Track Vehicle Recovery Training A Fort Knox Institution Continues to Train Ordnance Soldiers in the 21st Century

As the U. S. Army transforms to a lighter, more mobile force, soldiers will continue to need formal maintenance training on the M88-series vehicles and recovery fundamentals to accomplish their mission. Recent experiences in Iraq demonstrate that solid tracked vehicle recovery skills are extremely valuable combat multipliers on the battlefield. The 1st Armor Training Brigade at Fort Knox, Kentucky, presides over the training division responsible for the highest volume of soldiers trained in tracked vehicle recovery. Successful students are awarded with the H8 additional skill identifier (ASI). The 1st Battalion, 81st (1-81) Armor Regiment’s Ground Mobility Division provides this training to initial entry soldiers, noncommissioned officers, reservists, and national guardsmen on the fundamentals of tracked vehicle recovery operations. It also provides tailored training to allied foreign national students. Soldiers receiving this training take a valuable and in-demand skill to their units. In addition, H8-trained initial entry soldiers, trained as 63-series Abrams tank or Bradley fighting vehicle (BFV) mechanics, arrive at their first duty station with training above and beyond what is required and expected from their advanced individual training. When an Abrams tank or BFV becomes disabled due to terrain, mechanical malfunction, or combat, these soldiers use the M88 recovery vehicle to either return the vehicle to the mission or evacuate it to a maintenance repair site. In broad terms, ASI H8 comprises the knowledge of recovery vehicle characteristics, recovery fundamentals, operating tactical communications equipment, and operating the auxiliary power unit and hydraulic systems of an M88. Hydraulic power controls the spade, boom, and winches used in recovery operations. H8 training extends over a period of nearly four weeks and consists of 154 hours of classroom instruction, hands-on training, testing, and priceless “mud up to the armpits” experience. A typical class has 12 soldiers and four instructors in the ranks of staff sergeant or sergeant first class. Training is conducted with two M88A1s and two M88A2s on 6,500 acres of varied terrain, including steep hills and swamps. The instructors integrate risk management and safety into each block of instruction. Instructors are all H8 graduates and must be certified to train all blocks of instruction prior to training. During the first week, operating tactical communications equipment is covered. — 19

Students are also familiarized with using oxyacetylene cutting equipment and learn to determine basic recovery methods and rigging techniques. This phase of the training culminates with their first written exam. Students progress to familiarization in almost every aspect of operating the M88, to include conducting preventive maintenance checks and services, cross-country driving, rigging the boom, hydraulic operations, and maintaining components of end item (COEI) and basic issue items (BII).

The course continues with the use of recovery methods and rigging techniques to tow or recover mired, nosed, and overturned heavy vehicles. Students end this phase with both an individual knowledge test and a crew knowledge test. The final phase of the H8 course focuses on in-depth maintenance requirements for the M88 recovery vehicle. Students remove, test, and install the powerpack; maintain the starting and charging system, suspension system, brake system, micro-switches, and nose-cone assembly; as well as perform winch ground-hop procedures on an M88A2. In the past fiscal year, the Ground Mobility Division trained just under 400 soldiers. With each new fiscal year, 1-81 Armor receives allocations and funding based on the number of soldiers that will be trained as determined by the needs of the Army. According to the director of the Ground Mobility Division, H8 training could be a huge benefit to commanders if they were to authorize soldiers to attend once they complete Basic Noncommissioned Officers Course (BNCOC). Transportation and other costs are already paid, making the unit’s cost minimal. Housing and meals are already provided by military training service support (MTSS) and the dining facility. The Army appears to have an issue across the board with the Hercules M88A2 and the soldiers who operate and maintain them. Leaders should be reminded that the vehicle has been improved to include an increased horsepower to 1,050; an auxiliary winch that is not even present on the M88A1; an extremely complex main winch system that demands skilled attention to maintain functionality; anew hoist boom with a 10-ton increase in lifting capacity; improved brakes and steering; and an overall improved ballistic protection system, designed to keep the crew safe in harsh environments. The Army fielded these vehicles to limited units and trained them with anew-equipment training (NET) team. Once those trained soldiers depart the unit, however, the experience goes with them. We provide commanders a viable solution to that loss by teaching soldiers recovery training, as well as specific M88A2 technical training, which will prove to be invaluable to units with M88A2-trained “In broad terms, ASI H8 comprises the knowledge of recovery vehicle characteristics, recovery fundamentals, operating tactical communications equipment, and operating the auxiliary power unit and hydraulic systems of an M88. Hydraulic power controls the spade, boom, and winches used in recovery operations. H8 training extends over a period of nearly four weeks and consists of 154 hours of classroom instruction, hands-on training, testing, and priceless “mud up to the armpits” experience.” soldiers. The true training audience for H8 training is a senior sergeant or new staff sergeant leading a recovery section or maintenance team. If commanders are interested in follow-on H8 training for an NCO attending 63- series BNCOC at Fort Knox, contact SFC Paul Willis at (502) 624-5623. H8 training does require an additional four weeks of TDY away from the unit, but the value added to the operational unit and to the individual NCO is well worth the investment. As the Army transitions to a lighter force, the need for trained recovery soldiers remains high. With the impending move to Fort Benning, Georgia, expect the Ground Mobility Division to remain the Army’s premier H8 training division. Captain Chad Ryg is currently serving as commander, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 81st (1-81) Armor Regiment, 1st Armor Training Brigade (ATB), Fort Knox, KY. He received a B. A. in History from Montana State University. His military education includes the Ordnance Officer Basic Course, the Combined Logistics Captains Career Course, and Airborne School. He has served in various command and staff positions, to include deputy J4, Combined Joint Special Operations Task Force (CJSOTF), Afghanistan; commander, A Company, 1-81 Armor Regiment, 1st ATB, Fort Knox, KY; and battalion motor officer and adjutant, Support Battalion, XVIII Corps, Germany and Iraq. 20 —