Truckagedon, Soldiers save the day as cargo moves out

Photo By Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield | SAN MARCOS, Guatemala – Anwar Martinez, Guatemalan semi-truck driver, goes pedal to the medal spinning the tires of his semi-truck throwing mud June 8, 2016, during Exercise BEYOND THE HORIZON 2016 GUATEMALA. The laydown yard where the trailers were stored turned into a bog of slick mud, which required vehicle recovery Soldiers to work overtime.  

GUATEMALA

06.10.2016

Story by Tech. Sgt. Phillip Butterfield 

4th Fighter Wing   

SAN MARCOS, Guatemala – The final two weeks of Exercise BEYOND THE HORIZON 2016 GUATEMALA has come to roost at Task Force Red Wolf’s doorstep this equates to several tons of cargo needing to hit the road but, who can do it?

The first shipment of cargo containers were prepped and fifteen trucks were at the gate waiting to redeploy the equipment but, Mother Nature threw the drivers a curve ball. For three days prior to the cargos scheduled departure date it had been raining heavily. This deluge is why TFRW supervision made the call to have their big guns on standby the 875th Forward Support Company Vehicle Recovery Section.

“Supervision saw the sloppy conditions,” said U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Clarence Batts, 875 FSC Vehicle Recovery Section supervisor. “We knew when we got the call to support, saw the conditions of the laydown yard where the trailers were located and the condition of the trucks that had arrived; it was going to be a long day.”

However, hope was on the side of success when the first truck hooked up to its trailer and started to pull out with no problem. That was until the first turn presented itself. As the truck approached the turn Antonio Isidro Xasquez, Guatemalan semi-truck driver, turned the wheel and applied his breaks but, the truck didn’t turn. The grass broke away under the immense weight of the vehicle causing Xasquez’s truck to collide with a flatbed-trailer.

Batts team jumped into action. They hooked their 115,000 pound, 8 by 8 wheeled wrecker truck to the stricken semi-truck and pulled it out with ease. This didn’t mean that their day was over by a long shot. As the morning progressed, it was apparent that these trucks needed more than just help getting out of the mud bog that the laydown yard had become. They needed help getting to their trailers as well.

At the end of the day all fifteen semi-trucks received their trailers and hit the road but, this feat wouldn’t have been possible without Batts and his team of professionals.

“I’m very proud of my team,” said Batts. “Even though it was frustrating at times to get the other drivers to cooperate with my instructions, my team performed as a unit smooth, professional and with authority where needed.”

• Date Taken: 06.10.2016
• Date Posted: 06.10.2016 14:03
• Story ID: 200656
• Location: GT