132nd Multi-Role Bridge Company receives new equipment

Photo By Sgt. John Stephens | The 132nd Multi-Role Bridge Company, talks about the new M30 Boat and building a raft at Whiskeytown Lake near Redding, California on August 19, 2022 as part of a drill. These Bridge Builder Crewmembers (12C) practice their craft almost every drill ato remain ready for when called to duty.  

CA, UNITED STATES

08.21.2022

Story by Sgt. John Stephens 

49th Military Police Brigade

132nd Multi-Role Bridge Company receives new equipment

Whiskeytown Lake, Calif. - The new M30 Bridge Erection Boats (BEB) make life a little easier for the 132nd Multi-Role Bridge Company (MRBC) out of Redding, California. The 132nd MRBC used the MKII prior to the arrival of these new M30 BEBs. The MKII was utilized by the 132nd MRBC for over 30 years until earlier this year. With the addition of the M30 BEBs, the 132nd MRBC can work more efficiently to build bridges and rafts.

BEBs are used to build bridges over water. Trucks haul in the bays that are then dropped into the water. The BEBs use ropes to capture the bays and maneuver the bays to construct bridges and rafts. “These boats are so much easier to drive,” said Sgt. 1st Class Rusty Chambers of the 132d MRBC. The M30 can have a crew as small as 2 people to do the job. The max speed of the M30 is 28 MPH and uses more digital technology compared to the MKII.

“The big thing you need to worry about now is not the driving of the boat, but catching the bays as they land in the water. You only have a few seconds once the bay hits the water before the tide can pull the bays down river. The new boats make it much easier to catch these bays because they are so easy to operate,” said Chambers. Bridge crewmembers (12C) like Chambers have a unique job in the California National Guard as the 132nd MRBC is one of few units around the country with the water mission to build bridges.

“We just returned from annual training where we worked with units in the Active Duty Army, Army Reserve, Army National Guard and Marines to build bridges at Joint Base Lewis-McChord (JBLM) and we were lucky we brought our M30 BEBs. The other Bridge Company had some issues with their boats so we utilized the 132nd MRBC M30 BEBs instead during training,” said Chambers.

The 132nd MRBC Commander, 1st Lt. Michael Lyons said, "The 132nd MRBC brought extra boats, ramps, and bays to JBLM for the explicit reason to supplement the 671st Engineer Company if there were equipment issues." Lyons continued, "The cooperation and integration between our two companies was superb and could not have gone better."

The 132nd MRBC learned a lot about their boats while at annual training and about the way other units do things. 2nd Lt. Carson Liang, Platoon leader for the 132nd MRBC said, “Initially it was a challenge for us to merge with the other units we were working with because we have our own way of doing things, however we took away a lot of tricks and tips by working with the other units.” Liang continued, “The biggest thing I think we took away was verbalizing what we were doing while we did it so everyone knew exactly what everyone else was doing. Being able to raft vehicles and build a fully enclosed float bridge for the training exercise gave our new Soldiers a better understanding of a Multi-Role Bridge Company mission.”

The 132nd MRBC train almost every drill with their equipment and have been called to multiple state activations. The new M30 BEBs will help maintain readiness and keep the 132nd MRBC Soldiers in the fight.

Always Ready! Soldiers First!

• Date Taken: 08.21.2022
• Date Posted: 08.24.2022 09:05
• Story ID: 427923
• Location: CA, US