thedrifter
10-20-08, 09:58 AM
October 20, 2008
Real-world training behind the wheel
New recruits take Humvees on the trail
Travis Griggs
tgriggs@pnj.com
The engine roars as Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joseph Seals accelerates the camouflage Humvee and steers toward the murky, water-filled ruts that fill the trail.
With a splash, muddy water consumes the view through the windshield, then crashes down on the hood and roof. Streams of water trickle in through gaps in the doors and roof, covering the floorboards. Seals looks into the rearview mirror at the line of student-driven Humvees behind him and yells over the engine.
"They'll be OK as long as they don't stop," Seals said.
Fresh out of basic training and combat school, young Marines at Pensacola Naval Air Station have been going nonstop for months. But due to crowded classes and complex scheduling, many trainees are forced to wait weeks, or months, for their courses to start.
Traditionally, commanders have filled this delay with duties such as cleaning the barracks or standing guard posts. But today, armed with a caravan of 23 armored Humvees, trainees use the downtime to learn skills that they can take straight to Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This is critical now, especially with the operational tempo of troops rotating out of Iraq and Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. David Glassman, executive officer of the Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21, which conducts the training. "We don't want to take (noncommissioned officers) out of their leadership roles so they can go run parts up and down the tarmac."
Seals, who instructs the Humvee training course, said that about 500 Marines have been through the program since it started in 2006.
"It's a good program. I wish when I came in we had it. I had to do mine the hard way," Seals said.
Two-week training
The "hard way" means going through training after graduating school at Pensacola and arriving at an active-duty unit — a time-consuming process that Seals said costs the Marine Corps about 5 million man hours a year.
"When they get out to the fleet, normally their unit needs them right away," Seals said. "When they check in and don't have a Humvee license, that's two weeks longer they have to wait."
Not all Marines need a Humvee license, but some occupations require them.
The course at Pensacola NAS takes trainees two weeks, and 251 miles, to complete.
In a caravan of five to 10 Humvees, drivers learn how to operate the vehicles on base and on a 46-mile loop across West Pensacola on Blue Angel Parkway, Mobile Highway, Nine Mile Road and Pine Forest Road. The course also practices off-road techniques near Blue Angel Recreational Park, and towing and night-vision goggle training.
Seals said the night-vision goggle driving, which is conducted off-road at Pensacola NAS, can take some getting used to.
"You have no peripheral vision, everything is green and you have no depth perception," Seals said. "It takes a while."
The armored Humvees are retrofitted with more than 2,000 pounds of steel plating and bulletproof glass that is identical to the type used on vehicles deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Seals said. The armor is designed to stop an AK-47 shot at close range.
"Regular versions have real thin aluminum bodies. When we were over in Iraq, we realized that the aluminum wasn't enough for them," Seals said.
'Pretty cool'
Glassman said that in addition to giving Marines skills they can use in the fleet, the training also gives them a positive outlet for their energy and helps keep them out of trouble.
"It gives them something to embrace," Glassman said. "Idle minds breed contempt. ... We can't afford to not come up with new and different vehicles for them to be engaged and show up at their follow-up units as a real asset."
Standing beside his Humvee at the off-road practice area, Pfc. Juan Garcia explained the dorm duties he might be doing if he wasn't Humvee training.
"Cleaning, standing post, phone watch. Mostly a lot of cleaning the barracks," Garcia said.
Garcia has been at NAS for three months waiting for airframe mechanic school to begin. But he said he has spent half of his time there involved with the Humvee program, both as a student and now as an assistant driver for new trainees.
"I wish every Marine who is in Pensacola could do this as well," Garcia said.
Pfc. Joseph Rinaldo, who recently graduated from the course, said he wishes there were more training programs to fill the downtime.
"It's pretty cool. I wish they had more stuff like this. They should have a tank class," Rinaldo said.
Ellie
Real-world training behind the wheel
New recruits take Humvees on the trail
Travis Griggs
tgriggs@pnj.com
The engine roars as Marine Corps Staff Sgt. Joseph Seals accelerates the camouflage Humvee and steers toward the murky, water-filled ruts that fill the trail.
With a splash, muddy water consumes the view through the windshield, then crashes down on the hood and roof. Streams of water trickle in through gaps in the doors and roof, covering the floorboards. Seals looks into the rearview mirror at the line of student-driven Humvees behind him and yells over the engine.
"They'll be OK as long as they don't stop," Seals said.
Fresh out of basic training and combat school, young Marines at Pensacola Naval Air Station have been going nonstop for months. But due to crowded classes and complex scheduling, many trainees are forced to wait weeks, or months, for their courses to start.
Traditionally, commanders have filled this delay with duties such as cleaning the barracks or standing guard posts. But today, armed with a caravan of 23 armored Humvees, trainees use the downtime to learn skills that they can take straight to Iraq and Afghanistan.
"This is critical now, especially with the operational tempo of troops rotating out of Iraq and Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. David Glassman, executive officer of the Marine Aviation Training Support Group 21, which conducts the training. "We don't want to take (noncommissioned officers) out of their leadership roles so they can go run parts up and down the tarmac."
Seals, who instructs the Humvee training course, said that about 500 Marines have been through the program since it started in 2006.
"It's a good program. I wish when I came in we had it. I had to do mine the hard way," Seals said.
Two-week training
The "hard way" means going through training after graduating school at Pensacola and arriving at an active-duty unit — a time-consuming process that Seals said costs the Marine Corps about 5 million man hours a year.
"When they get out to the fleet, normally their unit needs them right away," Seals said. "When they check in and don't have a Humvee license, that's two weeks longer they have to wait."
Not all Marines need a Humvee license, but some occupations require them.
The course at Pensacola NAS takes trainees two weeks, and 251 miles, to complete.
In a caravan of five to 10 Humvees, drivers learn how to operate the vehicles on base and on a 46-mile loop across West Pensacola on Blue Angel Parkway, Mobile Highway, Nine Mile Road and Pine Forest Road. The course also practices off-road techniques near Blue Angel Recreational Park, and towing and night-vision goggle training.
Seals said the night-vision goggle driving, which is conducted off-road at Pensacola NAS, can take some getting used to.
"You have no peripheral vision, everything is green and you have no depth perception," Seals said. "It takes a while."
The armored Humvees are retrofitted with more than 2,000 pounds of steel plating and bulletproof glass that is identical to the type used on vehicles deployed in Iraq and Afghanistan, Seals said. The armor is designed to stop an AK-47 shot at close range.
"Regular versions have real thin aluminum bodies. When we were over in Iraq, we realized that the aluminum wasn't enough for them," Seals said.
'Pretty cool'
Glassman said that in addition to giving Marines skills they can use in the fleet, the training also gives them a positive outlet for their energy and helps keep them out of trouble.
"It gives them something to embrace," Glassman said. "Idle minds breed contempt. ... We can't afford to not come up with new and different vehicles for them to be engaged and show up at their follow-up units as a real asset."
Standing beside his Humvee at the off-road practice area, Pfc. Juan Garcia explained the dorm duties he might be doing if he wasn't Humvee training.
"Cleaning, standing post, phone watch. Mostly a lot of cleaning the barracks," Garcia said.
Garcia has been at NAS for three months waiting for airframe mechanic school to begin. But he said he has spent half of his time there involved with the Humvee program, both as a student and now as an assistant driver for new trainees.
"I wish every Marine who is in Pensacola could do this as well," Garcia said.
Pfc. Joseph Rinaldo, who recently graduated from the course, said he wishes there were more training programs to fill the downtime.
"It's pretty cool. I wish they had more stuff like this. They should have a tank class," Rinaldo said.
Ellie