Float Bridge Destroyed in Ukraine

 Viewing this YouTube video of a Russian float bridge destroyed by artillery, I find myself puzzled. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YYlg8ClPEns

For background, mid 1960’s I was an enlisted man in the 814^th Engineer Company (Float Bridge), Pioneer Kaserne, Hanau, Germany. We were assigned to V Corps. During that assignment I participated in many exercises building both float bridges and float ferries.

These are old scanned black and white pictures from that time.

First rule we operated under. No construction where we would be under direct artillery fire.

The long bridge in one photo was across the Rhine River near the site Patton’s Army crossed in WWII. The shorter bridge was across the Donau (Danube) in the dead of winter. This was under a smoke screen.

All of the pictures show some of the complexity of a float bridge operation. In our one company we had some 112 vehicles.

The Russian were using what we called mobile ferries or a variant.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ratKBu2cRp0&ab_channel=HD1080ide

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Nh_feflEx0

Just the short bridge across the Donau was a 16 hour exercise. A mobile ferry company should have been able to do it in an hour or less if they have their shit together.

Back to the day. Not under direct artillery fire. Armor and infantry standing by to immediately cross the bridge to seize and control the terrain on the enemy side was the order of the day.

The realities of military bridging cannot have changed much. The Romans built a floating bridge across the Rhine. All that has changed is speed.

M-60 Tanks

Murphys Law has a post up on M-60 tanks.

http://lagniappeslair.blogspot.com/2016/07/tanks-alot.html

Brought back 50 year old memories of being in a float bridge company in Germany and seeing those monsters crossing our bridge.

 Before they crossed there would be a briefing. (In that era Army nothing happened until the briefing was over. If Ivan had come across the border someone would have told them they had to halt until we had our briefing).

 Usually the briefing was conducted by a senior sergeant. Went something like this.

   “When you are on the bridge, do not lock up your tracks.     This bends the bridge decking and we will spend a lot of time bending it back with crowbars”.

At this point you would see sly grins on the driver’s faces.

   “Understand assholes. We are also the unit that provides safety boats for your fording exercises and we have long memories. Hope you know how to swim”.

Ah, Army Sergeants. No failure to communicate.

Greatest Generation Supplement

Follow up/back story on Al Vella.

http://wellseasonedfool.blogspot.com/2013/06/greatest-generation-repost.html

Germany, early 60’s, I pissed off my First Sergeant. Alcohol was probably involved. He decided my idle hours needed to be filled doing something useful, and handed me some file folders, about 6” thick, that contained our unit history. The assignment was to sort it, catalog it, and retype a new summary.

Turned out to be an interesting assignment. In fact, I enjoyed it.

When I met Al Vella, and started talking to him, I learned he was at the Normandy landing in the predecessor company to mine. We had some interesting conversations.

The company is still on active duty and has been in both Iraq and Afghanistan.

The unit was activated as the 511th Engineer Light Pontoon Company in 1942 at Camp Bowie, TX. WWII Campaigns were Normandy, Northern France, Rhineland, Ardennes-Alsace, Central Europe.

After WWII, the unit was inactivated, then reactivated in 1954 as the 814th Engineer Company (Float Bridge) at Hanau (Pioneer Kaserne). It was inactivated in 1992, then reactivated at Ft Polk, LA and is still active.

The black and white photos aren't mine but are early 60's. The troops are still wearing "Ridgeway" covers instead of the ridiculous Baseball caps. That is an Atomic Cannon on that raft. Class 80 load on a Class 60 bridge section.

Learning what Al and his buddies accomplished added quite a bit of humility to memories of my service in a designated Soviet Army speed bump unit.