Truckin' On Oct 2014

8/11/2019 Truckin' On Oct 2014

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Disclaimer: Truckin On is an unofficial newsletter published every month in the interest of serving Air Force active duty, civilian and retired vehicle operations

maintenance personnel. Articles submitted by its contributors are not to be considered official statements by the U.S. Air Force.

1 Oct 2014

Dedicated to the Men and Womenof

AF Vehicle Operations & Maintenance Past, Present, and Future

Truckin on

Inside this issue:

Whats the Largest VehicleYouve Driven?

PG 2

Project America RunPart II Afghanistan

PG 8

Inside PACAF PG 9

Advanced Technology Saving Lives

PG 10

Eyewitness to History Gen Pattons Driver

PG 11 -12

Misc. News & Videos From

the Web

PG 13

S P I:

B D: A H

M P PG 1-2

W J SPG 3-8

Attention Car Buffs!

Must Watch!

The Cars of Dreams Museum

North Palm Beach, FL

Submitted by:

Don Sanders, CMSgt (Ret/602)

Banner Day: Airmen Hike to Mugu Peak

U.S. Air Force Students with the U.S. Air Force 344th Training Squadron, Detachment 1, stand information on Mugu Peak as they prepare to check the U.S. ag for wear and tear. The ag was

deemed to be in good repair; the students had brought a spare in case it needed to be replaced.Photo by TSgt Thomas Kessler.

by TSgt Thomas Kessler/USAF

Vehicle Maintenance Instructor TTAV

Looming near the 344th Training

Squadron, Detachment 1s home on

Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC)

Port Hueneme is Mugu Peak.

The 1,266-foot mountain overlooking

Pacific Coast Highway and the Channel

Islands is a local landmark and is

marked with an American flag at its top.

The flag, however, is often worn, torn or

even missing due to the extreme wind

and weather it faces daily.

Thats where about two dozen airmen on

a Sunday hike come in.

On August 10, students from the Air

Force detachment made the rocky and

strenuous trek through thick marine fog

to reach the peak and visually inspect

the flag.

They stood in formation as the

detachments drill team inspected the

flag for serviceability and stood ready

with a spare in case it needed to be

replaced.

We were looking for frays, tears and

anything that would make the flag

unserviceable, said Airman 1st Class

(A1C) Garth Noble. After we inspected

the flag we came to the conclusion that

the flag was still good.

Continued
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2/13

Banner Day: Airmen Hike to Mugu Peak

Continued from PG 1

At the end of the flag inspection and formation, the airmen

began the return trip, collecting trash along the way. No piece of

paper was too small; even scraps captured by cacti were

collected. Four bags of trash were removed that morning by the

airmen.

We found bottles, bottle caps, paper and soda cans, A1C

Jason Warren said. As with Warren, this was the first Mugu hike

for A1C Shandly Blair, whose legs were shaking by the end of

the trip.

A1C Brian ONeal, who has made the trek five times, said he d

never seen the peak shrouded in fog, nor had he taken part in

a mountaintop flag inspection.

But it wasnt the fog, flag ceremony or picking up trash that

inspired A1C Sam Slagowski.

We talked to an Air Force retiree who explained to us that he

hikes this trail every weekend, Slagowski said, and this was

the first time he has seen so many Air Force personnel not only

conquering the Mugu Peak, but also doing a good deed for the

community.

U.S. Air Force Students with the U.S. Air Force 344th Training Squadron,Detachment 1, located at Naval Base Ventura County (NBVC) Port

Hueneme, make their way back down Mugu Peak. Photo by TSgtThomas Kessler.

U.S. Air Force AB Preston Bastow of the U.S. Air Force 344th TrainingSquadron, Detachment 1, holds a trash bag as A1C Alexander Beyaleadds to it during the hike back down Mugu Peak. Photo by TSgt ThomasKessler.

