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bobdina
09-10-2009, 02:57 PM
Armoured truckers: Taking care of business

By Sergeant Shawn Alexander

Trooper Tom Underwood of C Squadron, Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) and one of the squadron’s armoured trucks.

Trooper Tom Underwood of C Squadron, Lord Strathcona’s Horse (Royal Canadians) and one of the squadron’s armoured trucks.

So, now that we’re about halfway through our tour, I’d like to be able to say that we have settled into our jobs and things have become routine, but that couldn’t be further from the truth. In fact, things change so often around here that nothing has time to become routine.

Tasked to support the tanks and soldiers of C Squadron and assist in the defence of our forward operating base (FOB), C Squadron’s truckers were well prepared, well equipped with the new “Armoured Heavy Support Vehicle System” — AHSVS (AH for short), an armoured truck — and well trained to carry out those duties. When resupplying the tanks and the crews with ammunition, fuel, POL (petroleum, oil and lubricants), rations and water, we have been equal to every task. Manning the front gate and helping keep the FOB in order is also part of the job. We also sometimes deploy with the squadron to keep the tanks and the other vehicles in the combat team well supplied.

The squadron’s truckers had to quickly learn the AH’s traits and quirks in field operations. It quickly became evident to us that we needed to become very proficient in vehicle-recovery operations while driving over churned-up ground. When following tanks, especially when traversing water-logged wheat and poppy fields during the extended rainy season, it became very difficult to manoeuvre and the AH’s often got stuck.

All of this is what we trained for, though and, ultimately, what we expected. It’s the unexpected that keeps us on our toes, and keeps things interesting. One of the first things that differed from training was the rocket attacks. The insurgents enjoy harassing us in the FOB by frequently firing 107-mm rockets at us. More an annoyance than anything, they were definitely more exciting in real life than the training version.

There have also been numerous unforeseen taskings that have kept us busy, on top of our other duties. We provide crews and maintain vehicles for the Quick Reaction Force. We haul gravel to repair roads cratered by improvised explosive devices. Our trucks carry trees and debris away from road-improvement worksites. We once transported materials for the engineers to rebuild a bridge that had washed away, and helped with the sandbagging. We have hauled sea cans to troops in the field to create makeshift camps, and gone all the way back to Kandahar Airfield for urgently required tank parts. We went on foot to re-supply a small unit in difficult terrain. We have even had to transport replacement personnel for other units of the Task Force, and we once delivered a mobile weather station to another FOB.

It has been said that variety is the spice of life, and that spice is now part of the diet for C Squadron’s armoured truckers.

Video can be found on this link
http://www.comfec-cefcom.forces.gc.ca/pa-ap/fs-ev/2009/08/13-eng.asp