RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT, Texas, May 3, 2011 -- Like any university, the mine-resistant, ambush-protected, or MRAP, Vehicle University is a very busy institution. Nearly 500 people are inside the facility at any given time during business hours learning about every aspect of the MRAP family of vehicles.
"From the time we get here there is something constantly being taught or demonstrated," said Bobby Russell, site manager for MRAP University. "We try to teach anything we can in a minimum amount of time."
To accommodate more classes and students, MRAP University now also offers a night class.
MRAP University, which became fully operational in December 2007, is a one-stop shop providing a unique cross-platform venue to prepare maintenance and instructor personnel with the knowledge to conduct field-level support on the MRAP family of vehicles.
The training program at MRAP University is pointed at providing all attending students with the knowledge and ability to become familiar with any MRAP model, no matter the manufacturer. The MRAP vehicles are manufactured by five original equipment manufacturers, making each vehicle different from the next.
With the introduction of the MRAP Wrecker Vehicle, , known as the MRV, MRAP University was once again called upon to offer one-of-a-kind MRV training to its curriculum.
As a towing vehicle, the MRV is capable of hauling 81,000 pounds and allows "two-to-three-man crews to retrieve damaged or mission-disabled vehicles and carry out other support missions." The MRV provides the same protection as the MRAPs currently used in Iraq and Afghanistan.
"There's really nothing like MRAP University anywhere in the world," said Russell. "We are doing all we can to provide the best training for the MRAP vehicles."
MRAP vehicles offer a proven capability to reduce combat deaths and casualties associated with improvised explosive devices, mines and other explosive threats with their V-shaped hulls and raised chassis.
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