Whats the largest vehicle you have driven?

by CMSgt Donna Davis

379 ELRS/D&D Flight Superintendent

Well, for those vehicle operators deployed to Al Udeid they canadd the 53-ton Rough Terrain Container Handler (RTCH) to

their government drivers license. The RTCH is used for

handling standard 20 FT and 40 FT ISO containers with a

maximum weight of up to 22.6 tons and is capable of stacking/

unstacking containers two high and can be placed on trucks or

rail. Basically, the RTCH is a modified commercial wheeled

loader without lifting arms and bucket, mated with a forklift

mast.So, regardless, if its picking up a communication trailer,

aircraft wing flap or a 40-foot conex, vehicle operators at Al

Udeid are getting the job done. See: http://www.military-

today.com/engineering/caterpillar_rtch.htm

1 Oct 2014

TSgt Jeremy Marshall (Eglin AFB) and SSgt Cameron Groves (Little RockAFB) load a 35.5K Lb. communications trailer worth $2,250,000 destined

for Tobyhanna, PA for an overhaul and upgrades to support futureModernization of Enterprise Terminals (MET)--worldwide backbone for

high-priority military communications and missile defense.

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1 Oct 2014

Charles Roberts

1. Cleaning out the ashtray's of the General's/Colonel's cars

during command car cleanup.

2. Driving school buses for the elementary school kids at

Randolph.

Roger Robertson

While stationed at Edwards AFB as a young vehicle operator,

once a month we brought girls up from the LosAngeles USOs

for a dance. We left for the pick up on a Friday morning to

bring the girls to the base. The dance ended at 11:00

P.M. and then we would take them to breakfast before

returning them to Los Angeles. That meant returning to

Edwards in the wee hours of the morning. I don't know how

many times Ifell asleepbefore getting back to thebase. The

girls were always a pleasure to transport but the two round

trips could have been a killer. Equally bad was the 4:00

A.M.pick ups to take patients to the San Diego Naval Hospital

220 miles away with one stretch of 3-lane highway that we

almost always had to play "chicken" with someone for the

middle passing lane.

Al Baird

During my 26 years I had no bad jobs related to my career

field, not one. So, I have nothing to report for your survey.

ButI will tell you about one AF jobI had that was worse than

cleaning out septic tanks with a short handle shovel.

While stationed at Fort Frances E. Warren, Wyoming awaiting

a tech school to begin, they assigned me a job as night

fireman for about six wooden, two-story barracks. The

temperature hovered around 0 degrees (as I remember).

The coal was outsidefrozen together and covered with snow

and had to be broken loose, wheeled in the boiler room and

thawed out before use. Then after firing the main furnaces

allnight,I had to start fires in six coal fired hot water heaters to

have hot water ready for wakeup time.

It wasalmost impossibleto stay awake all night. But I figured if

I went to sleep and let the pipes and furnaces freeze and break

they would probably shoot me and throw me outside in one of

those coal bins. I did take some high risk naps each night by

placing a burning cigarette between my fingers that would

wake me in a short time, andthen back to work.

After getting through that job, my other 26 years wasa walk in

the park.

Robert Sherrill

I never had a bad job but that's possibly because it's how I see

the world and am very positive. However, I did have the BAD

Boss.

As a 2nd Lt arriving in Germany in '78, I was an

anomaly

because first-termers were not assigned

overseas. Even though it was my second assignment and I

would pin on 1st Lt three months later, many challenges

ensued.

In my first week,a CMSgt stopped me on the street and after

saluting said, Why in the hell are you over here Lt? My

squadron commander wanted a Capt but got me and then said

he wouldn't rate me and gave me to the senior Capt.

While with this same commander, he suggested I start my

family immediately as it was best for my career and then he

strongly suggested I drop my master's program because he did

it as a senior Capt and it helped him make Maj. When we got

another 2nd Lt who was making mistakes, the then Maj(now Lt Col) told me to counsel him because he couldn't as the

Lt was just like he was as a young Lt and wouldn't listen.

My wife was ordered by his wife to go to the Officer's Wives

Club functions, but to sit in the corner and say

nothing.However, since no one befriended her, my NCOIC's

wife asked her if she'd bowl with them, and she loved it even

though the Os never asked.

