Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company spent March 26-29 at Bardwell Lake, Texas, conducting a multiday bridge-building exercise designed to train new troops and refresh skills.
Army 1st Lt. Jacob Hawkins, a platoon leader with the 401st, said the company specializes in building floating bridges and rafts that allow military vehicles and personnel to cross bodies of water when permanent infrastructure is damaged, unavailable or tactically unsuitable.
"We basically make bridges that float on water," Hawkins said, noting that the unit uses specialized boats and modular bridge sections to create rafts capable of carrying Humvees, tanks and other heavy equipment. "Anytime we need people to get from one side of the water to the next, we can create a raft and take them across."
The company recently relocated from Oklahoma to Seagoville, Texas, bringing in a wave of new soldiers. Hawkins estimated that roughly half the unit is fresh out of advanced individual training, making this their first hands-on experience with bridge building operations.
"There's not very many times in the military where you get to be on a boat or a bridge floating around," he said. "Once you're out on the water, you can see all the soldiers smiling. They're having a good time. It's great for morale."
The training includes both day and night operations. Soldiers practiced deploying bridge bays, maneuvering boats, assembling rafts and transporting vehicles, skills that can be critical in real-world missions.
Hawkins recalled a previous large-scale exercise in which the unit moved an entire battalion across a river in a single night.
"Between five and 10 minutes, you can do a build," he said. "It's really cool to see how fast they can do this little Tetris act with the bridges."
Army Capt. Charles LeBaron, the company commander, said the exercise also serves as a field-training event for soldiers who have spent little time outside of the classroom environment.
"Getting them straight into a reserve unit that actually gets to go out into the field and practice their job is amazing," he said.
The training was conducted in partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, which operates Bardwell Lake. LeBaron praised the collaboration, calling the Corps of Engineers "a great partner to work with" and highlighting the value of having access to the facilities it manages.
"They [were] more than welcome to have us out here," he said. "They get activity on their lake, they get publicity and we get good training. It's good for the engineer regiment as a whole."
With mostly clear skies, mild temperatures and open water, soldiers spent their nights camping near the shoreline — an experience Hawkins described as ideal for training and building camaraderie.