Photo By Sgt. Jessica Barb | U.S. Soldiers from Delta Company, 128th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Infantry...... read more read more
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FORT INDIANTOWN GAP, Pa. - U.S. Soldiers with Delta Company, 128th Brigade Support Battalion, 2nd Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 28th Infantry Division trained in the mire pits here, Aug. 11, 2024, during their annual training.
Fort Indiantown Gap has both a wet and dry mire pit that provide vehicle extraction training in a controlled environment. The wet mire pit allows for vehicle extraction training from water and the dry mire pit replicates a sandy environment.
The training consisted of three potential events that could occur during a real-life scenario. The significance of the training was to see how the team could sufficiently get a military vehicle out of thick sand, muddy water and be able to flip over a military vehicle.
“This was a refresher for some wrecker operators and for some it was their first time seeing the M984A4 in action," said Staff Sgt. William Campbell, senior mechanic for Delta Company, 128th BSB. “It was a good opportunity to make sure that our equipment was ready for any and every recovery job we are called upon to perform. The Soldiers need to understand how and what their equipment is capable of doing.”
The first training exercise consisted of the mechanics purposefully driving a Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, also known as a HEMTT or wrecker, into a sand pit. The vehicle could only be pulled out with a recovery wrecker. Once the trainees passed this test, then they moved to the water pit.
The next phase was getting a Light Medium Tactical Truck out of the pit of water. It was deep, muddy water and the Soldiers had to pull the LMTV out of the water with the wrecker. They also had to test the vehicle to make sure it still functioned and was drivable on the road. This challenged them as they had to attach the vehicle onto another, while it was underwater, and the Soldiers had to operate in a wet and muddy water pit.
“Stepping into the wet mire pit is no different than any other recovery situation, you have to treat the conditions all the same,” said Spc. Monica Rojas, a wheeled vehicle mechanic/recovery operator for Delta Company, 128th BSB. “I viewed it as the perfect opportunity to educate the team on how underwater mired vehicle recovery operations work. It doesn’t matter how intimidating the conditions are, the mission will always be completed.”
According to Spc. Janner Torres, a field vehicle mechanic, doing their job with the vehicle in water was challenging but gave them a realistic scenario to build their readiness.
“It is such a different perspective when the vehicle is stuck in the sand," Torres said. "Once it got stuck in the water, it became a whole different learning experience and a new way of thinking.”
The last phase was to see how they could flip over an LMTV and flip it back successfully. They used a the same wrecker with a crane to flip over the vehicle, while also not passing the cones that lined the vehicle in place. Once it was flipped, they had to flip it back to the regular position and ensure it was drivable again.
| Date Taken: | 08.11.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.14.2024 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 478441 |
| Location: | FORT INDIANTOWN GAP , PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 364 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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