FORT KNOX, Ky. — Like the Norse warriors of old, engineers from 502nd Multirole Bridge Company traveled the waters in search of an enemy. Unlike the ancient warriors, they did it armed with M249 squad automatic weapons and M4 carbine rifles.
Known as the “Vikings,” the 19th Engineer Battalion company specializes in bridging and water maneuvers, including river crossings. For the March 11-20 exercise, their focus was on reacting to contact from popup targets while performing live-fire operations at the Salt River on post.
Fort Knox is uniquely suited to live-fire operations while traveling on the river.
“The purpose of the exercise is to improve our lethality when conducting rafting operations,” said Capt. Jay Carmody, company commander. “The way we’re doing this is through a progression of first, from a single boat with two light machine guns on either side, then two-ship with one light machine gun on either side, and then finally rafting.
“We’re doing what’s called a five-float – that would be a five-float raft with boats attached to either side engaging reactive targets under both day and night, and [Chemical, Biological, Radioactive, Nuclear and Explosives] conditions.”
The company also fired at targets while traveling inside what is known as the Inflatable Combat Assault Craft, or rubber-like ICACs, during the exercise.
Last year, the unit set up stationary wooden targets along the riverbanks to fire at.
“This is an annual event for the 502nd,” said Carmody. “Each year, we increase the complexity in order to develop more lethality and practicality.”
This year, they installed responsive popup targets.
“We’re continuing to learn and develop [standard operating procedures],” said Carmody. “The increased complexity with night fire and reactive targets have increased the time requirements, but ultimately it provided useful training today that will drive better training in the future.”
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