he U.S. Army Corps of Engineers (USACE), 533rd Engineer Detachment, Forward Engineer Support Team –Main (FEST-M) from Fort Knox, Ky., provided critical reconnaissance and analysis of convoy routes and damaged infrastructure in support of Key Resolve March 8-18.
The annual exercise was defense oriented and tested the ability of the Republic of Korea and U.S. Forces Korea to defend the peninsula.
The scenario involved a simulated attack on South Korea that caused extensive destruction to essential services and infrastructure. Damaged roads, bridges and buildings caused huge logistical challenges. Soldiers in-country needed to maneuver, civilians needed to evacuate, supplies needed to be delivered and incoming support elements needed transportation routes.
"Our U.S. forces are highly-skilled and equipped to perform tactical combat and stability operations," said Command Sgt. Maj. Kevin Engel, 533rd FEST-M. "But they are not equipped to support some of the engineering demands we face in the early and late stages of conflict. That’s where the FEST-M comes in."
What the team brought is exclusive tele-engineering capabilities and a depth of specialized knowledge not found in military ranks. It didn’t take long after the exercise started for those skills to get put to use.
"Our first task was to select and assess the viability of a route for a convoy with several U.S. Army M1A2 Abrams tanks," said John Oberhelman, mechanical engineer and Team C leader. "Through satellite imaging technology and a process of elimination, we selected a route that could possibly support the mission."
With digital maps in hand, the team headed out to do route reconnaissance to make sure that the roads and infrastructure reflected what the imagery showed and to gather other essential data for the USACE Reachback Operations Center (UROC) to process.
FEST-M teams used an automated route reconnaissance kit (ARRK) — a rugged laptop and window or dash-mounted camera easily attached to virtually any land or air vehicle. The ARRK captures video, audio, three-dimensional gyroscope data streams and other detailed information such as elevations and global positioning system coordinates.
"We’ve practiced with the ARRK back home, but in a scenario like this, we got to deal with variables we’re not used to and we want to learn the right way to put a packet together from the start," said Oberhelman. "So we consulted with a UROC representative on exactly what information we need to provide them and how they want it formatted."
The team met with Angela White, civil engineering technician with UROC. She walked them through how to gather and report data and shared some of the common mistakes in format that negatively affect the final assessment of a bridge or structure.
"We took the raw data from FEST teams in the field, processed the data and output routes and bridges to standard Army format," said White. "We can also export still images, video and Google Earth images. We can format a final product which frees up the FEST to continue data collection processes."
With the recon data collected, the team moved on to bridge assessment.
"This exercise showed us just how many aspects there are to putting together a complete route assessment," said Oberhelman. "What we learned, we’ll build on. We’re focused on providing the best product possible for our military forces."