Dave Sattler, a Oshkosh Defense trainer demonstrates a lesson to 4th Infantry Division Soldiers during a maintenance training class on Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. Oshkosh trainers are certified experts who deliver training on the technologies and the vehicle platforms they support. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

Sgt. Carlos Barajas, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to Headquarters Support Company, Headquarters and Headquarters Battalion, 4th Infantry Division, conducts maintenance to a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck during a Oshkosh Defense led training class at Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. 4th Inf. Div. Soldiers attended this maintenance training class for two weeks. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

Pvt. Edgar Merino, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to 404th Aviation Support Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, conducts maintenance to a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck during a Oshkosh Defense led training class at Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. 4th Inf. Div. Soldiers learned new methods of vehicle maintenance from the Oshkosh trainers that they could apply going forward. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

Pfc. Duc Dao, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, conducts maintenance to a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck during a Oshkosh Defense led training class at Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. Maintenance needs to be completed on a regular basis on vehicles to keep them mission ready. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

Pfc. Duc Dao and Spc. Ralvin Dalere, wheeled vehicle mechanics assigned to 2nd General Support Aviation Battalion, 4th Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, conducts maintenance to a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck during a Oshkosh Defense led training class at Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. Mechanics contribute to the mission success so training to upkeep military vehicles is an important task. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

Pfc. Silas Fogle, a wheeled vehicle mechanic assigned to 1st Battalion, 38th Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, receives guidance from Brian Odekirk, a Oshkosh training expert during a maintenance class at Fort Carson, Colo., Oct. 17, 2023. Oshkosh provides vehicle operators and mechanics expert-level training on all Oshkosh and non-Oshkosh vehicles and mobility systems. (U.S. Army photo by Sgt. Woodlyne Escarne)

FORT CARSON, Colo. - Oshkosh Corporation has been a pioneer in military vehicle systems and technologies since 1917. They have delivered and sustained more than 190,000 tactical wheeled vehicles to our military across the world.

It's critical for Soldiers who operate and maintain these vehicles to understand these vehicles for both safety and readiness. Therefore, Oshkosh personnel travel across installations like Fort Carson to train troops and help them complete their missions successfully.

Oshkosh Defense provides training for their light tactical vehicles, medium tactical vehicles, and heavy tactical vehicles. However, the focus of the current two-week course here is to provide the Ivy Division Soldiers with maintenance training on the Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck.

“We travel around bases all around the world and we teach maintenance,” said Dave Sattler, a product training specialist for Oshkosh Defense. “We’re teaching how to upkeep on the vehicles, how to troubleshoot them, and operate them correctly and safely to keep our military partners safe and in a good state of readiness.”

Oshkosh just signed a contract with Fort Carson to give training on HEMTT maintenance, Joint Light Tactical Vehicle maintenance, and JLTV operations on a more regular basis.

“This class is going to go a long way in keeping these vehicles ready for deployment and showing them basic maintenance is the most important thing on any vehicle,” said Sattler.

The trainers used their combined real-world mechanical and operational experience with factory training and first-hand vehicle knowledge and created an advanced learning experience for the Ivy Division Soldiers.

The Oshkosh trainers are certified experts on the technologies and vehicle platforms they support, therefore they equipped the mechanics with a level of new expertise on the HEMTTs.

“This training entails on how to service the HEMTTs,” said Sattler. “Change the oils, change the wheel bearings, and fix the normal wear and tear parts on the vehicles to keep them in a better state of readiness.”

During the training, the Soldiers pulled the front hubs off the HEMTTs, took off the tires, rotated the tires, drained the oil, cleaned the wheel bearings, greased all of the zerks on the trucks, and completed smaller tasks that needed to be done.

“This class provides the proper training and the proper resources to dive into the proper way of serving and maintaining the HEMTTs,” said Sgt. Jakob Benavides, a wheeled vehicle mechanic from 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment, 1st Stryker Brigade Combat Team, 4th Inf. Div.

Some Soldiers approached the tasks confidently while others required more assistance from the Oshkosh trainers.

However, the training gave the mechanics the ability to strengthen their unit's fighting capabilities and further advance the Army’s mission with the knowledge they gained from this course.

“I recommend this class because you have Oshkosh personnel that know a lot more about the trucks than we do and they worked on it longer,” said Benavides.

All in all, the training helped build the Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic Soldiers’ confidence and expertise in vehicle maintenance.