As a former trucker (group2) of the RCASC I am happy to see the addition of these powerful vehicles to the logistical support troops in Afghanistan. Well done to our modern day truckers.
MATTHEW FISHER, CANWEST NEWS SERVICE
Master Cpl. Doug Dutchession of Portage La Prairie, Man., stands in front of his $1-million Mercedes-Benz supertruck, which is gawked at by NATO troops and Afghans wherever it goes.
AFGHANISTAN
Truck drivers on front lines love their beefy Transformers
New military vehicles from Mercedes admired for safe, solid construction
MATTHEW FISHERCanwest News Service
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan Canadas military truckers have dubbed their spanking new armoured trucks Transformers after the massive robots in the hugely popular film that can take on other shapes.
Some have gone further, calling their $1-million supertrucks Optimus Prime after the most powerful Transformer of them all.
So taken are these usually unsentimental soldiers with their 503-horsepower, twinturboMercedes-Benz trucks, which first began running food, parts and ammo to combat troops three weeks ago, that they gushed about them.
It is the first time that I have fallen in love with a truck, said Master Cpl. Lawliss Barnes, a 34-year-old 15-year army veteran from Sault Ste. Marie, Ont., who drives the baddest armoured Heavy Support Vehicle System (AHSVS) of them all, the imposing 35-ton plus wrecker. My passion is for recovery. With this tow truck, I can pull anything we have here except a tank.
The first of the top-of-theline Mercedes trucks were rushed directly to Afghanistan from Germany in February to fulfil an urgent need identified early last year to provide better protection for truckers who spend their days running a gauntlet of roads infested with improvised explosive devices and always at risk of Taliban ambushes.
Of the 81 Canadian soldiers to have died in Afghanistan since 2002, more than half were killed when their vehicles were blown up by IEDs.
Canada has ordered 82 of the vehicles which are sold commercially minus the armour and other military upgrades, under the name Actros at a total cost of $87 million.
Mercedes, which hopes to sell the truck to many western armies, worked with Canadian engineers on the military modifications, sent field representatives to Alberta to train drivers and mechanics and has posted technicians to the Kandahar Airfield to assist their new customers.
This is a mean-looking, purpose-built piece of kit, said Lt.Col. Kerry Horlock of 1 Service Battalion in Edmonton, who has drawn soldiers from 39 Canadian bases from Comox to St. Johns, N.L., to run combat logistics for the Canadian battle group in Kandahar.
We must give the boys the best we can so we will use these trucks a lot. This is about protecting our troops. I havent seen another piece of kit like it.
The AHSVS has state-of-theart computerized screens in the cab to check oil, tires and much else. This saves drivers potentially dangerous outside inspections of the truck and its gauges. Each of the armoured doors weighs hundreds of kilograms and is so heavy it can only be opened and closed electrically.
The new truck has begun to replace the Heavy Logistics Vehicle Wheeled, or HLVW, which has had a hodgepodge of armour stuck inside and outside the cab to make it roadworthy in Afghanistan.
Canada depends more heavily than other NATO forces on ground convoys to keep forward-deployed combat troops supplied because it has no helicopters capable of operating in Afghanistan.
I dont feel were restricted by a lack of helicopters, but they would be another tool in the box, Horlock said. We take advantage of them when we can.
People are definitely curious, said Cpl. Wade Furlotte, 29, of Dalhousie, N.B., who drives one of the new behemoths. When we go outside the wire or drive around camp, we see everyone looking.
My life is about trucks. Ive got a big one at home. Its all about the toys. This one is special.
Master Cpl. Doug Dutchession, 38, of Portage La Prairie, Man., felt that the vehicle might help draw attention to the largely unsung drivers who, as Chief of Defence Staff Gen. Rick Hillier has said, have among the most dangerous jobs in the battle group.
Not to take anything away from the infantry, but were kind of the Cinderella part of the service. We dont get a lot of attention, Dutchession said while taking a visitor on a test drive near the airfield. I like to think the infantry are at the pointed end over here and that we keep them pointy.
Dutchession, who is based at CFB Borden near Toronto, marvels at how Mercedes designers thought of little things such as nooks inside the cab to secure weapons and first-aid kits so that nothing hits drivers if the vehicle strikes an IED, as well as such touches as a cooler and thick window curtains to keep the searing Afghan heat from overwhelming the air conditioning.
Until now, insurgents have not succeeded in striking any of the new trucks.
Weve been wondering about that because we are sure they know we are here and we expect they will try to test us, Dutchession said. But I feel very safe in this. It is awesome and I am lucky to have a chance to drive it.
Drivers may be unsung, but they are the heart of Resupply of all goods and services as well as vehicle recovery. Take care all you modern day drivers of the former Corps.
Nil Sine Labore
Robby
