An AH-64 Apache helicopter soars over a newly constructed bridge over the Vistula River near Torun, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. A combined group of British and German soldiers conducted the hasty bridge assembly as part of the Anakonda multinational training event underway in Poland. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
An AH-64 Apache helicopter soars over a newly constructed bridge over the Vistula River near Torun, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. A combined group of British and German soldiers conducted the hasty bridge assembly as part of the Anakonda multinational training event underway in Poland. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
British and German soldiers on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, maneuver amphibious vehicles across the Vistula River in Chelmno, Poland, in order to assemble a bridge as part of joint training exercise Anakonda 16. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
As morning traffic continues across the bridge behind them, U.S. Army Strykers belonging to the 2nd Cavalry Regiment cross the Vistula River in Chelmno, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
Polish Lt. Gen. Miroslaw Rozanski, left, U.S. Army Europe commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges and German Lt. Col. Thorsten Schwiering field questions at the end of a hasty bridge assembly by German and British forces in Chelmno, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
A 2nd Cavalry Regiment Stryker crosses the Vistula River in Chelmno, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. The U.S. Army cavalry unit is en route to Tapa, Estonia, to begin Saber Strike 16, a multinational training exercise. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
A combined group of British and German soldiers assembled this bridge on Wednesday, June 8, 2016, as part of the Polish-led Anakonda multinational training event currently underway in Poland. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
British and German troops take a break after quickly assembling a bridge across the 1,100-foot-wide Vistula River on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. The assembly was one component of the larger Anakonda exercise taking place across Poland. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
Twin AH-64 Apache helicopter zoom over a newly constructed bridge over the Vistula River near Torun, Poland, on Wednesday, June 8, 2016. A combined group of British and German soldiers conducted the hasty bridge assembly as part of the Anakonda multinational training event currently underway in Poland. (Michael S. Darnell/Stars and Stripes)
CHELMNO, Poland — A lot can be accomplished in 30 minutes.
That’s about the amount of time it takes to change the oil in a car or read a newspaper. It’s also roughly the amount of time it took for German and British military forces to build a bridge across a 1,100-foot river.
Some folks are just overachievers.
The hasty bridge assembly — troops interlocked more than two dozen amphibious vehicles — was part of Anakonda 16, the Polish-led, U.S. military-heavy training event taking place throughout Poland.
The speed in which the assembly occurred was thanks, in part, to the Germans' familiarity with the equipment.
“It’s a unique capability, not just in the battalion, but in the whole German armed forces,” said Lt. Col. Thorsten Schwiering, the bridge unit commander. “We’re more than happy to show other countries, other nations … what we are able to provide to support.”
The bridge’s rapid creation was also a microcosm of the virtues U.S. Army Europe officials continue to extoll about joint exercises like Anakonda. While USAREUR officials constantly beat the interoperability drum, few events can match a literal bridge being built among nations.
USAREUR commander Lt. Gen. Ben Hodges was quick to point out that the bridge was assembled by German and British troops, at a site controlled by U.S. and Polish soldiers while air support was provided by Polish and American helicopters.
“This river crossing helps us achieve, or move closer to achieving one of our principle training objectives for the Anakonda exercise,” Hodges said.
After its assembly, roughly 30 vehicles from the 2nd Cavalry Regiment crossed over the temporary bridge. The Vilseck, Germany-based Stryker unit is in the midst of a 1,500-mile-long freedom-of-movement operation, known as Dragoon Ride II.
After finding its way through Poland, this element of the regiment will end up in Tapa, Estonia, on June 15. A separate group of regiment soldiers are in Latvia at the moment, on that leg of the convoy operation.
Once in Tapa, they’ll join up with one another and with units from 12 other nations to begin Saber Strike, a series of training missions in Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania.
