KILLEEN, Texas - Killeen Independent School District Career Center automotive students got the chance to peruse, climb and explore military vehicles brought out to the campus by 85th Civil Affairs Brigade soldiers as part of a Preventative Maintenance Checks and Services class, Feb. 28.
Sgt. Bradley Macik, a mechanic with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 85th Civil Affairs Brigade, along with three additional soldiers assigned to the brigade, introduced students to the Light Medium Tactical Vehicle and the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle, during the class.
“The students are getting a view of military vehicles in comparison to a civilian vehicle, to give them the confidence and structure they need to feel like they can work on anything,” said Macik.
The sheer size of military vehicles can be daunting and intimidating to some, but to Jessica Plousky, a junior at the KISD Career Center and budding race car driver, these mechanical goliaths are nothing new.
“I’ve been working on cars since I was in kindergarten — getting tools and eventually doing the work; I have built eight race cars,” Plousky said. “These trucks are basically the same, just a little bigger.”
Some students were taken aback by the massive nature of systems within the vehicles as well.
“The engines are huge,” said Trevor Norris, a sophomore in the automotive class.
As the students looked at engines and undercarriages, some vocalized ideas of using the trucks for hunting, while others argued about advantages and disadvantages of drive train configurations on the HMMWV. All arguments stopped though as the turbo diesel engine of the LMTV roared to life and the students looked as children do in a candy store.