Engineers, tankers, scouts, and cannoneers with 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Cavalry Division conducted a Combined Arms Breach using the U.S. Army’s new Joint Assault Bridge (JAB), Fort Hood, Texas, June 30, 2021. With the U.S. Army’s latest modernization changes, this brigade has been at the forefront of it all. Becoming the first unit to field the modernized Abrams and Paladins, working with the U.S. Army Operational Test Command to test new equipment, and now being the third organization in the Army to receive the Joint Assault Bridge (JAB).
The breach consisted of three different battalions from the GREYWOLF brigade: 3rd Brigade Engineer Battalion (3rd BEB), 3rd Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment (3-8 CAV) and 2nd Battalion, 82nd Field Artillery Regiment (2-82 FA). The overall objective was to successfully breach and cross a berm using the JAB. This is the first time in history that the JAB was used to cross both the Army’s newest version of the Abrams Main Battle Tank, the M1A2 SEPv3 and the U.S. Army’s latest version of the Paladin, the M109A7.
The Combined Arms Breach is one of the most complicated missions that an Armored Brigade Combat Team can have in a near peer fight. The JAB has a military load class of 115, doubling the capability of the Wolverine, its predecessor. This can support the new M1A2 SEPv3 to quickly cross over a gap and assault through to the enemy. Not only did this increase confidence in the equipment, but it also allows us to validate marking standards and tactics, techniques, and procedures (TTPs) to ensure safety over the JAB. As the first modernized unit in the army to field the JAB,” said Capt. Meagan Latimer, Bravo Company Commander, 3rd BEB.
The training event validates not only the unit’s ability to conduct a breach, but also the Troopers ability to adapt and utilize new equipment in a short amount of time with succession. Like any training usually goes, repetition is key, which is why the Troopers put in as many repetitions as they could and are already preparing for the next time they will train with the JAB. Once the fielding concluded, all the hard work and results from the Troopers was sent to the U.S. Army Engineer School as continuity for other units across the Army.
The JM1074 oint Assault Bridge (JAB) is an M1A1 Abrams tank hull with heavy (M1A2) suspension integrated with a hydraulic bridge launcher system to launch the existing Military Load Class 85 Armored Vehicle Launched Bridge (AVLB). The JAB improves force readiness, survivability, mobility and agility equal to the legacy force. The JAB provides gap-crossing capability to cross wet or dry gaps, and freedom of maneuver on the battlefield to keep pace with Abrams Heavy Brigade Combat Team operations.
