{"id":249769,"date":"2026-04-14T20:28:24","date_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:28:24","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249769\/"},"modified":"2026-04-14T20:28:24","modified_gmt":"2026-04-14T20:28:24","slug":"army-reserve-engineers-complete-multiday-bridge-exercise-in-texas","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/249769\/","title":{"rendered":"Army Reserve Engineers Complete Multiday Bridge Exercise in Texas"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Army<\/a>Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company conduct multirole bridge-training operations at Bardwell Lake, Texas, March 27, 2026. In partnership with the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the field exercise highlights the importance of interagency collaboration and access to resources for realistic, mission-essential training. Photo Credit: Audrey Gossett, Army via US DOW<\/p>\n

Texas Border Business<\/p>\n

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By\u00a0Chad Eller, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Fort Worth District<\/a>\u00a0\/ US DOW<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

– Advertisement –\"\"<\/a>\"\"<\/a>Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company conduct multirole bridge-training operations at Bardwell Lake, Texas, March 27, 2026. The training integrated new soldiers alongside experienced noncommissioned officers, enhancing readiness, morale and technical proficiency. Photo Credit: Audrey Gossett, Army via US DOW<\/p>\n

\u201cWe basically make bridges that float on water,\u201d 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. \u201cAnytime we need people to get from one side of the water to the next, we can create a raft and take them across.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company conduct multirole bridge-training operations at Bardwell Lake, Texas, March 27, 2026. The exercise focused on wet-gap-crossing techniques, including ribbon bridge and raft operations, enabling the transport of vehicles, equipment and personnel across water. Photo Credit: Audrey Gossett, Army via US DOW<\/p>\n

\u201cThere\u2019s not very many times in the military where you get to be on a boat or a bridge floating around,\u201d he said. \u201cOnce you\u2019re out on the water, you can see all the soldiers smiling. They\u2019re having a good time. It\u2019s great for morale.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

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Hawkins recalled a previous large-scale exercise in which the unit moved an entire battalion across a river in a single night.<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company conduct multirole bridge-training operations at Bardwell Lake, Texas, March 27, 2026. Photo Credit: Audrey Gossett, Army via US DOW<\/p>\n

\u201cBetween five and 10 minutes, you can do a build,\u201d he said. \u201cIt\u2019s really cool to see how fast they can do this little Tetris act with the bridges.\u201d<\/p>\n

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.<\/p>\n

\u201cGetting them straight into a reserve unit that actually gets to go out into the field and practice their job is amazing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

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 \u201ca great partner to work with\u201d and highlighting the value of having access to the facilities it manages.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey [were] more than welcome to have us out here,\u201d he said. \u201cThey get activity on their lake, they get publicity and we get good training. It\u2019s good for the engineer regiment as a whole.\u201d<\/p>\n

With mostly clear skies, mild temperatures and open water, soldiers spent their nights camping near the shoreline \u2014 an experience Hawkins described as ideal for training and building camaraderie.<\/p>\n

– Advertisement –\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Army Reserve soldiers assigned to the 401st Engineer Company conduct multirole bridge-training operations at Bardwell Lake, Texas, March…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":249770,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[94815,94816,27,29,28,94817,94818,94819,94820],"class_list":["post-249769","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-texas","tag-bardwell-lake-texas","tag-bridge-building","tag-texas","tag-texas-headlines","tag-texas-news","tag-us-army","tag-us-army-reserves","tag-us-ary-corps-of-engineers","tag-us-dpertment-of-war"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249769","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=249769"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/249769\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/249770"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=249769"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=249769"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us-tx\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=249769"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}