SOUTH ATL ANTIC DIVISION
AIRBORNE DOZERS PUT THE JAB IN ENGINEERS’ KNOCKOUT BY RUSSELL WICKE, Savannah District
SHORT-FUSE MISSION When Hibner accepted the mission to restore MOTSU, he knew the damage was significant. It required the heavy lifting of USACE expertise and major contracts – contracts that needed to be designed, negotiated, put out for bid, and awarded. Hibner’s team refined this process to just under two weeks – breakneck speed in the construction contracting world, as this would normally take up to six weeks or more. But this wasn’t fast enough. MOTSU had six days to get its infrastructure in functional order. 74
U.S. ARMY PHOTO BY RUSSELL WICKE
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t’s new. Not the concept of dropping bulldozers from the sky. The Army has been doing that for decades. The 27th Engineer Battalion (Combat) (Airborne) at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, has perfected the art of loading an aircraft with Soldiers, weapons, and earth-moving equipment and dropping them into enemy territory. They come in like a wedge to make an opening for heavy conventional forces. This capability isn’t new, but it is low density. According to Maj. Randy Summerhill, operations officer (now executive officer) for the 27th Engineer Battalion, the 27th has the only two companies in the Army that can drop a 17-ton bulldozer from an aircraft and use it after landing. “We have a very niche capability,” he said. That capability requires the 27th to maintain extraordinary agility, speed, and self-sufficiency. But these qualities do lead to something new when combined with the King-Kong-size engineering capability of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE). The concept had its genesis in the mind of Col. Daniel Hibner, commander of USACE’s Savannah District, the day after Hurricane Florence mulched North Carolina with destructive winds and 30 inches of rain. The Defense Department took offense at Florence’s wind, primarily because one important Army installation was in the cyclone’s path. After landfall, officials realized this key logistical facility, a facility designed to transport ammunition and other explosives to combat operations overseas, was crippled. The Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point, in North Carolina – referred to as MOTSU – suffered flooding, road washouts, rail erosion, and wharf damage – all threatening to halt its quiet but crucial output operations. In the words of one battle-hardened operations sergeant: “If this place were to be compromised, the troops down range would be [in a bad way].” This from Sgt. 1st Class Eric Bradford with the 27th Engineer Battalion – and a beneficiary of MOTSU in numerous combat deployments.
A paratrooper with the 161st Engineer Support Company (A) uses a dozer to remove damaged fencing as part of major road repair at the Military Ocean Terminal Sunny Point (MOTSU), North Carolina, Oct. 1, 2018. The company is part of the 27th Combat Engineer Battalion (A) from Fort Bragg, temporarily working under the USACE Savannah District. The district was leading the Hurricane Florence recovery effort at MOTSU.
So, at the request of USACE, U.S. Army Forces Command organized Fort Bragg’s combat airborne engineer battalion under Hibner’s command, and the 27th Engineer Battalion was on the ground at MOTSU less than 12 hours after ordered to go. “Adding this airborne engineer battalion to our recovery process enabled us to begin repairs immediately without waiting on contracts,” said Hibner. “We had sappers [combat engineers] out here clearing large trees off roads and rails – 30 trees a day until they wore out 12 chainsaws. Then they took hand saws and axes and went at it like samurais.” The sappers from the 57th Combat Sapper Company, Combat Airborne Rough Terrain, are specialized airborne Soldiers trained to breach terrain obstacles, among other roles. According to Spc. Dylan Britton, a sapper with the 57th Combat Sapper Company under the 27th Engineer Battalion, his unit is trained to jump from aircraft into trees, firebreaks, and other rough terrain, and clear large areas for landing zones. “Lethal lumberjacks,” said Hibner, “that jump out of the sky.” Downed trees were MOTSU’s first obstacle, because they blocked container movement. Britton said rapidly clearing trees is a big part of what they’re trained to do. And he said few things could keep him from it.
