thedrifter
02-26-03, 06:09 AM
By Joseph Giordono, Stars and Stripes
European edition, Tuesday, February 25, 2003
CAMP PELELIEU, Kuwait — As the Marines work, they bark out orders in a language it seems only they understand.
“Lay ho, heave!” they call, steeling themselves to lift huge spans of aluminum.
“Junction panel, junction panel!”
“Let’s go, pin man! We need a pin man!”
As the bridge nears completion, the calls become more intelligible.
“We got this damn thing beat! We got this [expletive] up!”
Later, as the truck full of Marines from Company A triumphantly rolls to victory across the metal span, the soundtrack morphs into a cacophony of celebratory yells and that strange semi-barking “urrah” unique to the Marines.
At a provisional camp in the Kuwaiti desert, units from the 8th Engineer Support Battalion trained for a mission that will be crucial in any invasion of Iraq.
Unlike the flat, sandy stretches of northern Kuwait, southern Iraq is marked by wide bogs and marshes bounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. If, as expected, retreating Iraqi forces destroy bridges and roads, the U.S. bridge-building units will come into play.
“Mobility is the key for any combat mission. If there is a failure in a culvert or if a bridge is not capable of carrying weight, what these Marines do will become very important,” said Lt. Col. Rick Nelson, commander of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion.
Four Marine engineer battalions are gathered at camps in northern Kuwait, poised to deploy hundreds of heavy land and water bridges.
On Saturday, two companies from the 8th Engineers faced off in a race to build a dry-span bridge over a 25-meter chasm ripped into the desert floor by huge bulldozers.
It was a familiar task. Since arriving in Kuwait one month ago, the Marines have spent nearly every day building and then disassembling a variety of bridges that could be used in an invasion of Iraq.
This time, though, it was for bragging rights. Company A, a unit of regulars out of Camp Le- jeune, N.C., faced off against Company B, a unit of reservists from Battle Creek, Mich.
The first 24-man team to pile into a 5-ton truck and drive across its completed bridge would win. Company A completed its bridge in less than two hours. Company B, hampered by tight new bridge pieces that did not fit easily with other pieces, finished about 20 minutes later. Both teams finished their bridges well within the field guidelines of four hours.
“I think the motivation was that these guys couldn’t have lived with the fact that a reserve unit would beat them,” said Staff Sgt. Jesse Jokinen, Company A’s bridge master.
“It wouldn’t have been a good day.”
The dry-span bridges are an example of what the Marines call “brute force engineering.”
Capable of spanning a 50-meter gap, the bridge is created from aluminum-magnesium bridge pieces transported on huge pallets. They fit together almost like Lincoln Logs and are secured by thick steel pins.
The teams work in three groups: left, right and center. The left and right teams construct the top and bottom panels of the bridge; the center team puts together the launching nose, a pointed extension that guides the rest of the bridge.
The teams link together bays, or bridge segments, and set them on huge rollers. Twelve bays are needed to span 50 meters; when they are all linked, the 5-ton truck literally shoves the bridge along the rollers and to the other side.
The center team tightropes across the launching nose, sets up on the far side and guides the rest of the bridge onto land.
“The hardest part is putting the top panels on the bays,” said Lance Cpl. Richard Bennett, a 22-year-old from Philadelphia.
“You’ve got to get those pieces up over six feet in the air, and for some of us shorter guys, it’s a real strain to lift them up that high.”
Each bay weighs more than 700 pounds, Bennett said. Teams of at least four men lift each piece.
“The secret to success is having a good bridge master. He’s the one that is responsible for making sure the bridge is square, level and doesn’t sway out,” said Lt. Thomas Tragesser, Company A’s executive officer.
Bridge captains carry a small, hardcover book full of calculations to make sure the bridges are constructed properly. But in reality, it is the bridge master’s experience that makes or breaks a project.
“Their training makes them good at what they do,” Nelson said of his Marines. “Their motivation makes them great at what they do.”