While the Boss had many interesting qualities, the only one I

retained was his writing ability as all the others were not what I

wanted to emulate. The jobs of vehicle maintenance/site

support and vehicle operations were challenging. I enjoyed

them greatly and made some friends for life.

As I left that assignment, I was the voted best Capt -Lt Col in

USAFE and only lost to Lt Col Tommy Thomson for the AF

award who later becamea good friend.

German Tito Massa

Working on snow removal equipment out on the flight line with

windblown snow "infiltrating" my eyes and nostrils and the

"scat" vehicles heater not working.

Continued

Continued from PG 3

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1 Oct 2014

Continued from PG 4

CMSgt Troy Saunders

Back in 1987, at my first duty station Luke AFB, AZ, I was

assigned the glorious job of having to strip a battery pack out of

an electric forklift before it went to salvage. This was a huge

battery pack with 30 individual batteries linked in series and

parallel and each one weighed 75 lbs.

The sawing off of the terminals and links were not the bad

part. But dunking each battery in a 55 gallon drum of water and

baking soda was less than pleasant to say the least.

The second the open battery hit the water the acid/baking soda

combination released a noxious mix of gases causing me to

choke and cough while me eyes watered to the point I couldn t

see out of them.

For whatever reason (I blame the fumes) I repeated the

procedure of dunking the batteries and pulling them out of the

drum 29 more times, each time going through the same

torturous process.

On top of this, although the acid was neutralized and I was

wearing protective gloves, googles, and apron in 115 degree

Arizona heat, I still ended up getting soaked by the neutralizing

solution. And, I am certain after dunking 30 batteries that same

solution was infused with more than a bit of lead.

As of yet I dont seem to have had any ill effects, but those who

know me may say something contrary to that opinion.

Al Dias

I have two for you, one at Kunsan and one at Suwon.

I was doing an LOF on a 60-ton crane in RED HORSE. I was

filling the crane engine with oiland filling, and filling, and

filling.

I finally jumped off the crane to get even more oil when Isplashed down into about 3 inches of oil on the ground. I had

forgotten to re-install the drain plug and oil was EVERYWHERE!

Jump ahead to Suwon a few years. We had an armored

personnel carrier (M-113) that needed new tracks. It was

August in Korea, and we couldn't do the job in the shop due to

the amount of space required.

I vaguely remember the temperature and humidity hovering

around the mid-90 mark. I still to this day think that was the

hardest I have ever worked in my life.

Chris Ferris

The worst job I can remember as a 2T3 was working on the

garbage trucks while stationed at Shemya (I actually can't

remember if there was one or two of them...too many years

since my time on The Rock).

The stench from the truck was almost unbearable. We would

wear what protective masks were available, but it really didn't

matter because there was no covering up the stink. It seemed

as though they always broke down with trash in them and ofcourse the operators, or shall I say operator...as in one; Pops

(the Mayor of Shemya), was never able to dump the load or

clean the vehicle prior to turning it in for maintenance due to the

nature of the break on the truck. In addition, when these trucks

went down there was always a "quick-turn" needed due to the

priority of picking up the trash...after all, there were no other

alternatives on Shemya.

TSgt Travis Hughes

Cleaning out the collection pit in the drain of the wash rack!

Honolito Directo

My all-time worst Job as a vehicle maintainer was in 1982 while

TDY for Team Sprit exercise, Kimhae AB, South Korea.As an

A1C, my additional duty/detail for 3-weeks was to augment the

Civil Engineers and operate the sewer sucker truck. Our job

(me and another Airman) was to clean and extract fecal matter

(crap) from all of the latrine tents which was an all day job and

definitely my most awful smelling detail. By the way, I found an

excellent use for my gas mask which really works keeping the

smell of obnoxious stink to a very minimum; it really does work!

