Photo By Staff Sgt. Karl Johnson | Spc. Laterrance Moore, a driver with the 850th Transportation Company based out of...... read more read more
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By Spc. Maria N. Reynolds
300th Mobile Public Affairs Detachment
FORT HUNTER LIGGETT, Calif. – The Soldiers scrambled to reach the doors and crawl to safety from their upside-down Humvee. The combat locks were stuck and they struggled to free themselves from the chaos of flying debris and weapons.
Finally, the doors opened and they crawled out onto the platform of the Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer.
Sgt. Jarvis D. Kelly, a truck driver from the 850th Transportation Co. in Lyons, Miss., said the HEAT rollover training was realistic and intense.
"I didn't realize how hard it would be to get out of the doors when you're upside down," he said.
The HEAT simulator is a modified Humvee body that can be rotated 360 degrees on a secured platform. This gives Soldiers the practical experience of a rollover without the danger.
The device was built in reaction to the high rate of accidents and rollovers involving up-armored Humvees, said Staff Sgt. Robert Gentry, an instructor with the HEAT training from the 104th Training Division in Vancouver, Wash. The training is mandatory for deploying Soldiers.
The simulator has cameras and sensors so trainers know if Soldiers are following procedures, explained Gentry. Sensors in the seatbelts and in the combat locks ensure both are properly secured, he said.
Once the Soldiers are secured in the simulator, it is rotated at different degrees so they can sense when the vehicle is about to tip over.
Gentry said the training is critical for Humvees with a gunner. "It's the crew's responsibility to pull the gunner into the Humvee and hold him down, and to keep him from being rolled."
The HEAT simulator is inverted and the crew is required to evacuate with their practice weapons. The hardest part, states Gentry, is the combat locks, because they're not easy to use when upside down and disoriented.
The biggest danger with rollovers is unsecured equipment because they become projectiles when the Humvee rolls, said Gentry. The Humvee is very heavy and will probably roll a few times before it stops, he explained, so it's important to always secure gear.
"The best way to prevent rollovers is to drive safely, by paying attention to the road conditions, the weather and the territory that you're driving in," said Gentry, noting the importance of maintenance checks.
"It was really great training," said Pfc. Gina M. Rocha, from the 693rd Quartmaster Company in Bell, Calif. "The instructors explained everything down to a 'T' about how it was going to be when we were in the Humvee, and did their best to keep it safe."
| Date Taken: | 06.13.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 06.13.2008 14:23 |
| Story ID: | 20447 |
| Location: | US |
| Web Views: | 298 |
| Downloads: | 274 |
This work, Soldiers learn how to take the HEAT, by SPC Maria Reynolds, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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