A Ray of Light in a Sea of Darkness
Last night my guys made me very proud of them. Nothing had been going right all day. We had been getting jerked around by our chain of command as usual as to what exactly we were supposed to be doing. When we finale got the word that we were supposed to roll all of our equipment back to our home camp one of our trucks kicked the bucket. We had to get the mechanics out to look at it and they were none too pleased.
When we finally got under way our first serial, including myself had been under way for about 30 minutes when the phone rang. Our platoon sergeant who was in the second serial had lost his ID card and was not going to be allowed to leave the camp we were on. He thought maybe one of my other NCOs would have it. So our serial stopped on the side of the freeway to check. No one had it. We were underway again.... At least for a moment.
When the Mitsubishi Pajero that was leading our serial of four military vehicles and itself had pulled off the freeway, it had damaged a tire causing it to go flat. We were immobile again. This is where my guys impressed me. The convoy was stopping again and word quickly spread as to what was up. They sprang to action. Soldiers locked and loaded and took up very good defensive positions to ensure our convoys safety, all of this with no prior coordination. It was the first time I had really seen my guys come together as a team so well. Some of them pulled security while the others worked on getting the Pajero back online. It was beautiful. Well my guys execution was beautiful. The repair itself was a night mare!
A Mitsubishi Pajero is very much like a Montero back in the good old USA, and much to my chagrin the jack that comes with this vehicle is about 5 inches tall when compressed, and about 14 inches tall when fully extended. Well if you subtract the about 8 inches that the vehicle is already off the ground and then add the about 6 inches of play the suspension provides, you guessed it, the darn thing wont even lift the wheel off the ground. What is the point?
After working with this stupid little jack for about 40 minutes trying anything and everything we could think of to get the wheel off the ground our saviors arrived. The local police. Surely they would have a real jack to lift this piece of junk off the ground. There were a few moments of relief and then utter despair. These guys didn't have a jack, they don't have radios, and these guys don't even have weapons. What exactly do these guys do anyway? They zoomed off to find a jack.
In the mean time we continued to try to find a solution. Breaking into our own truck to try to find another jack. We pulled out the hydraulic jack for the 5 ton truck we had. This thing was at least three times the size of the Pajero jack. It surely would have lifted the vehicle off of the ground...If it had any fluid in it.
We spent the next couple of hours trying to work some magic with little to no equipment. What we finally ended up having to do was prop a chalk block under the suspension and to get our mini jack out, find a bunch of wood to raise our Mr. mini about 4 inches and get the wheel off the ground. All in all we spent nearly three hours on the side of the road for a flat tire. It's funny to look back at now, and actually, it was funny at the time to.
Now we are wrapping up preparation for our next headache, I mean exercise and we'll see how long this one lasts. At least we are getting a lot of training.
When we finally got under way our first serial, including myself had been under way for about 30 minutes when the phone rang. Our platoon sergeant who was in the second serial had lost his ID card and was not going to be allowed to leave the camp we were on. He thought maybe one of my other NCOs would have it. So our serial stopped on the side of the freeway to check. No one had it. We were underway again.... At least for a moment.
When the Mitsubishi Pajero that was leading our serial of four military vehicles and itself had pulled off the freeway, it had damaged a tire causing it to go flat. We were immobile again. This is where my guys impressed me. The convoy was stopping again and word quickly spread as to what was up. They sprang to action. Soldiers locked and loaded and took up very good defensive positions to ensure our convoys safety, all of this with no prior coordination. It was the first time I had really seen my guys come together as a team so well. Some of them pulled security while the others worked on getting the Pajero back online. It was beautiful. Well my guys execution was beautiful. The repair itself was a night mare!
A Mitsubishi Pajero is very much like a Montero back in the good old USA, and much to my chagrin the jack that comes with this vehicle is about 5 inches tall when compressed, and about 14 inches tall when fully extended. Well if you subtract the about 8 inches that the vehicle is already off the ground and then add the about 6 inches of play the suspension provides, you guessed it, the darn thing wont even lift the wheel off the ground. What is the point?
After working with this stupid little jack for about 40 minutes trying anything and everything we could think of to get the wheel off the ground our saviors arrived. The local police. Surely they would have a real jack to lift this piece of junk off the ground. There were a few moments of relief and then utter despair. These guys didn't have a jack, they don't have radios, and these guys don't even have weapons. What exactly do these guys do anyway? They zoomed off to find a jack.
In the mean time we continued to try to find a solution. Breaking into our own truck to try to find another jack. We pulled out the hydraulic jack for the 5 ton truck we had. This thing was at least three times the size of the Pajero jack. It surely would have lifted the vehicle off of the ground...If it had any fluid in it.
We spent the next couple of hours trying to work some magic with little to no equipment. What we finally ended up having to do was prop a chalk block under the suspension and to get our mini jack out, find a bunch of wood to raise our Mr. mini about 4 inches and get the wheel off the ground. All in all we spent nearly three hours on the side of the road for a flat tire. It's funny to look back at now, and actually, it was funny at the time to.
Now we are wrapping up preparation for our next headache, I mean exercise and we'll see how long this one lasts. At least we are getting a lot of training.
posted by Thor at 3:25 AM
7 Comments:
nice description of what your convoy looks like and the status of the localpolice. I'm sure the terrorists appreciate your help.
It sounds like a rather long day. I guess the good thing is that it isn't mid summer right now.
Take care
Hey,
What did I tell you about prior planning? (The 6 P's).
The important question is are you going to find a suitable jack for that vehicle? Soon?
While your at it, you could review other equipment status and avaibility. That will save time later on.
Papa Ray
Anonymousd is a jackasss
I was so going to write that Dan!
I have a few choice comments for Mr. Anonymous, but I will keep most of them to myself. But if you honestly think that that info helped them then you sir are a retard at best!
Keep up the good fight my brotha, and come home safe and soon!
Mike M
I have a few choice comments for Mr. Anonymous, but I will keep most of them to myself. But if you honestly think that that info helped them then you sir are a retard at best!
Keep up the good fight my brotha, and come home safe and soon!
Mike M
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