Jim Bell

I never had a bad job as a packer and crater. The least

desirable was stuffing consolidation boxes at the Hill AFB Air

Logistics Center. There was also a "one chance in a career" job

while at Hill. I was assigned to the packaging design lab andenvisioned, created, and tested new packaging for F-4

component parts that were being damaged in "normal"

packaging. At one time my name was shown on three

transportation packaging orders (TPOs) as the design engineer.

Continued

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1 Oct 2014

Continued from PG 5

Robert King

My worst job as a Lt.being sent out to the flight line to meet a

C-5 full of returning deployed personnel to tell them all

(including the pilot O-6 mission commander) that due to

manning shortages they had to report to work the next

morning...no time off after returning to home station from a

45-day deployment to Africa! The Colonel tried to eat my lunch,

in front of all the passengers on the plane, but suddenly backed

off when he realized that the Wing Commander was standing

right behind me!

SSgt Karlon Johnson

At my first duty station my worst job I had was to sweep dust in

front of shop, and pull weeds in shop courtyard, while the wind

was blowing dust everywhere in Grand Forks North Dakota.

Ha-ha I did it with pride!

Reade Holzbaur

For me it was working on the 1965 IHC LSTs (latrine servicing

trucks) which had a longer than life itself, expectancy!

APS justwouldnt get rid of these pieces of s_ _ _, pardon my French.

The transmission was notorious for breaking the parking pawl

spring and to replace it was an act of Congress to get it back in

there without dropping the pivot ball a million times before

success. But that was not the worst job. It was a condition APS

used to call (and probably still does) will not suck on the AF

Form 1800. (I forget the card we used back then).

Now since this vehicle used a diaphragm pump to suck the

waste out of the aircraft it was known to cease pumping when

certain foreign objects such as pens, glasses, marbles, trash, to

name a few, would be dropped into the latrine on the aircraft

and then sucked into the pump.

At this point, it was necessary to remove the waste hose, reach

your arm in up to the armpit, and retrieve the objects that

caused the will not suck condition. If we were lucky,

sometimes the object would be right inside and we could

remove it without diving deeply into the bowels of the

pump. But as you all know Murphys Law always seemed to be

working when this vehicle came to the shop. So the object you

were looking for, most of the time, was back in there, s_ _ _

deep!

Now understand back in the 1960s-70s, we didnt have full-arm

rubber gloves; in fact, we didnt even have rubber gloves for this

job!! So you hunted by the feel method hoping you could find it

quickly, remove it, and get washed up.

On those rare occasions this condition could be caused when

the pump diaphragm would get a hole in it and that wasnt too

bad of a job to replace the diaphragm. Nonetheless, these

vehicles will always hold the number one place of worst job for

me, followed by replacing the clutch assembly on the IHC 1800

Lodals, i.e., the base garbage trucks!!

Richard Bunce

As a 22 year old SSgt, I found myself at the 8TFW, Wolf Pack,

Kunsan Korea. I also found myself working for a Captain who

didnt really seem to like my young, handsome, arrogant

self. So, she put me on night shift.

This was no normal nightshift folks, no; it was working by myself

from 5 in the afternoon to 7 the next morning. ALONE! I thought

I was going to go crazy.My only company was an old TV in the

drivers lounge and AKFN signed off on around midnight. And

for all you youngsters out there, AFKN only broadcast one

channel in the 80s!

The same could be said of the radio there. It was this non-stop

taped programming of either Top 40 music or the Country

Countdown. The only reason they needed someone on shift

was to the answer the phone if anything came up, which it didn t

other my drunk buddies at the gate wanting a ride to the dorm.

Several of my fellow SSgts during that time had the same

duty as I did. If memory serves me right, it was only for a few

months, but it did really seem to last forever!

Dempsey Fisk

I have to say as a young Airmen I came to work hung over and

my supervisor knew it. Could be the vomiting that gave me

away or the soft speech I used to combat the pounding in my

head.

I was promptly assigned the task to rotate all the tires on all the

R-9s that were in the shop, about a thousand if my foggy

memory serves me. Mission accomplished!!! Never came in

hung over again for the remainder of my 26 years.

