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Lifeliners complete recovery training

Written by Spc. Michael Vanpool
101st Sustainment Brigade, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

101st Sustainment Brigade - LifelinersFort Campbell KY, 101st Airborne DivisionBagram Airfield, Afghanistan – Soldiers of the 101st Sustainment Brigade completed the hands on portion of the Vehicle Recovery Course taught here with recovering a mired vehicle.

The course was taught by instructors deployed from the U.S. Army Ordnance Center and School, and was taught over 83 hours and eight days.

During the course, the six soldiers learned the basics of recovering vehicle with the M984 HEMTT wrecker and the M1089 wrecker.

Sgt. Joshua Garner, a recovery instructor with the 59th Ordnance Brigade, US Army Ordnance Center and School, walks the six students of the Vehicle Recovery Course through different approaches to recovering a vehicle stuck in a mire pit. (Photo by Spc. Michael Vanpool)
Sgt. Joshua Garner, a recovery instructor with the 59th Ordnance Brigade, US Army Ordnance Center and School, walks the six students of the Vehicle Recovery Course through different approaches to recovering a vehicle stuck in a mire pit. (Photo by Spc. Michael Vanpool)

The instruction takes place on a sandy pit on Bagram Air Field, in the same environment they will use the skills with their companies. “For this situation it’s perfect,” said Staff Sgt. LeJuan Taylor, a recovery instructor with the 59th Ordnance Brigade, US Army Ordnance Center and School. “It allows you to show students different techniques and what the equipment can do.”

The class sizes are smaller than the typical 18 soldiers who attend the course at Fort Lee, VA, and other stateside training locations for the Vehicle Recovery Course. The six soldiers for this class came from the 17th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion and 530th CSSB, both of which are assigned to the 101st Sustainment Brigade.

“A lot of the soldiers are excited and willing to train,” Taylor said.

A majority of the Soldiers were from the National Guard and Reserve Component units attached to the brigade. This course gives them an opportunity to improve their skill set, which will immediately be put to the test outside the wire.

Students in the course were already recovering vehicles with their units, but the formal training shows them the proper way to retrieve vehicles stuck, rolled over or broken down on the roads of Afghanistan.

“There’s a lot of stuff I didn’t know,” said Spc. Yvenson Dure, an all wheel mechanic with the 131st Transportation Company, a Pennsylvania National Guard unit attached to the brigade. “I’ve learned a lot of different way to rig.”

While most of the soldiers learned some recovery through on the job training, they learned proper angles, weight limits and approaches to different types of down vehicles.

“This is preparing them to use the equipment safely without damaging equipment or damaging personnel,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony McCray, with the brigade maintenance section.

The training concluded with a mire pit recovery, where the soldiers had to wade in water to recover a mine resistant ambushed-protected vehicle stuck in the mud. The course included various simulations to augment the classroom portion of the class.

“Every other simulation was a vehicle being rolled over,” McCray said. “Mostly here, it’s rolled over vehicles that need recovery that have been hit with IEDs or breakdowns.”

The unforgiving roads of Afghanistan lay claim to many vehicles, and with these new set of skills and fundamentals, the soldiers can bring the vehicles back to a forward operating base.

“It’s highly, highly, highly likely they will at some point use the skills they learn here,” Taylor said.

The 101st Sustainment Brigade requested the instructors from the Ordnance Center and School to add more recovery personnel to their ranks, McCray said. With the assistance of U.S. Forces Afghanistan, the brigade was able to bring the instructors to Afghanistan, marking the first time the instructors of the Ordnance Center and School have deployed to a combat environment.

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