By Spc. Elizabeth Gorenc
Camp Atterbury Public Affairs
CAMP ATTERBURY, U.S. - "We always try to personally challenge ourselves to create more realistic training to be the best that we can be," said Sgt. 1st Class Aaron Born, a fabricator for the 3rd Battalion Logistical Support, 411th Regiment, 205th Infantry Brigade at Camp Atterbury.
Born was referring to the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle 3-411 replicated to be used as a training tool at Camp Atterbury for deploying Soldiers.
MRAPs are designed to survive improvised explosive devices attacks, the cause of 63 percent of U.S. deaths in Iraq, as well as ambushes. Marines were the first service members to use MRAPs, but the Army is starting to utilize the improvised explosive device-resistant vehicles.
"The MRAP here at Camp Atterbury is not a fully functional armored vehicle, but it provides deploying Soldiers with a training tool," Born said. The truck will be used in convoy operations around post.
A team of four to five Soldiers worked together for 12 to 14 hours a day for four weeks to convert an M-939 5-ton cargo truck into a truck that externally replicates a functional MRAP.
They modeled their training version of the MRAP after a vehicle at Detroit Arsenal in Warren, Mich.
The vehicle contains a fully steeled cargo space to simulate the armored protection on a real MRAP. It has the capacity to carry eight people in the back with a functioning gunner seat. The truck is also equipped with bumpers that mount, an exhaust that mounts over the vehicle, a rack for ammo cans in the back of the vehicle, tool boxes on either side of the truck, a simulated V-hull to deflect IED explosions, and thick windows to replicate the look of bullet-proof glass.
"Other bases within First Army East have assembled MRAP training vehicles, but we are the first ones to create a training tool that resembles the real vehicle as closely as this one does," Born said. "Because of that, we plan to create a design of what we did for other bases to use."
The vehicle was road tested Feb. 8 to determine if it could properly and safely operate and hold together on paved roads and within Forward Operating Base Nighthawk. The MRAP excelled in the speed and brake tests on Schoolhouse Road. It also held together without pieces breaking or falling apart during the test on the off-road course at FOB Nighthawk.
"Some people were apprehensive whether the weight of the MRAP would cause it to fall apart or not, but everything held up on the road test better than anyone expected," Born said. "With the success of this MRAP, we hope to be able to have one at every FOB to assist deploying Soldiers in their training," he added.
| Date Taken: | 02.22.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 02.22.2008 11:56 |
| Story ID: | 16591 |
| Location: | CAMP ATTERBURY, IN, US |
| Web Views: | 350 |
| Downloads: | 276 |
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