The 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment enhancing brigade capability with assault breaching vehicles

After their hard work during the floods, combat engineers are now shifting their focus to the field as major exercises begin to take over NQ. See how new equipment will change the way they fight.

Australian Army soldiers from 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment and the School of Armour learn maintenance and operation of the Armoured Breaching Vehicle during the Combat Engineer Heavy Track Course in Missouri, United States of America.

The list of obstacles sappers struggle to overcome is about to become a lot shorter with the arrival of vehicles which can navigate minefields, fell trees and deploy bridges in minutes, instilling “revolutionary change” at the regiment.

The 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment (3CER) recently shone in the community’s spotlight for their assistance during the North Queensland floods where they constructed a vital bridge connecting Townsville and Ingham.

While a task like that is commonplace for engineers, their Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel Ryan Mitchell, said it was a rewarding experience to see the skills his team practice day in and day out used to assist people in need.

“Certainly from my point of view, I was pretty proud of the guys and girls that were part of that, I think they knocked it out of the park,” he said.

Now they are shifting their focus to a range of more complex tasks and obstacles they will tackle during this year’s major exercises such as the North Queensland Warfighter and Exercise Talisman Sabre.

Commanding Officers at 3rd Brigade at Lavarack Barracks. . 3CER LTCOL Ryan Mitchell. Picture: Evan Morgan

“We couldn’t ask to be better prepared at the point we hit Talisman Sabre especially since it’s going to be one of the largest Talisman Sabres on record which I think just demonstrates the current strategic environment we’re facing,” LTCOL Mitchell said.

“While it’s a hard slog and you’re training hard and it’s sometimes not the greatest conditions – you’re hot, sweaty, hungry – but they’re the times you look back on as real highlights as the tapestry of your career progresses.”

The jewel of 3CER’s year however will be the arrival of their combat engineering vehicles which include the assault breacher vehicles (ABVs) and the joint assault bridges (JAB’s).

The vehicles can overcome land, water and explosive obstacles, which limits the need for engineers to go out on foot in minefields.

This will also mark the first time soldiers outside of an armoured corp will operate vehicles based on the Abrams tank chassis.

“I’ve conducted countless map exercises with these platforms and I’ve never put my hand on one … (they) are quite exquisite, they’re worlds best” LTCOL Mitchell said.

Australian Army sappers from the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment sweep for mines on an obstacle crossing on Exercise Brolga Sprint 23 at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland. PHOTO: LCPL Riley Blennerhassett

After arriving in Australia in March, the vehicles will go to the School of Armour at Puckapunyal before seven ABV’s and four JAB’s make their way north to Lavarack Barracks.

Several units at 3rd Brigade will then take part in combined arms breaching training, which is when different corps work together to overcome an obstacle and provide a pathway for an assault.

“It’s a completely different way of operating to what we’ve done previously … it’s a revolutionary change in our capability,” LTCOL Mitchell said.

An Australian Army soldier from the 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment assist a simulated casualty during a breaching and detection dog serial at Townsville Field Training Area, Queensland PHOTO: TPR Dana Millington

“It can be a little bit challenging because the breach can be so consuming that it can become the main effort but it’s really just a means to an end.

“It’s whatever is on the other side of the breach that’s the important thing.

“That’s the training we will really focus on this year, becoming the experts as the armoured amphibious brigade.

During their year 3CER will also return to PNG for Exercise Puk Puk, where they will assist in vital infrastructure repairs and some sappers will take part in Exercise Kudu where they will train Ukrainian soldiers in the UK.

Originally published as The 3rd Combat Engineer Regiment enhancing brigade capability with assault breaching vehicles