Wreckers Up: CLB-6 Marines prepare for vehicle retrieval

Photo By Sgt. Paul Peterson | A tram tumbles an obsolete Humvee into a ravine during a training exercise conducted by Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, at Twentynine Palms, Calif., May 25, 2013. Wrecker operators dropped various vehicles into the steep revenue in order to conduct retrieval exercises in preparation for their future deployment to support Operation Enduring Freedom.  

TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, UNITED STATES

05.25.2013

Story by Cpl. Paul Peterson  

II Marine Expeditionary Force   

TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – Wrecker operators with Combat Logistics Battalion 6, 2nd Marine Logistics Group, turned thousands of pounds of twisted vehicle hulks into a unique training opportunity at a ravine here, May 25.
For nearly ten hours, the Marines pushed the remnants of obsolete Humvees, trucks and mine resistant vehicles into the sandy chasm and launched recovery crews to train for scenarios they may encounter in Afghanistan.

"We have to adapt, overcome and figure out how to get the vehicles out of the situation," said Sgt. Zhenya J. Killeen, the assistant recovery chief with Support Company, CLB-6. "I've issued out a couple of scenarios. They might try it my way, they might try it their way, but it's rewarding knowing that I've taught them and [it's] another thing they can put in their box."

Heavy equipment operators used trams to tumble various vehicles into the ravine while the wreckers devised retrieval methods. If the recovery seemed too "easy," the Marines stacked the odds by further contorting the position of the vehicles and limiting their retrieval options.

"You need to play the scene out in your head," said Killeen, a native of Ann Arbor, Mich., as he advised the Marines. "It could be in a hostile situation where they're shooting at you."

Under the burning California sun, the servicemembers hooked, flipped and winched the battered equipment up the ravine wall with their specially designed recovery trucks.

Metal cables creaked and resonated through boom arms as the wreckers hoisted the broken chassis into the air, connected tow chains, and dragged the shattered frames back to the nearby vehicle boneyard.

"There are a million ways to skin a cat," said Sgt. Daniel W. Furner, a Sarasota, Fla., native and recovery chief with the wrecker section.

It comes down to the quickest, most efficient method of reclaiming the downed vehicle and pressing on with the mission, he explained during a pause in the training.

"This is literally the only place in the Marine Corps where you can do what we're doing here as far as rolling these trucks down," said Furner, who observed the Marines but offered only sparing advice over the course of the training. "Anything we may encounter in Afghanistan, we have the assets and ability to do out here."

The unique training occurred in conjunction with CLB-6's wider pre-deployment exercises at Twentynine Palms, where the wreckers routinely integrate with logistics convoys to further expand their capabilities.

"Being able to do this here gives the less senior wrecker operators, [who] maybe haven't done [recovery] in country the ability to do that," said Furner.

For Killeen and Furner, both experienced wrecker operators from previous deployments, the training also offered an opportunity to share their previous knowledge from Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The best part of my job is teaching these junior Marines," said Killeen. "I've got a lot of experience doing this. Teaching these junior Marines and then actually seeing it put into action with everything that I've taught them. It's rewarding to me that it's working."

• Date Taken: 05.25.2013
• Date Posted: 05.31.2013 14:24
• Story ID: 107860
• Location: TWENTYNINE PALMS, CA, US
• Hometown: ANN ARBOR, MI, US
• Hometown: SARASOTA, FL, US