Documentos de Académico
Documentos de Profesional
Documentos de Cultura
1 Sep 2015
PG 2
PG 5
PG 6
PG 8
PG 8
End of an Era
PG 9
PG 10 - 16
PG 16
PG 17
C.J. Slifko, 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight allied trades
mechanic, shows Col. Albert Miller, 22nd Air Refueling Wing commander, a street-sweeper truck
that was recently refurbished through in-house metal fabrication, July 15, 2015, at McConnell Air
Force Base, Kan. Slifko identified the ability to replace the almost the entire back assembly with
pieces fabricated in-house as opposed to ordering replacement pieces of the manufacturers,
saving more than $60,000 in the process. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Victor J.
Caputo)
Disclaimer: Truckin On is an unofficial newsletter published every month in the interest of serving Air Force active duty, civilian and retired vehicle operations
and maintenance personnel. Articles submitted by its contributors are not to be considered official statements by the U.S. Air Force.
"People are our priority," said Gossner. "Our people make the
Slifko proposed they fabricate the piece in-house instead, and mission happen. When they are able to make decisions, to take
he immediately started coordinating with various shops across ownership of their job and come to work inspired, things
base, including the 22nd Civil Engineer Squadron happen."
environmental element and 22nd CES welders to help safely
assemble the large amounts of metal used in the process.
The assembly took approximately 200 man-hours of labor
between Slifko and his coworker to complete, and ultimately
cost $3,000, saving more than $60,000 and exemplifying the
innovative mindset inside the 22nd LRS.
A roadmap for navigating the transition from That perspective makes sense. Although Tesla is developing
human-controlled cars to a better driverless future
autonomous technologies, its high-performance cars are a blast
In the six-plus years that Google has been developing
self-driving cars, its test fleet has achieved an impressive safety
record: Nearly two million miles* of real-world autonomous
driving, eleven minor accidents, only one minor injury,
with none of the accidents caused by the self-driving cars
themselves (a passenger in a driverless car experienced minor
whiplash after being rear-ended by a human-driven car).
Instructors: SSgt Dillier and SSgt Imler. The student holding the VO Guidon is AB Casey Dechant. The SS Anderson rowers are A1C Charles
Shoemake and AB Kyle Aird Oharran. The SS Mini-O rowers are AB Alex Willis and AB Cory Cupp.
The day of the race was exciting. We had a great game plan,
be loud and be proud! Between the face paint, Air Force PT
By SSgt Michael Imler
shirts, and our 364 TRS/Det 1 Guidon, we knew we were taking
17 cardboard boats were entered into the annual Fort Leonard home the Team Spirit Award. Being surrounded by a bunch of
Wood Cardboard Boat Race this August. The Vehicle Army, a lot of engineers mind you, we had to come with our
Operations Schoolhouse has entered this race before, but this best, said SSgt Dillier.
year we said, put us down for two. The schoolhouse came
The races were tough, although some boats didnt make it two
together, both students and instructors, to help build a sturdy
feet, some were built so well you could have spent the whole
cardboard boat.
day fishing from them.
The SS Mini-O, which won Best-in-Show last year, was
The team that won the fastest overall time went to a couple
re-entered after a few patch ups were made. The new
engineer officers, but the SS Anderson and the SS Mini-O was
construction was named SS Anderson after A1C Carl L.
right behind them. The Vehicle Ops School stuck with their
Anderson Jr who was KIA in support of Operation Iraqi
game plan and did indeed leave with the Team Spirit trophy.
Freedom.
SSgt Anthony Dillier and SSgt Michael Imler really put their
experience and expertise into creating the new boat. Learning
from the mistakes and triumphs from last year, we were able to
put together a solid boat.
The construction took about two weeks. The students had a
great time helping out. As AB Cupp stated, It was nice to work
with and see our instructors outside of the classroom.
Trucking News
Trucking groups, carriers weigh in on
FMCSAs proposed CSA changes
by Matt Cole
Hydrogen fuel vehicles get ready at Honolulu In a 2014 report conducted by the state, more than 70 percent
of Hawaii's fuel came from oil. HNL is the second largest fuel
International Airport
user in the state. Change isn't cheap.
By Mike Cherry
KITV News
Published Jul 30, 2015
HONOLULU
It's one of the state's leading entities in fossil fuel use. But, in
hopes of cutting into our state's dependency on oil, Honolulu
International Airport is on the verge of swapping its Wiki-Wiki
shuttles with vehicles that run on clean energy.
Click here to watch Mike Cherry's report.
Building a greener bus is fuel for Stan Osserman.
