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Posted on 08/10/2005 6:30:19 PM PDT by SandRat
The U.S. Army's Buffalo boasts a robotic arm tipped with a pitchfork-like hand and a camera for seeing into hard-to-reach areas during the search for improvised explosive devices.
BAGHDAD, Iraq, Aug. 10, 2005 — Looking like a creation from the TV show “Monster Garage,” 1st Battalion, 64th Armor’s Buffalo lumbers down the streets of Baghdad, searching for improvised explosive devices.
The Buffalo stands far taller than a tank and boasts a robotic arm tipped with a pitchfork-like hand and a camera for seeing into hard-to-reach areas.
“We travel slowly along our routes, looking out the windows for anything suspicious,” said U.S. Army Spc. Fred Cotten, a driver with E Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division. “We know the routes like the backs of our hands. We’re out there every day, so it’s pretty obvious when something is out of place.”
A departure from typical military vehicles, the Buffalo has large windows of armored glass that offer much better side visibility than humvees or armored personnel carriers.
"We know when we go out and clear a route, we’re responsible for the safety of our fellow soldiers in the area. We go out every day and do what we can to keep the routes safe for our guys."
U.S. Army Cpl. Jason Nolen
The engineer company’s Buffalo team spotted several improvised explosive devices in their old area of responsibility, and though they have not found one yet in their new sector, they boast about the Buffalo’s effectiveness.
“(Improvised explosive devices) have never gone off in the areas we’ve swept,” said Cpl. Jason Nolen, E Company, 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, Buffalo arm operator. “Every time an (improvised explosive devices) explodes in our sector, it’s on a route we didn’t patrol that day.”
On a patrol July 27, the Buffalo team inspected several bags in the street, and poked through piles of rubble on the shoulder, common hiding places for improvised explosive devices.
Using the hydraulic arm’s electronic controller, Nolen, from Florence, Ala., guided the arm’s sharp tines into a garbage bag and lifted it, revealing…garbage.
“There’s so much trash on the roads, it’s very time-consuming to clear all the pieces that could hide an explosive,” Nolen said. Soldiers in humvees travel with the Buffalo and pull security for the slow-moving convoy.
“We’re out there looking primarily for (improvised explosive devices), but anything that catches our eye, we’ll investigate,” said Staff Sgt. Perre Echolz, E Co., 1st Battalion, 64th Armor, obstacle section sergeant and a native of Brooklyn, N.Y. “Being in the lead vehicle, you’ve got to be a leader, you can’t be nervous at all.”
Soldiers speak highly of the Buffalo’s reliability and durability under fire.
“Every Buffalo we’ve heard of getting hit has rolled back to base under its own power,” said Cotten, who is from Charleston, Miss. “It’s tough as nails. Between driving either this or a tracked vehicle, I’d take the Buffalo, hands down.”
The E Company team picked up their Buffalo in April after receiving a class from 612th Engineers, an Ohio National Guard unit stationed in Baghdad.
“It was a good class - we learned how to identify an (improvised explosive device), what to look for and where to look,” Cotten said. “Since then, we’ve learned quite a bit on our own that is helping us to keep the roadways safe.”
Nolen said the group changes up their routes and departure times constantly to avoid setting patterns for potential ambushers to follow.
“We know when we go out and clear a route, we’re responsible for the safety of our fellow soldiers in the area,” Nolen said. “We go out every day and do what we can to keep the routes safe for our guys.”
Army's "Monster Garage" creation in Iraq saves lives.
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Anything to save the lives of our troops.
You're damn right! I don't see why TACOM's budget hasn't doubled in the last 5 years!
I wonder if the little brother, the Cougar, is street legal.
I like their ad "Drop your purse, it's not a Hummer"
BTT!!!!!!
Quite the Rube Goldberg Device........
But I'm a great large fan of Rube Goldberg, and if it gets the job done safely, even better.
>>I wonder if the little brother, the Cougar, is street legal.
Yup. As an investor in FRPT, I attended the 2nd Open House last Sept and those who stuck it out til the end were given a ride in the back of a Cougar...on I-26. At 70 mph (the limit on I-26), it rides like a van, plus corners fabulously as it's been designed for urban warfare. The only thing missing was "Born to be Wild" in the tape deck.
It rides like a van and tapping on the windows is like tapping on a marble wall.
They test these bad boys by running over 3 mines stacked on top of one another. The vehicle that was flipped over, killing the Ohio troops, hit...3 mines stacked on top of one another.
Injuries to date in FRPT vehicles: sprained wrist, a few bruises. Terrorists managed to take one out of action for a few days (quick field repair is a selling point), but no one was injured...and the Cougar that was hit was largely intact, not a total loss like hummers.
Yet our gov't recently threw $45.5 million at Hummers. Reg hummers are death traps (1 in 5 troop deaths in Iraq took place inside of hummers), while uparmored, it's like a pickup truck carrying a bed full of sand. (I've done this "sand" thing before: NOT GOOD!)
Plus, the web site has the coolest videos. (The CBS video is fab.)
I have a son invested in the US Army. Hope that he won't get "sentenced" to a hummer. Fine for the governator, but not for troop safety. A hummer is a jeep; Cougars and Buffalos are war wagons for the 21st century.
LOL, if I ever got a ride in a Cougar, and that music was playing, I'd have to be wearing a replica of Jack Nicholson's gold football helmet from Easy Rider".
My choice of music would have been, The Ride of the Valkyries from Apocalypse Now
Wow, I posted that on 8/10/05. For me, that's about the longest time between posting and responding to comments.
At first I thought you were deployed, and didn't have access to a computer (would've enjoyed a troop's response, I know those guys need some positive comments, what with all the MSM bad press these days).
I guess you're a busy bidness man and only checked your FR recently.
I'm a self employed computer consultant and know what it means to wear a lot of hats. When I'm busy, I sometimes break the FR habit and go for months without commenting.
Hope you don't mind if I post a picture of your great product.
Thanks for your investment in protecting our troops.
Thanks for your son's volunteering to protect our freedom and safety.
p.s. If I ever win the lottery, I still want one of the original Hummers. If I had lottery winnings, I'd buy 10 amored-up versions for the troops and get one for me, if I could convince the production guys to work some extra shifts and not deprive the troops. (I just can't imagine trying to park a Cougar in an urban environment).
p.p.s Army Brat, the only one of eight kids who tried to get into the military. Maybe that's why I'm the Col's favorite. I would've been there if I was young and not banged up enough on 9/11.
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