text: Mobility
  BCT is often necessary. That support is only available when those headquarters have taken purposeful action
  to position the assets at the right time and place and to integrate them with the maneuver force to make a
  hasty gap crossing feasible. Coordination for these assets must be made early in the planning phase. Some
  additional considerations for conducting hasty gap crossings include the—
  * Size of the gaps in the maneuver area.
  * Availability of existing bridges, fords, bypasses, or expedient crossing materials.
  * Recovery of assets.
  * Aviation (rotary-wing) asset availability.
  18-50. A hasty crossing is conducted in an effort to maintain the momentum of the maneuver force by
  quickly massing combat power on the far side of the gap with no intentional pause. This promotes speed,
  facilitates surprise, and provides a continuation of maneuver momentum. The planning process is critical to
  identify gap locations and their dimensions and request or allocate the necessary assets to ensure unimpeded
  movement.
  18-51. Hasty crossings are planned, organized, and executed much like a hasty breach. The unit must
  consider the integration of the crossing assets in its movement formation, redundancy in crossing means,
  traffic flow across the gap, and the recovery of the crossing assets. Units task-organize their force in a manner
  that supports the overall mission and facilitates a successful gap crossing followed by a quick recovery. To
  accomplish gap crossing efficiently, bridging assets should be in a position within the maneuver formation
  where positive control can be maintained. This is an important consideration, as all gap-crossing equipment
  does not have the necessary communications means to maneuver effectively as maneuver formations.
  Additionally, some of the gap-crossing equipment is less maneuverable and slower than the combat vehicles
  support and it is also less survivable in some cases. This may slow down the movement speed for the
  maneuver elements. In spite of these challenges, proper planning and command and control can minimize
  these negative impacts.
  18-52. Two other considerations are the desirability for redundancy of crossing equipment and the
  capability to rapidly recover the crossing means. Tactical bridging is designed with these considerations in
  mind. Commanders should plan on the use of multiple crossing means, depending on the criticality of the
  crossing and the time available. The terrain, transporter, and bridge maintenance, as well as crew training,
  rehearsals, and experience can impact bridge launch and recovery.
  18-53. The recovery of crossing assets and transition after the crossing is important for units to sustain their
  momentum. Typically, units can expect crossing assets to recover and join the maneuver force on the far side
  of the gap. The units have at least two options:
  * The unit can halt movement on the far side of the gap and wait for the crossing asset to recover
  the bridge.
  * The unit can continue movement and leave an adequate security force during the recovery, which
  can also assist the crossing asset in rejoining the maneuver force.
  If the assets are intended to stay with the unit, consideration must be given to follow-on support or LOC
  bridging assets to ensure that support or follow-on forces can adequately continue to follow the maneuver
  force. The higher headquarters may direct the unit to keep its crossing assets in place for follow-on forces to
  use, which will degrade or eliminate that unit’s ability to cross any subsequent gaps unless it has been
  resourced with sufficient tactical bridging. If the higher headquarters intends for tactical bridging to remain
  in place, it must augment the unit with sufficient assets to accomplish this task while retaining sufficient
  tactical gap-crossing capability to facilitate continued maneuver and movement.
  18-54. Because a gap crossing constricts and splits the maneuver force at the crossing site, the plan must be
  flexible enough for the commanders or their designated representative to execute decisions based on
  acceptable opportunity and threat variances. The unit’s command post can assist the command group by
  controlling the execution of the crossing and maintaining a status of the location and operational readiness
  of the crossing assets.