The Making of an M1 Tank Driver

In IOOay's unstable world - with unrest in such places as Somalia. Bosnia. Southwest Asia, and the fonner Soviet Union - the U. S. Army does nO( know when it will be caned upon to fight the next war. However, one thing is certain in leday's "force projection" Army - we will have to fight as we are, with little or no time for train-up. A lank is a crew--oriented system. For the tank to be an effectivc weapon system. every one of the four crewmembers must know his job and know it well. If one of the four crewmembers fails. then the tank fails. Obviously. the area of greatest concern is the newly arrived dri ver. The U. S. Army has historically looked upon the lank as amid- to high-intensity conflict weapon. In Vietnam, the U. S. Army sent only a minimum of armor units with its 500,000 troops. However. as our recent experience in Somalia has shown. the M I Abrams and the M2 Bradley are needed anytime U. S. troops are sent anywhere. With that in mind, 2d Battalion. 13th Armor Regiment (One Station Unit Training for 19Ks) has taken steps to ensure that the newly arrived private silting in the driver's seat is well trained. The training process can be broken down into five phases: I) Inprocessing, 2) Static Training. 3) Cer· tification, 4) Verification. and 5) Licensing. 36 Phase I. inprocessing. includes all the paperwork and administrative work needed to license the trainee. First, every trainee fills out a DA Form 348 during his first week here. He must also attend an accident avoidance class given by a DOD po-- lice officer. During this four-hour class, the trainees are given classes on drinking and driving. how long it takes to stop 3 moving vehicle, and defensive driving techniques. Then, a drivers testing instructor from the Director of Logistics (DOL) gives each trainee the following physical evaluations: reflexes, depth perception and an eye test. If the trainee cannot pass either of these evaluations, he will not receive his leamer's pennit. Next, the driver testing section does a background investigation of the driving record of each and every trainee to ensure that he has a valid state driver's license. If a trainee does not have a valid state drivers license. he will not be issued a learner's per· mit. Phase n, static training. is conducted by the tank commanders in the motor pool. Each trainee is given classes on the driver's station. He must learn everything about the driver's station and the tasks that he will be expected to perform as a driver of the M I-series tank. During this phase, the trainees are given a tank demonstration where they can see the M I and MIA I tank in action. 11ley are taught the following tasks that they will be required to perform as a driver: prepare drivers station for operation, start/stop M11MIAI and secure drivers station, trouble shoot M 11M I A I using the driver's control panel warning and caution lights. extinguish a fire. operate the gas particulate filter unit. unlock stuck parking brakes. perform a fuel transfer. refuel an MIIMIAI. and slave start an M 11M I A I. The trainees are then taught their responsibilities for Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services. Each trainee is taught the following tasks: maintain the equipment record folder, inspect the hydraulics. perform before- (4 hours of training) and after-operations (1.5 hours of training) PMCS. and service the air induction system and prec1eaner. Every trainee must learn these tasks to the standard. Each of these tasks is tested on the Annor Crewman Test 1 (ACT I) but, more importantly, they will be tested on the next battlefield. The tank commanders allow no devia-lion from that standard. Their motivation to train strictly to standard is in part due to the possibility that any trainee could be their driver in the next war. Phase IU, certification, is aU simulation oriented. The trainee is introduced to the M I Driver's Trainer. These trainers. based on the night simulator model, are an exact replica of the driver's station in an MI-series tank. Therefore, the trainee must do everything exactly as he would in his real tank in a real situation. The trainee must negotiate 22 different scenarios to be certified. By the Master Training Schedule (MTS), each trainee is allocted 12 hours in the simulator. (At this time, trainees receive less than that because only 10 of the 18 simulators are -j' on line.) In the simulator. the trainee must follow a ground guide in the motor pool: drive on a dirt trail, a secondary road, a major highway, and cross-country: drive with the hatch open and closed, during day and night and under NBC conditions: he must drive in fog. ice, mud. rain and snow: he must load/unload the tank from a HET and a rail car. cross an AVLB, and go through a tunnel. The trainee must perfonn the tasks required by a driver: react to a loss of brakes. detect and react 10 low transmission pressure, react to a low fuel warning, and transfer fuel. During the tactical portion of the driver'straining, he must drive through and around obstacles while the main gun is firing and artillery is falling around him. He must be able to pick out the best route through the obstacle with minimal direction from the tank commander. just as he must do in a real combat situation. Before the trainee ever drives a real lank. he has driven approximately 30 miles in the simulator. Just as important, he has learned to operate the tank and he has learned this under conditions that we cannot safely replicate in peacetime. During Phase IV, verification of the trainee's driver training, the trainees are take n out to the Advanced Driver's Course (ADC) where they get to drive a tank. In this phase. the trainee drives approximately eight miles. He must cross an AVLB, negotiate a water 0b- stacle, drive around a traffic circle, like those found in small Gennan villages, and drive up and down steep paved roads. They do all of this with

• • • open and closed hatch, in day and night, and under NBC conditions. They actually drive up on a concrete slab the exact dimensions of a rail car. They also go through the steps required to remove the power pack. lney must also perform the PMCS of the vehicle before. during, and after operations. The trainee must continue to negotiate the course until his tank commander is confident that he can drive the M I tank. If there are problems then the Master Driver or Senior Tank Commander takes the trainee back out on the course to reevaluale him and give him the extra training needed. The trainee then drives approximately four miles on the cross country (mud) course. He is introduced to tactical driving. He drives while his fellow trainees are doing a TCPC in the turret with their permanent party tank commander. This phase helps prepare the trainees for their move-out gunnery. TIley must select the best route through the woods to their next fighting position, which is a hull-down p0- sition. The last phase of verification is dur· ing gunnery. Some trainees get to drive during a move-out gunnery. They drive approximately one mile while the main gun and coax are being fired; the remainder of the trainees must fire on a stationary range. However, they are still taught benn drills and they experience alive round being fired while they are in the driver's seal. By this lime. the trainee has completed his actual hands-on training and he has over 45 miles of combined simulation and actual driving. The last phase of training is Phase V. 19K 10 licensing. Once the trainee has completed all required driver'straining, the company commander signs his DA Fonn 348. The DA Fonn 348 is then sent to DOL and they produce the trainee's OF

346. The DA Fonn 348 and OF 346 are then issued to the soldier upon graduation. When the soldier leaves Fort Knox, he is ali ce nsed M 11M I A I tank driver, however, this soldier is still a novice. AI his next duty station, leaders are required by regulation to test drive the soldier before letting him drive. Their new tank commander must immediately build upon the OSUT training. We have taught the basics but continued on-station training is imperative to develop a true M I driver ready for combat. U. S. troops today are expected to be baule-ready al all times. The present world instability increases the likelihood that a number of units could be drawn into battle with newly arrived OSUT graduates. The quality of the M I driver'straining program at 2d Battalion, 13th Annor Regiment ensures that these new soldiers are confident and ready to meet the challenge. Captain QakIand McCulloch is a Distinguished Military Graduate of Northern illinois University. He received a Regular Anny commission in Infantry in 1986. He has served as a Bradley, lTV, and mortar platoon leader, aide-de-camp and 53 Air with the 24th Infantry Divi· sion. He was recently re-branched Annor and is currently Delta Company Commander, 2d Battalion, 13th Annor Regiment, 1 st Annor Training Brigade at Fort Knox, Ky. 37