Tuesday, May 12, 2009

Hummer Bummer

Well, I learned the answer to "Do HMMWVs have orthopedic seats?" It's an emphatic "NO". We made the acquaintance of the Armored Hummer today, which weighs twice as much as a regular HMMWV. Our introduction included tips for driving and maintaining this beast, and a preliminary block of instruction on...Rollover Procedures! Yep, there is a well-orchestrated script for crew actions should a rollover occur on land, and a modified script for a water flip. This Friday we get to practice in a Hummer Rollover Simulator, which actually turns turtle, providing uber-realistic training. Our unit is scheduled for this E-ticket ride immediately following dinner, which may give rise to a few "technicolor yawns" if folks eat too much yummy mess hall chow.
The other news flash for me was just how cramped it is inside the Hummer when wearing all of the required stuff...helmet, body armor, pouches, holsters, and whatever else we must hang on ourselves. Now the Army weight standards make perfect sense!

2 comments:

  1. I've been reading your blog and it's very entertaining. I'm glad to see you haven't lost your sense of humor. I'll check back on that in a couple of months (wink wink)

    ReplyDelete
  2. Does your training Hummer rattle as much as the real thing? The ones in Afg always sounded like pieces were about to fly off...

    ReplyDelete