Posted on 11/16/2005 9:03:52 AM PST by wildbill
Humvees weren't designed for the threats in Iraq, but Texas Guardsmen have kept them going by pulling and installing new engines, transmissions and stronger springs, all strained by the weight of the heavy armor that was added after the vehicles came off the assembly line.
Soldiers run the vehicles to the max in an extremely rough hot territory.
Mechanics clean up the mess when a seal breaks, transmission slips or bomb shatters the vehicle. And they do it with scant recognition even though they, too, get pinned with medals and have buddies killed.
(Excerpt) Read more at mysanantonio.com ...
Most of our Congressmen and the MSM have lost sight of that fact.
I wonder if we'll have a "Orange County Choppers" type show in the near future..."Monster Hummers" or something like that!!! All of those mechanics are going to have some crazy skills with hummer mods!
I hope the Military Channel steals your idea right now and we get a "Baghdad Choppers" segment soon. Going back to the Sgt. who welded iron on Sherman tanks to go through Normandy hedgerows, the military has been full of little known geniuses.
You are totally correct. All that extra armor weight plays hell with ball joint and tie-rod ends.
That National Guard unit is from my home area in South Texas. Not many rich folks so they are used to improvising and making-do with what they have.
This is a good article -- thanks for the post. Without this type of thing once in awhile, it's too easy to forget about all the hard (and sometimes dangerous) work done by service & support troops. And without them, nothing else gets done.
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