Army engineers test raft bridge at Fort Hood to move tanks across water

FORT HOOD, Texas — Army engineers from active-duty, reserve and National Guard units joined Canadian troops at Fort Hood for a training exercise that tested their ability to move heavy equipment across water.

The exercise, called Operation Hood Strike, placed troops in a realistic combat scenario. Their mission was to cross Lake Belton and close in on enemy territory.

Engineers built a seven-float raft made of two ramps and five bays. Capt. Bruce Burgener, commander of the 43rd Multi-Role Bridge Company, said the configuration is the standard setup used to move M1 Abrams tanks.

"Anything less than that won't move them," Burgener said. "Our goal is to get as much throughput as possible for friendly forces."

Burgener said his company has received many new troops. He divided the training into three phases: crawl, walk and run. The company is now at the walk stage and working toward the run stage, where soldiers can operate more efficiently.

The Texas National Guard used Chinook helicopters to fly in sections of a bridge and drop them into the water. Lt. Col. Travis Shahan, commander of the 961st Engineer Battalion, said air assets help deliver large payloads to areas that are hard to reach by ground.

Troops used maps prepared at the tactical command center to understand the layout of enemy territory before crossing. Maj. Salem Maud, the battalion executive officer, said planning on paper is easier than executing the mission at night with aircraft overhead.

Col. Justin Pritchard, commander of the 36th Engineer Brigade, said the training reflects the Army's need to operate as a total force. "We're a total Army. We're a total engineer regiment. And we will fight with them in wartime. So we have to train with them here in peacetime," Pritchard said.

Col. Adam Rasmussen, commander of the 420th Engineer Brigade, said the Army wants to reduce risk to soldiers but that war remains a human endeavor. He said soldiers who have experienced combat are best positioned to develop ways to use automated and unmanned systems in dangerous situations.

The Army Recruiting Command reported that the service met its 2025 active-duty recruiting goal of 60,500 soldiers by recruiting 62,050 troops. The Army Reserve aimed to recruit 14,320 soldiers and reached 86.76 percent of that target with 12,426 recruits.

Rasmussen said the training helps bring new soldiers up to speed even when units are not preparing for a specific deployment. "Every hour these soldiers are on the battlefield, they become more lethal," he said.