What did the winners earn? A chance to do it all over again tomorrow, Nelson said, this time using the other team’s bridge.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13291
Sempers,
Roger
European edition, Tuesday, February 25, 2003
CAMP PELELIEU, Kuwait — As the Marines work, they bark out orders in a language it seems only they understand.
“Lay ho, heave!” they call, steeling themselves to lift huge spans of aluminum.
“Junction panel, junction panel!”
“Let’s go, pin man! We need a pin man!”
As the bridge nears completion, the calls become more intelligible.
“We got this damn thing beat! We got this [expletive] up!”
Later, as the truck full of Marines from Company A triumphantly rolls to victory across the metal span, the soundtrack morphs into a cacophony of celebratory yells and that strange semi-barking “urrah” unique to the Marines.
At a provisional camp in the Kuwaiti desert, units from the 8th Engineer Support Battalion trained for a mission that will be crucial in any invasion of Iraq.
Unlike the flat, sandy stretches of northern Kuwait, southern Iraq is marked by wide bogs and marshes bounded by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers. If, as expected, retreating Iraqi forces destroy bridges and roads, the U.S. bridge-building units will come into play.
“Mobility is the key for any combat mission. If there is a failure in a culvert or if a bridge is not capable of carrying weight, what these Marines do will become very important,” said Lt. Col. Rick Nelson, commander of the 8th Engineer Support Battalion.
Four Marine engineer battalions are gathered at camps in northern Kuwait, poised to deploy hundreds of heavy land and water bridges.
On Saturday, two companies from the 8th Engineers faced off in a race to build a dry-span bridge over a 25-meter chasm ripped into the desert floor by huge bulldozers.
It was a familiar task. Since arriving in Kuwait one month ago, the Marines have spent nearly every day building and then disassembling a variety of bridges that could be used in an invasion of Iraq.
This time, though, it was for bragging rights. Company A, a unit of regulars out of Camp Le- jeune, N.C., faced off against Company B, a unit of reservists from Battle Creek, Mich.
The first 24-man team to pile into a 5-ton truck and drive across its completed bridge would win. Company A completed its bridge in less than two hours. Company B, hampered by tight new bridge pieces that did not fit easily with other pieces, finished about 20 minutes later. Both teams finished their bridges well within the field guidelines of four hours.
“I think the motivation was that these guys couldn’t have lived with the fact that a reserve unit would beat them,” said Staff Sgt. Jesse Jokinen, Company A’s bridge master.
“It wouldn’t have been a good day.”
The dry-span bridges are an example of what the Marines call “brute force engineering.”
Capable of spanning a 50-meter gap, the bridge is created from aluminum-magnesium bridge pieces transported on huge pallets. They fit together almost like Lincoln Logs and are secured by thick steel pins.
The teams work in three groups: left, right and center. The left and right teams construct the top and bottom panels of the bridge; the center team puts together the launching nose, a pointed extension that guides the rest of the bridge.
The teams link together bays, or bridge segments, and set them on huge rollers. Twelve bays are needed to span 50 meters; when they are all linked, the 5-ton truck literally shoves the bridge along the rollers and to the other side.
The center team tightropes across the launching nose, sets up on the far side and guides the rest of the bridge onto land.
“The hardest part is putting the top panels on the bays,” said Lance Cpl. Richard Bennett, a 22-year-old from Philadelphia.
“You’ve got to get those pieces up over six feet in the air, and for some of us shorter guys, it’s a real strain to lift them up that high.”
Each bay weighs more than 700 pounds, Bennett said. Teams of at least four men lift each piece.
“The secret to success is having a good bridge master. He’s the one that is responsible for making sure the bridge is square, level and doesn’t sway out,” said Lt. Thomas Tragesser, Company A’s executive officer.
Bridge captains carry a small, hardcover book full of calculations to make sure the bridges are constructed properly. But in reality, it is the bridge master’s experience that makes or breaks a project.
“Their training makes them good at what they do,” Nelson said of his Marines. “Their motivation makes them great at what they do.”
What did the winners earn? A chance to do it all over again tomorrow, Nelson said, this time using the other team’s bridge.
http://www.estripes.com/article.asp?section=104&article=13291
Sempers,
Roger