Photo By Staff Sgt. David Bolton | Air Force Staff Sgt. Zachariah Lopez, a Corpus Christi, Texas, native and broadcaster...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J-- It’s not every day that an airman or sailor is asked to drive the 7,500 pound M1151 High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle at speeds in excess of 30 mph around 45-degree curves. But with today’s contingency operations in Afghanistan, service members from the five branches are working together more frequently, on the ground and on the roads.
“Since we’re all on one team, we’ll work together,” said Army Sgt. 1st Class Elton S. Rush, lead facilitator of the driver’s training with the 2nd Battalion, 309th Training Support. “Our goal is to make the training as realistic as possible.”
The sailors and airmen mounted up in the Army Humvees, conducted assisted and unassisted ground navigation, traversed steep inclines and declines and steered the vehicles through a series of obstacles including a 45-degree curve nicknamed the ‘Indy 500 Curve,’ in order to pass a road test for licensing.
“The Indianapolis 500 turn felt like you were going to roll over, but we didn’t,” said Air Force Staff Sgt. Zachariah Lopez, a Corpus Christi, Texas native and broadcaster with the 602nd Training Group which is scheduled to deploy to Afghanistan.
“We might have to go outside the wire and knowing what to expect can be the difference between staying safe and not coming home,” he said.
Making sure that the service members were comfortable driving the M1151 is the primary focus of instructors who teach Army driver’s training.
“All I care about is that people get a good feel for the vehicle so they can be ready for anything downrange,” Army Staff Sgt. Jorge Leiva, an observer control trainer with Alpha Company of the 2/309th TSBN.
For Navy Reserve Petty Officer 2nd Class Victoria Seidel, an intelligence specialist with the Office of Naval Intelligence, being comfortable and aware of her surroundings behind the wheel of an armored Humvee is crucial to her mission success.
Licensing on the M1151 was her last training event in preparation for deployment to Afghanistan.
“You always have to be prepared for anything, just don’t freak out,” said Seidel. “Military is military is military, and whatever I can learn here, I’m grateful for it.”
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 05.16.2013 22:16 |
| Story ID: | 107088 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Hometown: | CORPUS CHRISTI, TEXAS, US |
| Hometown: | JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, NEW JERSEY, US |
| Web Views: | 208 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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