"How far can one travel on this fuel cell alone? This bus can do
between 130 and 150 miles on the tank -- two tanks of
hydrogen," said Osserman, who is director of the Hawaii Center
for Advanced Transportation Technologies
This 2014 photo shows military Humvees being turned to scrap metal at
a federal facility in Spencer, Ind. The U.S. Army vehicles date back to
the 1980s. (AP Photo/The Herald-Times, Jeremy Hogan)
Iconic Military Truck Makes Last Ride to Museum at The 5th Combat Communications Group deployed in full force
Robins AFB
to both of those disasters, so the truck most likely was used in
Macon Telegraph / Jul 29, 2015 / by Wayne Crenshaw
both places. While the museum truck was an Air Force vehicle,
Rowland said it will be appreciated by Army veterans as well
because it is the same M35 the Army used.
Phoenix Management, a contractor for the 78th Logistics
Readiness Squadron, restored the truck. The 5th Mob had
planned to turn it over for a surplus auction, but the museum
found out about it and asked if it could have it.
Henry Kirkpatrick, a body mechanic with Phoenix, and two other
people did the work on the truck. Most of the work involved
rounding up some missing parts and painting it, he said. He
drove it to the museum Tuesday, making a stop at 5th Mob
headquarters where a few airmen there came out to bid it
farewell.
"Not fun," he said. "I can't imagine driving this thing six hours
across country."
But if the military had consulted Master Sgt. Casey Hylton, a 5th
ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE -- An era rumbled to an end at the
Mob mechanic who worked many times on the museum's truck,
Museum of Aviation on Tuesday.
the M35 would never have been replaced. He said its capacity
The last M35 cargo truck at Robins made a final trip from the to run on most any fuel can be critical in a combat area where
78th Logistics Readiness Squadron to its new home in Hangar multiple nations with different types of fuel are operating.
One at the museum.
"I think it's a mistake for the military in getting rid of it because
The M35 is a military icon that for decades has hauled troops of its simplicity," he said as he saw it on its last journey. "To fix
and supplies in combat zones around the world. Because it and repair this vehicle in the field, it is very, very quick."
could carry 2.5 tons, it was commonly called "Deuce and a
The 5th Mob is one of the longest serving units at Robins, but it
Half."
doesn't fly planes. The truck gives it some notable
The one delivered to the museum arrived at Robins brand new representation at the museum, Hylton said. "It shows what we
in 1988 and has been operated by the 5th Combat are capable of doing and what we have been doing," he said.
Communications Group, commonly known as the 5th Mob, the
entire time.
The truck is famed for its ruggedness, simplicity, ease of repair
and ability to run on most any fuel. In a pinch, it can even run
on used motor oil.
Mike Rowland, curator of the museum, said the truck is beloved
by military members, even if modern trucks have greater
capabilities on paper.
"When you are out in the field and your fancy new vehicle
breaks down, but you can go fix this with a pocket knife and a
toothpick and some bubble gum, well that says a lot," Rowland
said. "This is the truck that's going to get you out of trouble."
While the museum's truck never deployed overseas, it probably
served some important missions. That includes delivering Master Sgt. Casey Hylton, a mechanic with the 5th Combat
supplies to Hurricane Katrina victims and responding to the Communications Group, checks out the restoration job on an M35 truck he
worked on for 12 years. WAYNE CRENSHAW wcrenshaw@macon.com
Mother's Day tornados in Macon.
9
I found and accounted for all the TAC vehicles. When I was
assigned next to Beale AFB, a civilian working in fleet asked me
about a particular forklift she had on record, but it was missing. I
told her that I had been assured that it was sent to salvage in
ROSS MANGUS:
country. Imagine my surprise when I went on a tour of Beale's
My commander directed me to take him 4-wheeling in a detachments in the UK only to find that very forklift over there.
HMMWV at a bombing range near Misawa Air Base, Japan. We transferred ownership and had it salvaged once again.
The cops left a stalled HMMWV on the beach front and the tide
changed. The HMMWV was left covered by the ocean for about DOUG STEWARD:
three months and my commander wanted to go out to the range Although I might not describe it as crazy, I would say the most
and see the HMMWV for himself.
unconventional use of an Air Force vehicle Ive ever seen is
He told me to pull a running HMMWV out of WRM for the ride after the 1991 Mt Pinatubo eruption in the Philippines. We
out to the range. Once we got to the range he said, "I want to evacuated to the Pampanga Agricultural College in a rural area
of the province, roughly 14 miles east of Clark Air Base.
take a few dunes." I told him no, but he said it was an order!
