FORT SILL, Okla.--The Soldiers and officers of A Battery, 3rd Battalion 13th Field Artillery, got a chance to practice driving the Army's newest vehicle, the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle (known as the MRAP) Tuesday here at Fort Sill. The battery hasn't been put on notice that it will deploy any time soon; the training was conducted to keep the Soldiers of the battery ready for whatever comes up.
The battery trained on two variants of the MRAP that the Army is using in Afghanistan -- the MaxxPro and the M-ATV. The M-ATV is a smaller, all-terrain variant. The Army is deploying these vehicles to help combat the effects of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) and to save Soldiers' lives.
The underside of the MRAP has a V shaped bottom, so if an IED goes off, the shape helps direct the blast to the sides of the vehicle and away from the passengers inside. If a vehicle gets hit by an IED, the Soldiers inside may suffer some injuries, but have a better chance at survival.
The Soldiers of the battery had to learn some new driving habits, given the size of the MRAP. Being able to drive the vehicles gave the soldiers the familiarity they would need should the battery had to deploy.
The battery did some IED training, so the Soldiers could learn how to react in an emergency. IEDs are the biggest killer of soldiers in Afghanistan today, so the unit made the training realistic, but safe, to prepare these Soldiers for the modern battlefield.
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