________________________________________________________________________Richard S. Kem
forces across the river more rapidly before the enemy has an opportunity to oppose the
crossing. We rigged each ribbon bridge section so that a CH47 Chinook could pick it up,
move it down to the river, and deploy it in the water. The CH47s would remain back in
defilade, back behind hill masses until they were needed.
Unfortunately, the exercise was terminated early because the Canadians went into a town that
was off limits, crossed an existing bridge that was supposedly blown--because they were not
supposed to be in the town. The Iller River had been crossed, and then people got in a verbal
fracas as to who was right or wrong. So, Lieutenant General Ott, the Corps commander, said,
"This is probably a good time to stop the exercise." We huddled together quickly with the
aviation folks and immediately--I mean, within the hour--put the bridge in on the Donau
River in the same manner of operation we had planned for the Iller.
The first CH47 brought in an assault boat and the operator and some crews. They dropped
the assault boat in the water and the crews on the bank. The crews captured the boat, hopped
aboard as the next CH47 came around with an interior float unit of the ribbon bridge. After
that was put in the water, the assault boat moved up and triggered the release, and the bridge
section unfolded right there in the water. Meanwhile, as that CH47 flew off, the next one
rounded the hill and came in with the next float. He put it in next to the growing raft and the
crews hooked it up. One after another those CH47s came in, dropped one float at a time,
until we built the bridge. We felt we really had proven a really good principle right there--
even though it was moments after, rather than part of, the exercise.
So, I guess I described basically what happened on FTX Carbon Edge. It was very successful.
There were a lot of folks in that exercise of note--Paul Cerjan was commander of the 10th
Engineers at that time, is now Deputy Commander in Chief in Europe. I mentioned General
Reno. Brigadier General Ted Vander Els, then commanding the 9th Engineer Battalion, later
was Director of Combat Developments at the Engineer School at Belvoir with me. A lot of
good folks contributed a lot of good time and effort to making things happen.
Fred Parker was there as the assistant Corps engineer. He later on also became Director of
Combat Developments for me at Belvoir.
Out of the Carbon Edge FTX came several things in the after-action report. We really made
the case that you had to have mechanized engineers in the Corps. Now, for the last three or
four years, all but one of the engineer battalions in Europe have been mechanized. It came
out of Carbon Edge. The following year, as Corps engineer on the Corps staff, I fought the
battle to make sure mechanization was in the Corps' program analysis and resource review,
which leads to the POM [preparation for overseas movement], which leads eventually
through the Army system. USAREUR prioritized it high on the command's needs. We found
the armored personnel carriers, once infantry turned them in to get Bradleys, M113s came to
the engineers and we were mechanized at Corps level.
The after-action report of the REFORGER before '76 from the 7th Engineer Brigade had
said, in a rather self-serving manner, "I think that this exercise has proven that wheeled
engineers belong on the same battlefield as tanks." I thought that somebody was fooling
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