We were there for a week and had to improvise because there
were no amenities whatsoever; we had cover from the sun and
While stationed in Guam and working in Allied Trades, a
rain and ash, but thats about it...slept on concrete floors, ate
Peacekeeper was brought in with both back doors bent. The
cold MREs, etc. After a couple of days working in the sweltering
Cops had backed it into a building with the back doors in the
heat, humidity, and volcanic ash, we all needed a shower...bad.
open position and the doors were bent in a nice backwards
So, leave it up to our troops to come up with an ingenious
curve.
solution: they converted a P-18 fire truck (water tanker) into a
Our maintenance officer, Mr. Alex Smith, would not let us VDP community shower. Needless to say, lines formed quickly for
the vehicle for doors for any reason. His exact words were this small but much appreciated luxury.
alwaysSgt Taylor you have been stationed in Southeast Asia
long enough to know that you do not VDP a vehicle for (just fill
in the appropriate condition)
DON TAYLOR:
Continued on PG 11
10
Before he climbed into his new toy, I and the guys that worked
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen on it told him it was a great idea, but we were sure it wasn't
going to work; good luck! In fact, I told him that we were sure
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
the first explosive he encountered was going to blow the blade
off. He said he was sure it would work. So off he went, proud
What is the craziest thing Ive seen done or been asked to do as he could be with his new toy. The way he positioned
with an Air Force vehicle?
standing in the turret, he looked like Gen. Patton himself.
PAT MCCLAIN:
Well, this vehicle wasn't an "Air Force" vehicle, but it was being
used by the Air Force on Air Force business, so I think it
qualifies. We did a lot of things to keep vehicles in service
during my 21 years in the Air Force that required a lot of
imagination and ingenuity at times, but this beats
everything else we ever did.
During Desert Storm I was stationed at Riyadh in Saudi Arabia
and ran the maintenance shop there for eight months. A week
or so after the air campaign started, a SMSgt from a nearby
EOD unit rolled up in an M60A2 tank he had somehow gotten
from the Army.
A few weeks later the ground assault started and sure enough
our EOD buddy and his group were pushed into service
immediately and he took his new "mine clearing tank." About a
week later we got word that the EOD guys had put our
modified tank right in front of their operation to lead the clearing
of a mine field. And just like we had warned them, the very first
mine the blade encountered detonated and blew the grader
blade off instantly. I was told it landed about 50 yards from the
tank. Luckily no one was hurt. None of the enemy was there to
see it happen either. If they had been, I'm sure they would have
been laughing so hard they wouldn't have been able to fight
anyway. We never saw our EOD friend again.
11
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen outside the club, surrounding it, with a threat to bulldoze that
f-ing club to the ground, right now. If they couldnt drink in the
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
DAN BERLENBACH:
I can think of a few. Funny how they all involve Red
Horse... While assigned to the 554th at Osan, I was directed to
drop the oil from an Oshkosh transit mixer. I did so and then my
supervisor advised me to crank it up and pull the hand throttle
too, so as to max out the revs. Thats gonna blow the motor I
exclaimed. I know, said the TSgtthats how we can bust the
one-time; LTI this POS and send it to salvage! The engine block
was glowing red as we all stepped back, then it screeched and
seized up. Sure enough, a few weeks later, off to DRMO it went.
Another concerned an M-151 jeep at Osan. Seemed that wed
gotten dispo instructions for one of our jeeps, however, those
boneheads at WRALC picked the wrong one (at least thats how
we understood it). Well, since we had the hardtop versions,
registration numbers were stenciled on the doors. Easy solution,
I was advisedgo change the doors with the one thats always
in shopits a pain in a##! Miraculously, in 5 minutes 66K201
became 66K208the POS went to DRMO, the good one
stayed (did I mention it was assigned to the shop?) and the
serial numbers on the AF Form 1828? I dont know what
happened there.
The next one happened in Florida. The 823rd was TDY at Avon
Park Bombing Range, doing some roadwork. They had dumps,
dozers, loaders, etc. The range had a lot of gators, something
new for the dirt boys and mechanics to play with. Somehow
there wasnt much dirt to move and the troops were pretty much
hanging out, taunting some younger (5 foot or so)
gators. Chasing them around, generally messing with them to
provoke a reaction.
Heythat loader has a 4-yard bucket, Ill bet we could get one
of the gators in there; that would really piss him off. I was a SrA
then and volunteered to get a loader, took it into the swamp and
managed to scoop up a gator. And yes, he was MAD! Hissing
and sort of croaking, that guy was super POd. Everyone took
turns provoking him as best they could until the MSgt came
back and chewed them all out. What were you thinking, he
said!
