Photo By 1st Sgt. Jim Heuston | Soldiers with the 341st Multi-Role Bridging Company build a partial ribbon bridge to...... read more read more
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The Arkansas River makes the Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center unique in training centers across the United States, and since Fort Chaffee was named a “Level 1 Training Site,” the river has been the focus for what makes it better for large scale operational training.
Being a “Level 1 Training Site” means Fort Chaffee is capable of providing continuous pre and post mobilization training support, combat preparation and sustainment capabilities for large scale mobilization operations in an intense and realistic environment, and the Arkansas River adds to that intense and realistic environment by having the FCJMTC training area on both sides of the commercially navigable river.
With a flow of 47,970 cubic feet per second, varying depths to 50 feet, and an average channel depth of twelve feet, the Arkansas River provides a challenging environment for any unit seeking to add a wet gap crossing to their training operation.
“I was really surprised of the how large the Arkansas River actually is,” said Lt. Ian Richter, 341st Multi-Role Bridge Company, U.S. Army Reserve. Originally stationed in Texas, Richter was new to Fort Chaffee when assigned a command with the 341st MRBC in Barling, Arkansas. “This company being local, we can just come out here every BA [Battle Assembly], if we wanted to. We could get out on the river, and it is actually a large enough body of water that we don't have to worry about, if the water level is too low to do any bridging operations. So, with the Arkansas River, we don't have to worry about that.”
Fort Chaffee’s more than 65,000 acres of training area provides the ability to plan a complex scenario involving a river crossing site that can move beyond the wet gap crossing and further into the downrange training areas.
“Fort Chaffee is unique in the fact that it's the only installation in the continental United States, with training areas located on both sides of a commercially navigable waterway in the Arkansas River,” said Maj. Michael Speight, chief of operations, Fort Chaffee Joint Maneuver Training Center. “Specifically, being a commercial navigable waterway, you’re going to have a current and flow in the Arkansas River that's going to be extraordinary, and outside of the normal training experience that most units get, practicing these operations on a lake.
There is some control from the lock and dam immediately to the west of the site, but by and large, a unit is going to have to plan for and execute their operation on a river that's actually flowing and is deep enough to support barge traffic down the Arkansas River.”
Safety is always a concern for any training operation. With a large metropolitan area like Fort Smith nearby, high level medical care is only minutes away.
“I like how when we come down here, we don't have to worry too much about the heat,” said Spc. Deborah Kaitesi, combat medic, 341st Multi-Role Bridge Company. She compared the heat on the Arkansas River to the heat in Fort Cavazos, Texas. “The weather is very different, but also, [the Arkansas River training area] is very close to base and hospitals as well. So, if there are any injuries at all, I have very easy access to ambulance points and to hospitals and other, more extensive medical personnel.”
Having a large river instead of a lake is the advantage of training at Fort Chaffee, explained Speight. Often they’ve had three to four thousand Soldiers from all three Army components [the Army, Army Reserve, and the National Guard] with aviation support crossing the Arkansas River on a ribbon bridge during a river warrior exercise.
“So, that's very unique,” said Speight. you're going to have the varying depths, the flow, and the challenge of actually having to deal with a flowing river. So environmentally, it's going to be a little bit different than what they're used to, and it's going to take a little more planning to execute it.”
For a bridging company, having a challenging environment like the Arkansas River builds the confidence and competence needed to face the unknown challenges of a real world operation.
“Our MOS [military occupational specialty] is a very small one,” said Spc. Matthew Wagner, bridge crewmember, 341st Multi-Role Bridge Company. “It’s very limited by the fact that there's not very many places in the whole country where you can do this kind of training. We have access to a major river, the Arkansas River, right here, where we can train the way that we would actually have to fight. Most other places, they're limited to some kind of lake that doesn't have any kind of current. It doesn't properly simulate the real world environment.”
| Date Taken: | 07.19.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.11.2024 15:55 |
| Story ID: | 480613 |
| Location: | FORT CHAFFEE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Hometown: | BARLING, ARKANSAS, US |
| Hometown: | BROKEN ARROW, OKLAHOMA, US |
| Hometown: | FORT SMITH, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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