Photo By Scott Sturkol | Soldiers at Fort McCoy, Wis., for training in the Fort McCoy Regional Training...... read more read more
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Students in the Fort McCoy Regional Training Site (RTS)-Maintenance Wheeled Vehicle Recovery Operations Course were at the North Post Vehicle Recovery Site on July 24 and 25 practicing their skills recovering military vehicles with military wrecker vehicles — and it wasn’t easy, students said.
That field training was a big part of the course, instructors say, because it gets them the experience, they need to do the same kind of work at their own units and home stations. And, according to senior instructor Staff Sgt. Alicia Curtis, helps them earn an additional skill identifier.
The RTS-Maintenance course trains Soldiers with 91-series military occupational specialties (MOS) in the Army’s H8 additional MOS skill identifier, according to the course description. The 17-day course covers operation and maintenance of recovery vehicles and use of standard procedures to rig and recover wheeled vehicles. Related training tasks include oxygen and acetylene gas welding; boom and hoist operations; winch operations; and recovery of mired, overturned, and disabled vehicles.
Students also have classroom training and testing, and they spend nearly 80 percent of their training time at Fort McCoy’s Vehicle Recovery Site learning more about wreckers and vehicle recovery, Curtis said.
One military vehicle used in the training is the M984A4 Recovery Truck (Wrecker). The truck is equipped with a crane and winch-retrieval system and can recover vehicles weighing in excess of 10 tons.
Students also use the M1089 (MTV Wrecker. This wrecker, based on the M1083 cargo truck, is fitted with a recovery hamper and a recovery winch. It also has a crane with a 5-ton capacity that can be used for various lifting and hauling tasks.
During training July 24, Curtis discussed what students were learning, and more.
“They apply the techniques they learned in class on how to recover a mired vehicle,” Curtis said. And during a deployment or in-garrison, knowing these skills are important for these specialists.
“Obviously, this would be very important … because you (just) never know,” Curtis said. “Vehicles, whether in garrison (or deployed) has a tendency of getting stuck.”
At the training site, students were training the first day where one vehicle was overturned and another was buried in sand the first day. Then another day a vehicle was stuck in water and mud in the mire pit.
“It happens not only on a deployed situation, but also right here in a garrison,” Curtis said. “It’s important for Soldiers who are actually wheel-recovery specialists to know how to properly upright a vehicle that’s overturned or pull a vehicle out of a stuck situation using the correct techniques.”
On July 25 the students spent the day wading in water and mud to pull out a stuck truck. Many stating it as an experience they won’t forget.
Spc. Ashley Noe, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with the 366th Military Police Company at Stillwater, Okla., said she was appreciative of the course training.
“I've enjoyed every bit of it,” Noe said. “Every aspect. I especially like the hands-on training. I can learn in the classroom, but hands-on is usually better for me, especially doing the vehicle recovery in the field.”
Noe said she would recommend the course to other mechanics.
“It's a good course, especially for wheeled-vehicle mechanics to have under their belt,” Noe said. “This is especially true since we’re always going to be out in the field. A lot of times we’re out in the field, a truck gets stuck. You’re going to have to know how to get it out.”
RTS-Maintenance trains hundreds of Soldiers every year in the Army’s 91-series MOS and administratively supports the training of Soldiers in the 89B MOS. The unit aligns under the 3rd Brigade (Ordnance), 94th Division of the 80th Training Command, and is centrally located in the cantonment area with an entire complex to hold training.
Located in the heart of the upper Midwest, Fort McCoy is the only U.S. Army installation in Wisconsin.
The installation has provided support and facilities for the field and classroom training of more than 100,000 military personnel from all services nearly every year since 1984.
Learn more about Fort McCoy online at https://home.army.mil/mccoy, on Facebook by searching “ftmccoy,” and on Twitter by searching “usagmccoy.”
| Date Taken: | 08.07.2023 |
| Date Posted: | 08.07.2023 18:02 |
| Story ID: | 450882 |
| Location: | FORT MCCOY, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 853 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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