Roadshow: Joint Light Tactical Vehicle to replace aging Humvee

Photo By Nathan Hanks | James Proctor, team lead, Vehicle Systems, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, brief Marines and civilian-Marines on the capabilities, various kits that can be added and production timeline of the JLTV in front of Marine Corps Logistics Command Headquarters, March 20.  

ALBANY, GA, UNITED STATES

03.23.2018

Story by Nathan Hanks 

U.S. Marine Corps Logistics Command

Before putting their hands on the vehicle, James Proctor, team lead, Vehicle Systems, Joint Light Tactical Vehicles, briefed those in attendance on the capabilities, various kits that can be added and production timeline of the JLTV.
“The purpose of the visit is to give information about the JLTV program and find out what questions Marines (and civilian-Marines) from LOGCOM,” said Proctor, who is responsible for the production and fielding of the JLTV. “This is something that is going to affect the entire Corps (and will be) a significant change for the ground forces for the next 30 to 40 years.
“It is a long-awaited replacement for the up-armored Humvee Expanded Capability Vehicle,” he added. “It’s the next light tactical vehicle coming to the operating forces.”
So far this year, the roadshow team has been to I Marine Expeditionary Force in Camp Pendleton, California; II MEF in Camp Lejeune, North Carolina, and Marine Forces Reserve in New Orleans. Their next stop is III MEF in Okinawa, Japan, according to Proctor.
“We decided this is important enough to take (subject matter experts) from the program shop and go to the fleet and give the (Marines) information for what they have coming (to them),” he said.
This also gave the team an opportunity to hear Marines’ concerns, he stated.
“When we were here last year we (received) a lot of questions,” he pointed out. “Many of those were answered in this briefing, either (because) we have more information now than we did last year, because we have done more testing or we’ve specifically gone back and answered those questions which were requested information from the fleet.”
Proctor gave the Marines a timeline of when they will see the vehicles in the fleet.
“We are on a path now to go to a forward with a full-rate production decision, which is a joint decision, in December 2018 followed by a fielding decision in February 2019.
“Upon completion of a successful fielding decision, we will start putting trucks into the supporting establishment in March 2019 and into the first infantry battalion in June 2019,” he continued.
Proctor said the team is working toward achieving what is called the initial operational capability in July 2019.
“The initial operational capability is the supporting establishment being fully fielded and a full infantry battalion ready to go,” he added.
According to Proctor, for some people the change can be challenging.
“When we were transitioning from the M151 Jeep to the Humvee, the Humvee was considered to be incredibly complex,” he said. “It was too complex for Marines and soldiers to operate out of the box.
“If you sit in a Humvee today and you look from left to right, you will see (several) controls: lights, washer, gearshift and the handbrake,” he continued. “If you get into a JLTV, you have five controls on the left-hand side under where the lights would be in a Humvee.
“This is a significant jump but people are forgetting how big the last significant jump was and you see the paradigm shift the Humvee brought to the fleet,” he concluded. “This is going to do the same thing.”
Lance Corporal Cameron Hinton, 3521, motor transportation maintenance, Marine Corps Logistics Command, was among several Marines to look over the JLTV.
“If you pull a Humvee up next to it, (the JLTV) is steps beyond the most advanced type of Humvee,” Hinton said. “Everything about the truck, its armament, the way it was built, how it is designed, makes it a much better truck.
“The technology is much more advanced than the Humvee,” he said. “It is capable of so much more. As the Humvee’s successor, I believe this is the right truck.”

• Date Taken: 03.23.2018
• Date Posted: 03.23.2018 10:21
• Story ID: 270405
• Location: ALBANY, GA, US