Overall during the Combined Resolve IX training, around 1,800 Soldiers from five of the brigade's seven battalions synchronized capabilities ranging from combat engineer to artillery and unmanned aerial reconnaissance to of course the armored force. The exercise trains the Army's rotational forces in Europe to be more agile, flexible and better prepared to stand ready to operate alongside NATO Allies and partners.
"This has been a little nerve-wracking because the unit depends on us to make it happen," said Coffey of the combat engineer role. "Everyone depends on our success or the mission will be a fail. If we fail, there aren't any alternative routes for the brigade to take and our ability to defend literally gets bogged down."
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