South Carolina Guard bridging unit trains with Colombian partners

CLARKS HILL TRAINING SITE, S.C. - The sun glinted off the Savannah River as it meandered broadly along the South Carolina-Georgia border. Boats churned on the river's otherwise placid waters while a breeze whispered past on an almost movie-perfect summer morning.

For U.S. Army Sgt. Raj Patel, that was a problem. The bridge crewmember with the 125th Multi-role Bridge Company, South Carolina Army National Guard, was on shore duty rather than on one of the unit's M30 Bridge Erection Boats used during waterborne bridging operations.

"I especially like working with the boats," said Patel. "To be out there on the water, I just like it out there. Everything is good about it."

The unit's task along the river was to build a raft and ferry troops, vehicles and equipment across as part of a training mission July 17-19, 2024.

"The training we're doing today allows us not only to accomplish our tactical mission if a unit like this is ever called upon in theater but to help us better support the state in the event of floodwaters and things like that," said Capt. Meredith Hohe, the unit commander.

While boat crews waited on the water, shore teams prepped sections of the Improved Ribbon Bridge system used for the raft - ramps that allow vehicles to be driven on and off for the ends and bays that make up the sections between the ramps.

"You do all your pre-checks, make sure everything's working, then we load all the bays and ramps on the trucks, and we plan out our sequence," said Patel, referring to the launching sequence of the bridge sections into the river.

Though Patel may have preferred to be on the water, his role onshore overseeing bridge bay deployment was just as critical.

"We want to make sure that everything's done correctly before dropping them in the water," he said. "Once we bring them up here, the sergeants, we're making sure and finalizing that they're good to go in the water."

While unit members built the raft, visitors from the Colombian army observed and took part in the process.

Since 2012, the Colombian military and the South Carolina National Guard have been partnered in the Department of Defense National Guard State Partnership Program, which pairs Guard elements with partner nations worldwide for mutual training and subject matter expert exchanges.

For Hohe, the Colombian observers were a welcome presence.

"It's valuable for our Soldiers to be able to see, hey, we have partners around the world who are doing this exact same thing," she said. "This is how we can integrate and this is how we can share our knowledge."

Hohe also learned key points from her Colombian counterparts.

"They have some capabilities, like they have a lot of fixed bridging assets, that we don't have," she said. "And it's good to learn about those from people who are constantly using that equipment."

For Lt. Col. Jorge Flechas, with the Colombian Army's engineer command, the exchange was similarly beneficial.

"Personally, I'm very grateful for this invitation to be part of this training," he said.

Flechas had many questions about the technical details and employment of the unit's bridging equipment.

"The questions were about the actual platform," he said. "How do they deploy them? How do they use them? It's interesting to know the actual technicality of the equipment."

But meeting with and working alongside unit members was also key, he said.

"It's very important for the interchange of not just knowledge and experiences, but to interact so that for any catastrophe that may happen, we'll work together and we'll be ready," Flechas said.

Hohe agreed.

"You know, this mission that we have, it's worldwide," she said. "Everyone has got different circumstances, and we can all learn from each other."

The training also ensures the unit builds generational readiness within its ranks.

"My main job here is to make sure that those people who are hot shots and know how to do this task are making sure they're leveraging all that training so we have the next generation of people who can continue to come out," said Hohe.

That's important, she said.

"Keeping that competency and building up those teams that are able to execute this mission well is what this kind of training is about," said Hohe. "If we don't execute this training really well and don't integrate the people we need to, we're not going to have the unit we need five years down the road."

For Patel, that means shore duty on a day perfect for being on the water. But he said the important part is being able to execute the mission.

"To be out here, working as a team, that's what I like about it," he said.

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