Up-Armored HMMWVs: The Answer For Peacekeeping Operations

platoon to the troop’s peacekeeping mission.

The greatest strength of an XM1114 up-armored HMMWV platoon is the versatility it provides through a combination of its fuel efficiency, its mobility, its low “wear and tear” on roads, and its survivability and force protection capabilities. The XM1114 uses significantly less fuel than both Bradleys and M1A1 tanks. My platoon was able to patrol for an entire day and use less than 30 gallons of fuel per vehicle, compared with the hundreds of gallons needed for Bradleys and tanks during the same patrol duration. The use of fuel is a serious logistical consideration during an extended operation. By running daily patrols with up-armored HMMWVs, and occasional patrols with Bradleys and M1A1s, a unit can save considerable dollars, reduce the stress on the unit’s fuel requirements, maintain a show of force, and minimize OPTEMPO on tracked vehicles.

Another strength of the up-armored HMMWV is its mobility. It can traverse some terrain that a tank or Bradley cannot, particularly tight spaces in villages and on wooded trails. On multiple patrols conducted by my platoon, collecting political, economic, and demographic intelligence for the September 1996 national Bosnian elections, we traveled on many narrow trails which an M1A1 tank would have found impossible to traverse and rolled over bridges which an M1A1 would have crushed. Also, in crowded and busy villages, the up-armored HMMWVs could slip among buildings, parked cars, and moving vehicles much easier than a Bradley or M1A1. I have heard numerous horror stories of tanks accidentally peeling off the sides of cars in a variety of exercises. My skilled drivers, though, drove 10,000+ miles through busy towns accident-free for the duration of the deployment to Bosnia-Herzegovina. Thus, using the experimental HMMWVs, the unit possessed the mobility to efficiently reach Serbian and Muslim leaders’ headquarters for meetings in crowded villages which lacked maneuver space for tracked vehicles.

The XM1114 equipped platoon is also effective because the vehicles preserve the roads, unlike tracked vehicles. The infrastructure in Bosnia is devastated from the years of war which destroyed bridges, electrical towers, and most importantly, roads. This infrastructure damage, compounded by the lack of mobility resulting from unmarked minefields, makes road travel difficult. Because of the condition of these roads, logistical convoys encountered difficult conditions during supply runs. When Bradleys or M1A1s make sharp turns or pivot steer, they tear up both paved and dirt roads, compounding the problem and making ARMOR — 35 Up-Armored HMMWVs: The Answer For Peacekeeping Operations by First Lieutenant Jonathan C. Byrom - Apache Troop, 1-1 Cavalry The author and SSG Mike Shelton, with their Serbian interpreter, patrol in the 1-1 Cav area of operations in Bosnia-Herzegovina.