MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP LEJEUNE, North Carolina -- “3…2…1…Splashing!” The groan of metal on metal and the security ropes snapping back into place were deafening as the gargantuan bridge piece slid effortlessly into the water.
Marines with Bridge Company, 8th Engineer Support Battalion worked together to assemble an improvised ribbon raft in support of the Marine Corps Combat Readiness Evaluation with 3rd Battalion, 8th Marine Regiment at Camp Lejeune, N.C., Oct. 26, 2016.
“The Marines from 3/8 will be arriving tomorrow with their vehicles,” said Lance Cpl. Jordan Miller, assistant dispatch non-commissioned officer. ”We’re building a temporary raft for them to float to the other side of the river on.”
The raft is the first of many parts in support of MCCRE, in which various units are evaluated in the performance of all tasks, as they pertain to combat readiness.
“You have a battalion that has personnel and vehicles that they need,” said Staff Sgt. Scott Sauer, Platoon Sgt., 1st Platoon, Bridge Company. “If you have an obstruction such as water and don’t have a bridge to use, that’s where we come in to help solve the problem.”
The IRR is used for large wet gaps or waterways, to transport vehicles across by loading them onto the raft and floating to the objective. The rafts are then beached and the personnel and vehicles can proceed to the next part of the mission.
“The rafts have two parts: interior bays and ramp bays,” said Miller. “The ramp bays are used at the end of the raft to easily maneuver vehicles and the interior are the parts in the middle.”
When the IRR is no longer needed, the Marines will break it back down, transport them back to the storage bay and wash them, a process called retrograde.
“My favorite part is retrograde because we know we did our job and were able to do our part in the mission,” Miller said.
This training exercise benefits the Marine Corps as a whole by maintaining unit readiness and ensuring that units are ready to deploy at a moment’s notice.
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