Photo By Maj. Sean Delpech | FORT MCCOY, Wis. – U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers, with the 705th Transportation...... read more read more
Subscribe
FORT MCCOY, Wis. - “We wanted to get something that our Soldiers had never done before, and partnering with the 652nd MRBC to create and implement non-standard training fit the bill.”
1st Lt. Nathan A. Staff, commander of the Army Reserve’s 705th Transportation Company, 643rd Regional Support Group, 310th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), from Dayton Ohio had those words to say after conducting loaded rafting operations with the 652nd Multi-Role Bridge Company (MRBC), 397th Engineer Battalion, 372nd Engineer Brigade, 416th Theater Engineer Command, from Hammond, Wis., while participating in Combat Support Training Exercise (CSTX) 86-16-13 at Lake Petenwell, outside of Fort McCoy, Wis., during August 2016.
“It became a win-win for both companies,” continued Staff, “we worked together to plan and scheduled it, and the mission for us was to provide transportation support for them to provide the asset that then allowed our Soldiers to be able to see and move aboard the Engineer equipment with our trucks.”
The normal mission for the 705th TC CO is line hauling cargo, including fuel and cargo on flat bed trailers on over-the-road missions.
“A mission like this is completely outside of the ordinary for the Soldiers of the 705th Transportation Company,” said Staff, “and it’s a little different feeling when you drive a truck across floating barges than it is on solid roads.”
Not a directed mission, the prospect of partnering with another unit created an opportunity for the operations planners of both units as well as the Soldiers at the ground level, according to Sgt. 1st Class Jeremy W. Lloyd, assistant operations for the 705th TC CO.
“Our objective out here was to cross train with other units, such as the 652nd Engineer Company,” said Lloyd, “we coordinated with them, basing our OPORD development on their Warning Order.”
“We accomplished two things, first, there are a lot of cross leveled Soldiers in this unit that haven’t really worked together, second, we built on unit morale, working to increase team building,” said Lloyd.
The major challenges were communication and timing for two dissimilar units with short planning schedules.
“The big opportunities we got from this event that we don’t usually see at home station are the coordination and partnership that we managed with an outside organization like the Engineers that we partnered with here,” said Lloyd. “We don’t know how they operate, or what capabilities they have,” continued Lloyd.
1st Lt. Benjamin K. Bacon, commander of the 652nd Multi-Role Bridge Company, 397th Engineer Battalion, 372nd Engineer Brigade, shared the sentiments of the 705th TC CO.
“Making sure our time-lines were coordinated, and both units understood what we needed to accomplish,” said Bacon, “gave us an opportunity within 24 hours to shift focus to accommodate the 705th Transportation Company vehicles, and also offered technical challenges that we had to adjust to.”
“Actually having a non-notional partner in the synchronization and coordination leading up to the bridging operation is necessary to actually receive value from the training for the unit and Soldiers,” said Bacon, “and partnering with the 705th Transportation Company to accomplish this mission with a day or two notice really did a lot for our Trop Leading Procedures in order to plan effectively.”
The rafting training opportunity here challenged Soldiers of both units to sharpen technical skills that are rarely trained.
“Our primary focus was to enable mobility of the 705th Transportation Company over Lake Petenwell by building a six float raft, comprised of four anterior bays, and two ramps,” said Bacon.
For instance, conducting rafting operations loaded on a body of water such as Lake Petenwell, when loaded with vehicles and equipment, is much different than maneuvering rafts without a load.
“In our role as a bridging company, we have to carefully consider the weights, types and number of vehicles,” said Bacon, “so we really needed to understand what the 705th Transportation Company required of us in order to plan properly and coordinate our hit times accordingly.”
“Lake Petenwell is not flat water, so although minimal, there is turbulence in the water, and then you have real weight on the boats when they’re actually pushing the rafts around in the water,” said Bacon.
“On top of that, the water conditions for laden bridging operations have to be taken into account during reconnaissance,” said Bacon.
“We weren’t just launching the vehicles out of a slip, but also had to acknowledge that there would be vehicles that wanted to come on to the raft, and we additionally had to scout a good location for that.”
Conducting the initial phase of the rafting operation, Soldiers from the 652nd MRBC worked on ground to free-launch bays and bridges into Lake Petenwell.
Once all bridging equipment was in place, the Soldiers connected the bays and ramps into a floating bridge.
“We have three different crews, the boat crew, the shore crew and bill crew,” said Bacon.
The shore crew is responsible for coordinating all of the vehicles boarding the raft, and making sure that they’re ready to roll as soon as the opportunity present itself.
The 705th TC CO then loaded their trucks onto the bridging equipment and used the real-world conditions on the lake for driver’s training for the 705 TC CO and practice for loaded maneuver operations training for the 652nd MRBC.
“The biggest advantage in a training environment like CSTX is time,” said Lloyd.
“During our training at home station, everything is limited by time,” continued Lloyd, “and when we’re in the field training is done to standard; the environment gives leaders the time with their Soldiers to do it right.”
“Creating great training like this at the unit level is important, because we don’t only need fit Soldiers, but Soldiers that are highly motivated to do the job and stay in uniform,” said Lloyd.
| Date Taken: | 09.30.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2016 20:06 |
| Story ID: | 211104 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WI, US |
| Hometown: | DAYTON, OH, US |
| Hometown: | HAMMOND, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 264 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, The 705th Transportation Company partners with the 652nd Multi-Role Bridge Company to work outside the box to keep mobile, by MAJ Sean Delpech, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT