Photo By Lance Cpl. Nicholas Guevara | Marines set explosive charges underneath a timber bridge during a bridge build and...... read more read more
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A cold winter morning is disrupted by the sound of heavy machinery as Marines with 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion, 2nd Marine Division construct a timber bridge during a bridge build and demolition exercise at Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, December 14, 2017.
Marines constructed an expedient timber bridge to meet company training and readiness standards. Two days later, they demolished the bridge using explosives.
“This is the first field operation for the unit since returning from Operation Inherent Resolve,” said Capt. Curtis Register, the battalion commander for the unit. “We are kicking some of the rust off our skill sets to be ready for whatever the mission may be for any of our supporting infantry battalions.”
The unit handled and placed C4 and TNT charges underneath the bridge, then safely detonated the explosive charges. After the explosion, Marines assessed the damage to show new Marines to the unit the different capabilities of each charge.
“It’s a trial by fire in regards to operating in cold weather environments and understanding instruction about standard bridging,” said Register. “We sent four Humvees across the bridge to reinforce that the Marines’ work is absolutely realistic and that they can benefit from training like this, it’s not just a check in the box for training.”
The Marines of 2nd Combat Engineer Battalion will continue training for their cold-weather exercise at Fort Drum, N.Y., in the upcoming months. A build of this magnitude allowed new and seasoned Marines to showcase their ability to operate together.
“We had a lot of combat engineers helping to complete the mission,” said Lance Cpl. Payden From, combat engineer with the unit. “They helped to build the bridge and make the charges used to bring it down. Everyone played a part in this exercise.”
Lance Cpl. From explained, this training supplied Marines with the hands on training necessary to understand the differences between TNT and C4. Despite deviating from their normal schedule, comprised of mostly demolition training, 2nd CEB pushed themselves to be as diverse as possible during the bridge building portion of the exercise.
| Date Taken: | 12.14.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.20.2017 10:34 |
| Story ID: | 259509 |
| Location: | CAMP LEJEUNE, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 86 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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