Connecticut Army National Guard Trains at West Thompson Lake

Photo By AnnMarie Harvie | The Connecticut National Guard's 250th Multi-Role Bridge Company plants their guidon at base camp while training at West Thompson Lake, Thompson, Conn. (Photo by Jason Robinson)  

THOMPSON, CT, UNITED STATES

08.04.2014

Courtesy Story

U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, New England District

By Jason Robinson
Park Ranger, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

Late on June 15, the 250th Multi-Role Bridge Company (MRBC) of the Connecticut Army National Guard (CT ANG) arrived at West Thompson Lake for three days as part of their annual training. This was a chance for the Soldiers of the 250th to get some real “stick time” on their Bridge Erection Boats, and practice their driving skills moving equipment around in a real world environment.

The Bridge Erection Boat (BEB) is a crucial piece of equipment when it comes to constructing bridges for the 250th. The BEB is a powerful, highly maneuverable 27-foot jet boat with as little as a three-foot draft. Deploying Improved Ribbon Bridge sections (IRB) into West Thompson Lake, the Soldiers used several BEBs to connect four bridge sections to construct a raft to float vehicles across the lake. On the other side of the lake waiting for them, also on an annual training period, was the 192nd Headquarters & Headquarters Detachment ( HHD), also of the CT ANG, acting as an opposition force. Upon the arrival of the raft and vehicles the opposition force ambushed the 250th MRBC using artillery and grenade simulators, small arms and light machine guns. After the battle was over and the brass was collected, the 250th went back to their BEB training. On June 16 and 17 they were on the water from 5:30 a.m., until 9 p.m., deploying and recovering boats and bridge sections to gain proficiency in these tasks should they be called upon for future emergencies or combat missions.

The soldiers of the 250th not only trained on the Bridge Erection Boats, this training event also gave their truck drivers and maintenance staff a chance to practice moving and working on the equipment on land. They practiced with multiple versions of Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT). They had a version with an Improved Boat Cradle (IBC) which is a special carrier for launching and retrieving the BEBs and a version with a Common Bridge Transporter (CBT) for deploying and recovering the bridge sections. They also brought several High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicles (HMMWV) or Humvees, and Light Medium Tactical Vehicles (LMTV) which are the replacement for the old 2.5 ton “Duce-and-a-half” trucks. This driver training is essential to their mission and the land around West Thompson Lake gave them a chance to experience varying terrains from pavement to dirt road, grassy field and muddy shoreline. Although West Thompson Lake stayed open, the areas where the 250th MRBC and the 192nd HHD used for training were closed. For public safety, the CT ANG posted guards to divert people to areas of the project that were available to them during the training exercise.

The 192nd HHD came to West Thompson Lake to practice advanced warrior tasks. Besides providing support and the opposition force for the 250th MRBC, they set up communication sites in their multiple areas of operation on both sides of the lake as well as a refueling station at the boat ramp and some new popup tent systems complete with air conditioning units. The 250th and 192nd both left West Thompson Lake early on Wednesday morning in hopes of returning for more training in the near future.

Training at West Thompson Lake is not new to the CT ANG. When they were stationed next door in Putnam, the 250th MRBC trained at the Corps project in 2005 and 2006. The coordination of the training exercise between the CT ANG and the New England District is in keeping with the Chief of Engineers’ Campaign Goal for the Corps of Engineers: Support National Security.

• Date Taken: 08.04.2014
• Date Posted: 08.04.2014 14:52
• Story ID: 138247
• Location: THOMPSON, CT, US