Photo By Gunnery Sgt. Devin Nichols | A Marine with Bridge Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics...... read more read more
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MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, N.C. - In the hot and muggy sunlit day, service members worked foot by foot together to achieve something that has never been done before.
At Engineer Point here, July 30, Marines with Bridge Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, worked with approximately 44 soldiers from the Army's 502nd Multi-Role Bridge Company from Fort Knox, Ky. Together, the two branches built a bridge approximately 1,000 feet in length, using 41 improved ribbon bridges, or IRBs, and two ramps bays.
The group's mission was to connect two sides of the New River aboard Camp Lejeune, which intersects the Intracoastal Waterway and flows throughout the base.
The leadership of 8th ESB was well aware that erecting a bridge this length across a river would be challenging. According to Lt. Col. Ferdinand F. Llantero, the commanding officer of the battalion, the task was a very significant feat of engineering.
"[This was] by far, the longest floating bridge erected by Marine Corps engineers to date," Llantero noted. Not only did the team complete the project, but "the process was completed in two and a half hours," he said.
"For years, 8th ESB has been the only active-duty bridging company in the Marine Corps," said Llantero. With this in mind, and recognizing that the Army also has engineering capabilities, the leadership of 8th ESB planned from the beginning to make this a joint-service training mission.
"The intent to bring the Army in was to share different standard operating procedures and tactics when it comes to bridging," said Marine Corps 1st Lt. Tyler D. Martin, the IRB Platoon Commander, Bridge Co., 8th ESB. "They are the subject matter experts when it comes to this because a lot of their operators with the Army have been doing this their whole careers. As for the Marines, we are combat engineers, we come from all aspects of the Marine Air Ground Task Force so we wanted to bring them here and share knowledge with each other."
The Marines and soldiers utilized eight MK III Bridge Erection Boats to place the Improved Ribbon Bridges piece by piece to achieve their mission.
"Our Marines were pushed to the limit," said Martin, an Alexandria, Va., native. "It was hot out here and it was great training."
Service members used Logistics Vehicle Systems, or LVSs, and the upgraded Logistics Vehicle System Replacements, or LVSRs, to drop the IRBs in the water so operators using the erection boats in the water could direct the bridges in place.
"It has been a really good experience for my operators to get their hands on some new equipment in hope that we can get some in the future," said U.S. Army 2nd Lt. Michael C. Crimmins, the 2nd Platoon leader, 502nd Multi-Role Bridge Co.
After soldiers were familiarized with the Marine Corps' bridge erection boats, both Marine and Army operators built a continuous span across the water so they could cross vehicles for this training exercise.
"Our intent was to get some good training in," said Crimmins, a Mesa, Ariz., native. "Back in Fort Knox we do not have the ability to do a full closure to get traffic across a river, all we have the ability to do is raft."
"We definitely do things a little bit differently," said Martin. "But we got together, sat down, answered any questions and we worked well with each other."
| Date Taken: | 07.30.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.02.2013 16:13 |
| Story ID: | 111280 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Hometown: | ALEXANDRIA, VIRGINIA, US |
| Hometown: | MESA, ARIZONA, US |
| Web Views: | 341 |
| Downloads: | 5 |
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