FORT STEWART, Ga. - Sixteen troops tested their ability to prove that no terrain is too tough to help keep the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, Third Infantry Division, on the right path. The 'Vanguard Brigade' mechanics performed more than a routine maintenance procedure, March 5-20, and learned how to unearth hefty military vehicles submerged in Fort Stewart's red clay.
The vehicle recovery course, more commonly known as H8 training, was formerly taught only at Fort Jackson, S.C. Now, members of the Georgia National Guard are able to certify the Marne Division Soldiers in their own back yard.
"This recovery training is a benefit to all the Soldiers who serve as recovery technicians," said Sgt. Trevor Whitman, with Company E, 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment, 4IBCT. "We learned everything from winch and crane controls to how to overturn, retrieve, lift and tow vehicles."
Sergeant Whitman, who has deployed twice as a service and recovery tech., said learning how to properly recover vehicles at home-station is critical to his unit's overall mission readiness.
"There are a lot different obstacles you may face overseas, such as vehicle roll-overs, canals you may run into, and roads give way," he said. "This training here certifies us to be able to handle those situations (if they arise)."
The Soldiers were split into four-man teams - two served as riggers who ensure the overturned vehicle is properly hooked up, and two Soldiers hook up the inoperable vehicle to their recovery truck.
"It's not as easy as it sounds," said Spc. Joseph Monroe, with Company B, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4IBCT, adding that recovery operations require both technical and physical demands. "You have to do a lot of planning--know the weight of your vehicle, if the vehicle has a load, how deep is the sunken mud, and then you have to go out and do the physical part.
Nothing on these trucks are light. You have to pull, push, hook up, pick up, use chains and winches--it's all heavy stuff."
Specialist Monroe said this heavy-duty training was realistic, though. He explained that in addition to learning how to recovery vehicles, the Soldiers were also faced with protecting their convoy from simulated enemy opposition forces.
"These are situations we can face in combat environment," he said. "The unit that is training us is a good unit. The instructors here have helped us in the best way they can so that we can (in turn) help our units."
Social Sharing