37th Engineer Battalion (Combat)(Airborne) – Joint Task Force Eagle

Story by 1st Lt. Meghan E. Keefe

TAJI, Iraq – Spirits were high and colors were bright during the ribbon-cutting ceremony for the Mabey Johnson Float Bridge, Sept. 21, in Taji, Iraq.

Lt. Col. Paul Huszar, commander of the 37th Engineer Battalion, Joint Task Force Eagle, out of Fort Bragg, N.C., and Iraqi Chief of Engineers Gen. Merza, joined fellow engineer officers, including Huszar's counterpart, Col. Ra'ad, commander of the 5th Iraqi Army Field Engineer Regiment, to honor and celebrate the opening of the MJFB, placed through a partnership between U.S. forces and Iraqi Soldiers.

Huszar, a Seabring, Fla., native, spoke to the Iraqi engineer officers during the ceremony.

"It is an honor and a privilege to be here today and to partner with you in engineering," Huszar said. "This bridge is a symbol of the progress of our transition and the responsible drawdown of U.S. Forces."

The MJFB was built by the 50th Multi-Role Bridge Company, based out of Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., and Soldiers from the 4th, 5th and Headquarters, Iraqi Army FER. The bridge, which crosses the Tigris River just north of Baghdad, allows freedom of mobility for both U.S. forces and Iraqi Security Forces without having to travel through built-up areas.

The MJFB is a non-assault logistic support bridge built to sustain movement of supplies and re-open communications. It also allows for upgrades to routes that support heavy traffic and is intended for military engineering units, said Huszar. Bridges with the same low-cost manufacturing can be found around the world in places such as Iraq, the United States, Asia and Latin America, he said.

"I have been all over the world and United States Army Engineers show great promise in their ability to continue emplacing this type of bridge in future operations," said retired British Army Sgt. Maj. Alan Peterson, a field support representative who travels internationally to provide technical guidance on bridge emplacement, during a Leadership Development session for JTF Eagle engineer officers.

Once the ribbon was cut, the engineers walked from one end to the other as water from the Tigris rushed underneath them. After reviewing the bridge, Soldiers from the IA FER sang a celebratory song, praising the success of the bridge building and expressing hope for the future of U.S. forces and their Iraqi counterparts.

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