Finally, there is the urban legend about a club in a deployed
location several decades ago. I can neither confirm nor deny the
amount of alcohol consumed at a hooch bar that was half
underground, sort of a bunker type building in a desert
land. There had been a lot of drinking and someone had the
audacity to suggest to those who had been drinking the most
that they probably should call it quits, and in fact, should leave
the club since they were being obnoxious.
Well, what do you do? I went over and overrode the outriggers
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen and stowed the front ones but left the rear ones just off the
ground as a last-ditch fail-safe to stop the truck from tipping.
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
I started it up, and crawled the truck at about mph, feeling the
front tires continually leaving the ground in little hopping
Ive done lots of stupid things in Air Force vehicles, but almost
motions. That was the longest 200 feet I ever drove in my
always because of my judgment, good or bad. However, the
career, and somehow nothing went wrong although I did dig a
worst one I can remember was an order screamed at me by a
few divots with the rear outriggers as they kept the truck from
flag officer back in the 1980s.
tipping more than a couple of inches.
Back in the grand old days of the Air Force when SAC, MAC,
The C-5 was still late, but only a few minutes, and I still had my
PACAF, TAC, and USAFE were the big dog MAJCOMs, things
stripes and career intact. It took me about four hours to get the
wereprecarious under certain situations.
boom cradled and park the truck off the main drag, just in time
For instance, MAC missions that didnt take off on time caused for the OMS drivers to return to see what was going on. I sure
serious problems for officer promotions, and supposedly cost hope somebody from that squadron got fired over that mess!!!!!
the Air Force thousands of dollars for every minute they spent
being late for launch. This stress could result in some truly GREG MORRIS:
amazing actions taken.
Utapao Thailand 1974/5. I did not see the incident, but I did see
The worst offense against a MAC mission in those days was to the results of as I call it, Seemed like the right thing to do at the
bust the launch time of a C-5. Already with a vaunted time scenario.
GARY MCLEAN:
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen (MSgt) had taught him the wrong procedure for the A-2.
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
I was able to crawl into the cab and back the truck out of the
aircraft, but it was mangled beyond description. I thought theres
no way this truck can be repaired. However, we were in the
Its hard to pin down the craziest or most unusual thing Ive
Philippines and theyre firm believers in miracles. So, we sent
seen done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle. I
the truck off base to a contract shop and Filipino craftsmen
suppose, like many of you, I have a few that come to mind.
rebuilt the cabunbelievable job.
My number one of all time, however, is the Wolf Mobile at
Last but not least is an incident at Shemya during my tour there
Kunsan AB. I wrote about this vehicle in our December 2014
in 1974-1975. Shemya is treeless and covered by tundra. In the
newsletter, so I wont elaborate too much here. But for those
summer tundra thaws and becomes very soggy. I dont recall
who didnt see the article or dont know about this car, heres a
the reason why, but the civil engineers drove one of their dozers
brief description: The car was a standard, strata-blue, 1972
onto the tundra and it sank to the top of the tracksstuck.
Ford LTD sedan assigned to the wing commander. He had it
painted F-16 gray with the same two-tone color scheme as the Well, someone devised a hair brained scheme to retrieve it and
drove another dozer onto the tundra to tow it out. You guessed
aircraft, and with actual F-16 paint.
it; it sank too. By the time I arrived on the scene, they had
He also ordered the seats reupholstered with white tuck and
positioned a crane on a nearby road and was in the process of
roll leather that featured images of wolf heads on the seat
winching them back to solid ground.
backs front and rear. Wolf heads were also painted on both
GEORGE MCELWAIN:
front doors and the trunk.
ROGER STORMAN:
The wing commanders name was on each door and the slogan
stand tall; be a warrior was emblazoned across the trunk.
Later versions added drops of blood dripping from the wolfs
mouth and a horn that produced a wolf howl. It was quite a sight
to seeand hear.
The second story that comes to mind happened during my first
tour of Clark Air Base, 1970-1972. I worked in refueling
maintenance, aka Shop 6. One day a fuels guy, SSgt Angoco,
came to our shop and asked if I would back an A-2
demineralized water truck out of a KC-135 tanker.
No problem.then I thought about what he had asked me. I
said, Wait a minute; a KC-135 is a side-loading aircraft. You
cant transport a demineralized water truck on that aircraft. He
said, Just come with me. Well, we went out to the location on
the flight line and thats when I saw the truck embedded in the
fuselage of the aircraftHUGE HOLE!