Continued

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1 Oct 2014

Continued from PG 6

Karin Moore

I was very lucky; my worst job was taking up the stripes on the

floor which had been painted over so many times we used to

trip over them. We glopped on the paint remover and scraped it

up. That's as bad as it got for me, not quite up there with

cleaning out floor drains.

Joe Osborne

As vehicle operator, I would say driving school kids to off-base

schools. In general, however, I would say KP !!!!!

Dan Berlenbach

The one that sticks out for me (Im sure it was not technically

first, but it was close and it was my first duty station in 1975)

was doing a SLOF on a 1966 Lodal (front loader trash truck for

dumpsters). I was stationed at Travis and it was in the heat of

summer. I was a heavy junk airman, fresh out of Chanute

Tech School.The HE shop was run by a civilian who had been

there a while and had seen a thousand GIs come and go.

Since it was hot outside, I logically brought the truck into the

shop where I could work on it in the shade and near mytools. That apparently was the wrong thing to do for my boss;

he didnt care for the aroma of the truck and said, Airman

Berlenbach get that fu#$ing truck out of my shop NOW. I asked

where I should work on it then (like his first answer wasnt

obvious enough!) and was told he didnt give a sh@#, just not in

his goddamned shop and to move it yesterday.

So I trundled me and the smelly old truck back to the incoming

line and proceeded to do the SLOF in the parking lot. It was

hot, in the 90s, and I learned about the juice. If youve worked

on a trash truck you know about the juice; it tends to run down

your arms when youre laying underneath reaching up to a

hydraulic filter or such. It was a humbling lesson for a youngairman and where my place was in the pecking order at the

time. I desperately wanted to work on the D-6, but that was not

to be, not for a while.

Ronnie Ward

Repairing piping leaks on the LST, you never knew what was

dripping on you. Crawling in the container portion of a garbage

truck to replace a hydraulic hose could be a slipping and sliding

experience. During the summer months it did not take long for

maggots to hatch.

MSgt Clinton Miller

I know that the good ole LST (lavatory service truck) has been

the bane of many AF mechanics.My particular experience

happened on a commercial airport ramp where we did not have

the proper facilities for repair.The complaint was that it would

not dump the waste tank sigh, shaking my head.My mentor

and civil servant counterpart went out with me to investigate.

A couple slow turns on the gate valve did not produce a

drop.Spin another and still nothing.Well shoot, maybe the knob

is stripped? My partner had a pretty long piece of welding wire

that he fashioned into an L and said stick that up and see if

you feel the valve still closed.I crawled close to the danger zone

and gave a few pokes, to no avail.

I couldnt say whether or not I was hitting valve.My coworker

was getting impatient and said let me have a go. Well, I did and

he did.His probing was a little more intense than mine and he

broke through whatever was causing the blockage!

With a shout and some dry heaving I spun the valve shut and

tried my hardest not to laugh (didnt work) as the old man

gathered himself.I believe I told him that he would have ride in

the back of the truck until he got washed up.

Gary McLean

The list of candidates for worst job for me is long and

distinguished! Being a C-Shred mechanic meant nothing during

the first 6 years of my career when it came to working on

vehicles in my specialty.

I did crash fire trucks, heavy junk, aircraft servicing vehicles,

base maintenance, 463L, even GP vehicles if they needed

jump-starts when I was out on the mobile truck. All that being

said, theres one particular vehicle configuration that fondly

stands out as the worst.

As the Jeep newbie one-striper assigned to the Special Purpose

shop at Andersen AFB, Guam in 1982, my assignments were

heavy on lavatory servicing vehicles and anything else that

stunk, but most notably included refuse trucks.

In particular, the 1975 model Lodal front loaders we received

from Travis AFB as reassigned assets were the bane of my

existence. With minimal to no heavy truck washing capability at

the base and tropical temperatures year-round, Guams refuse

trucks were arguably the most disgusting vehicles I ever laid

hands on.

