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BAGHDAD—At 2 a.m. on the morning of Dec. 31, 2010, lights in the 299th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, United States Division – Center vehicle staging area illuminated five Company A, 299th BSB Heavy Equipment Transporter systems and soldiers, getting ready for their mission: pick up four M1A1 Abrams main battle tanks at Joint Security Station Al Rashid, Iraq, transport them across Baghdad and deliver them to Contingency Operating Base Taji, where the Iraqi army tank school is relocating.
In the pre-dawn darkness the HET operators completed their preventive maintenance checks and services and pre-combat checks while rain fell and the ground turned to sticky clay and soupy mud.
The success of the mission rested heavily on the preparation prior to its start, when the operators spent hours in the motor pool completing maintenance. Without the requisite care to keep these massive systems operating safely, the tractor-trailer combination would never stand up to the punishment of hauling heavy loads of equipment through Iraq.
With roads often lined with barriers and littered with cinder blocks, an oversight on the operator’s part can have significant consequences for mission success.
Preparation for the Al Rashid-to-Taji mission started days before the mission for the HET operators.
HETs possess five axle lines and 40 tires, said Sgt. Marri Flores, a heavy truck driver with Company A, 299th BSB, 2nd AAB and a Richcrest, Calif., native.
“The HET trailer is a formidable maintenance challenge,” she said. “The trailer operates on both air and hydraulic systems.”
The brakes are air over hydraulic, connected to the tractor via air lines, and must have adequate pressure for proper operation. The hydraulic system aids the steering of the trailer via a system that transfers the steering from the tractor to the trailer, resulting in the second, third, fourth, and fifth axles steering as the trailer pivots.
“If the trailer steering mechanism is not properly aligned prior to operations it will cause … blown tires and ultimately mission failure,” said Staff Sgt. James Ray, a truck master with Company A, 299th BSB, 2nd AAB, and Peoria, Ill., native.
Upon arrival at JSS Al Rashid, Company A’s HET operators linked up with members of Company D, 1st Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd AAB, 1st Inf. Div.
The size of the HET required that the M1A1s to be brought outside the JSS to load them. The loading of four M1A1 Abrams tanks and one M88 Hercules went smoothly, taking only an hour.
After arriving back at Victory Base Complex, the Company A HET operators conducted their weekly PMCS and got the trucks ready for the next mission.
| Date Taken: | 01.18.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 01.18.2011 03:01 |
| Story ID: | 63712 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 61 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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