Now, I cant speak for todays trucks, but to pump water from an
A-2 back then the transmission had to be in the neutral position,
not drive. The R-5 fuel truck, on the other hand, had a split-drive
transmission and PTO assembly. The operator manually
engaged the PTO while in neutral and then shifted into drive
mode (3-high) to pump fuel. In effect, the transmission was
disengaged.
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen direction barely had enough room to pass and I was over to the
right side of the road as far as I could get without taking out the
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
FRANK MANGRUM:
Back in 1979, I was a young staff sergeant stationed at Patrick
AFB as an MHE/463L mechanic (47251C). My superintendent,
Harry Owen, called me to his office and offered me an
opportunity to volunteer for a special mission. Harry and I were
good friends and when he said special mission I knew it had to
be unique.
We supported a lot of Cape Canaveral sites and he asked me
how I would like a trip to the Florida Keys? Sounded good, but I
knew there had to be more. Sure enough, one of the tracking
sites down range used large balloons that looked like small
blimps packed with electronics to track launches from the Cape
and keep an eye on drug runners along the Florida coast.
They had a large International truck with a large winch on the
back that was used to launch and retrieve the balloons. The old
truck was junk and needed to be swapped out for a newer
M-Series truck and driven back to Patrick. They wanted to send
a mechanic for the swap out because it was very doubtful the
winch truck would make it back to Patrick without breaking
down.
I said sure, that sounds great, when do I leave? Of course we
all know what happens when you volunteer for anything! The
M-Series truck that I drove down to the Keys had a stretched
wheelbase frame and high flotation tires. That thing was wide
and barely fit between the lines of a standard size road.
and told her to basically get lost. She got the message and left
in a huff.
I quickly found out the winch, which was very heavy, had been
mounted too far back on the frame which made the front end of
the truck very light. The light front end and high flotation tires
made for quite a ride. If not for the seat belt, I would have been
hitting my head on roof every time I hit a pothole or rough
section of road. Anything over 45 MPH and I lost all steering
because the front wheels were airborne!
Continued from PG 15
Whats the craziest (most unusual) thing youve seen aircraft, then Jughead and I got on top of the rig and
waited. Right on time, we can see an aircraft flying low and fast
done or been asked to do with an Air Force vehicle?
RICHARD BUNCE:
Back in the early 90s I ran the Bare Base Vehicle Operations
Shop at Holloman. It was a unique little shop manned by Ops
guys, Fuels and a couple of CE Dirt Boys. We maintained a
fairly diverse WRM fleet and trained guys on all of it in support
of the Bare Base Mission. I loved that tour mainly due to the
crew I had and the unique mission at hand.
One day one of my dispatchers came to me with a request from
the Rescue Squadron at Kirkland. Just the day prior, one of
their Apaches had gone down in a very remote area north of
Holloman. The crew was beat up and bruised but otherwise
okay. The bird was in two pieces in the middle of the desert.
The crash recovery guys needed our help to do a couple of
jobs. First, they needed the main fuselage of the aircraft moved
from lying on its side to being upright so a Jolly Green could
come in and recover it. Next, they needed the tail boom section
of the aircraft moved to a flatbed for transport back to Holloman.
I had the expertise and the equipment to do it. First, the expert:
SSgt John Jughead Dees was my Assistant NCOIC and one
of hell of a crane operator. I also had a fairly new M936A2
wrecker in the yard that was perfect for the job. I coordinated
the time and the place and Jughead and I hit the road. We
found ourselves literally in the middle of nowhere at a makeshift
ECP to the crash site. The Commander told us what he wanted
and we knocked the job out pretty quickly. When we were
finished, I asked him if he needed anything else before we
headed back across the desert; he didnt but asked me if wed
like to see something pretty cool. I said sure. He told me to find
a good seat, pointed at a spot out in the desert and told me it
would begin in about an hour.
across the desert and that sound can only be a big ass
helicopter. Faster than you could really imagine it happening
that Jolly Green stopped dead-on above the downed Apache,
did a 180 over it, then dropped a cable out extremely quickly.
The recovery guys on the ground secured the cable and then off
it went. It couldnt have taken 5 minutes to hook the cables to
both aircraft and head back to Kirtland.
Now, with a 30 year career, Ive seen so many air-shows that
Ive lost count and saw some really cool stuff on gunnery ranges
and various other areas but that display of airmanship was
something to really be proud of. We found out later that they
were practicing a combat extraction.
Bazooka
M936A2 Wrecker