Photo By Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn | Soldiers assigned to 2d Cavalry Regiment, U.S. Army have their humvees transported...... read more read more
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GYOR, Hungary - There are several Black Sea Region exercises that will enable Saber Guardian 17 this year, including Szentes Axe, a Hungarian national exercise that concentrates on tactical bridging and water crossing operations for U.S. Army’s 2d Cavalry Regiment’s freedom of movement from their home station of Vilseck, Germany into Hungary.
The Szentes Axe took place at the Mosoni-Duna River in Gyor, Hungary June 26 – July 7, where engineers from the 837th Brigade Engineer Battalion, Ohio National Guard, U.S. Army and 37th Engineer Regiment, Hungarian Defense Force operated bridging assets to allow the Regiment to cross safely and move on to further joint operations.
“For a small unit out of Wooster, Ohio, its really a great opportunity to be a part of something so big like this with so many nations contributing to the over all (Saber Guardian) exercise,” said 2nd Lt. Justin Dean, platoon leader for 2nd Platoon, Alpha Company, 837th BEB. “It is a very exciting opportunity for all of us who came.”
Dean’s platoon learned how to operate the PTS Amphibious Cargo Vehicle and PMP Floating Bridge.
“We got a few days training and the guys picked it up really quick,” he said. “The (Hungarian engineers) guided us at every step and it was just a lot of fun. Every thing came together for us.”
Their job was to ferry vehicles and equipment across the river. With the U.S. and Hungarian engineers working side by side, they guided the vehicles onto the floating bridge, brought the ramps up, unhooked anchors and took them to the opposite shore.
Once there, anchors and cables secured the platform to shore, the ramps were lowered and the vehicle disembarked.
The amphibious vehicle worked basically the same way, but the driver can just drive out of the water when mission is complete.
A few hundred meters down the river, 1st Platoon, Alpha Company was working along side their Hungarian counterparts on the static bridge that enabled vehicles to drive from shore to shore on their own.
“They showed us what to do and we jumped in and we worked together from then on,” said Staff Sgt. Daniel Milenkovic, squad leader. “We have become more proficient as time goes on.”
First platoon’s job was to connect several sections of the PMP Floating Bridge together to create a continuous platform. Although it took longer to construct than the pontoon type bridge the other platoon constructed, the stable bridge enabled more vehicles to travel across the water in less time.
Participating in Szentes Axe 17, was the first time 837th BEB has traveled to Europe for their annual training. Furthermore they are an engineer company of sappers not bridge builders. They are used to blowing things up.
“We do not work with bridges at all, we work with demolition and breaching obstacles,” explained Staff Sgt. Kyle Ernsberger, platoon sergeant for 1st Platoon. “We went over a little of this in (initial training) for about two weeks and that’s about it.”
Second Lieutenant Gaspar Palagyi, an engineer in 37th Engineer Regiment worked closely with the National Guard members.
“This group has been awesome. We usually don’t build bridges with the new comers,” he said. “They did a very disciplined job, they were always up to every task. They really wanted to know what we are doing. They were not just blindly following orders, they were curious about how we do these things.”
“I am most satisfied and I guess I can say on behalf of my superiors too that we are very happy with the results of this cooperation, it means a lot to us,” Palagyi added. “I truly hope that all of us, both Hungarian and American, go home with something new that they have learned.”
The U.S. engineers are in Hungary June 30 – July 11. Staff Sgt. Robert Flickinger, a squad leader in 1st Platoon, is very grateful the opportunity to learn how to operate the bridge and meet the Hungarian engineers.
“We’ve had a lot of time to just interact with the Hungarians here and just working with these guys is doing so much for us to understand them as a people and their culture,” he said.
Enabling events like Szentes Axe 17 will take place in the days prior to and following scheduled execution of SG17, and many smaller U.S. and European-national exercises in the Black Sea region this summer will enable SG17 objectives. The combination of all these exercises allows execution of the full range of military missions supporting security and stability in the Black Sea region. It is deterrence in action.
| Date Taken: | 07.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 07.07.2017 17:15 |
| Story ID: | 240458 |
| Location: | HU |
| Web Views: | 468 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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