Continued

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8/13

1 Oct 2014

Continued from PG 7 Gary McLean

Balls of live rice constantly rained down on me as I worked

underneath repairing a myriad of leaks and other

malfunctions. Going into the body to work on packer

components was a borderline fatal act when the stink assaulted

you.

Finally, they were such junk vehicles, they were constantly in

the shop for repairs for all systems, from constant transmission

replacements to engine malfunctions to electrical and hydraulic

mystery failures.

Thanks to Travis AFB for one awesomely awful short tour

working on modern day plague ships!!!!!

Thanks for participating in our survey!

Project America Run Part II - Afghanistan

A Real Live Forrest Gump - One Life, One Flag, One Mile

Submitted by Homer Koop, Col, USAF (Ret)

Editors Comments: A new online media channel (http://www.pickleballchannel.com) featured this YouTube video in

May 2014 as a Memorial Day tribute, but its fitting even now as our military is still engaged in Afghanistan. Let us not forget the

sacrifices made every day by those who serve in uniform. Thanks, Col Koop!

Background: Veteran and elite athlete Mike Ehredt, chose to honor the lives of fallen service members in a very special

way. In 2012, he ran a marathon a day, every day, for 81 days. At each mile he planted a flag to honor the 2,140 US service

men and women who had died in Afghanistan. This completed his amazing personal tribute, which began in 2010 called Project

America Run,to honor over 6,500 fallen service members.

(Click the image above to activate the video)

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9/13

Inside P C F

Ulchi Freedom Guardian: The drive behindexercise operations

by Staff Sgt. Cody H. Ramirez7th Air Force Public Affairs

8/26/2014- OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea --An understood

aspect of military life is that it comes with the possibility of

deploying to locations around the world, whether on a

permanent change of station or a temporary duty assignment.

Senior Airman Jack Cortez, a 374th Logistical Readiness

Squadronvehicle operator

at Yokota Air Base, Japan, is one of

those military members. He is currently TDY to Osan Air Base,

South Korea, to support Ulchi Freedom Guardian Aug.

18through 29.

While a majority of the 3,000 U.S. military sent from the States

and the Pacific region to support UFG are actively playing in the

exercise scenarios, Cortez has a unique role in this exercise,

and that is by supporting the augmentees.

"We are providing transportation for the temporarily deployed

members that are here taking part in UFG," Cortez said.

During his daily four-hour shift, Cortez transports more than 200

military members to dining facilities and other locations aroundbase.

UFG is a command post exercise that simulates the protection

of South Korea from hostile attacks, and although Cortez

doesn't play a first-hand role in this exercise, his job is vital for

any mission.

"Compared to an hour-long walk, the bus gets [augmentees] to

their duty location in [approximately] 10 minutes," Cortez said.

The bus provides military members a quicker transportation

alternative to get to the dining facility within the time frame it is

open, typically a two-hour span.

A majority of the military members work 12-hour shifts during

the exercise, allowing a small window for personal time, to

include communicating with families back home or winding

down at the end of the day. The bus allows them more of this

important time.

Cortez is from Houstonand has been stationed in Japan for a

year. Since joining the military five years ago, he has had the

luxury of travel. While stationed at Holloman Air Force Base,

N.M., he traveled to California, Illinois and Nevada. Since being

in Japan, he traveled to Misawa Air Base, Japan, and now

Korea.

"I love Korea; I love Osan; and I love going off-base," Cortez

said. "I've done a lot of sightseeing even though I have only

been here two weeks. I went to Yongsan, an Army base nearby,

the National War Museum and the Seoul Tower."

He said Korea was another unique experience to add to his

memory.

"Everyone is friendly," Cortez added. "For some reason, I

thought people would be more reserved here, but they were

actually very approachable and even came up to talk to me or

sell things.

Even if they didn't understand me, they would try to work with

me and try to understand what I am saying and if I needed help

they would go out of their way to help me."

Cortez was one of six vehicle operators from air bases in

Japan, all with similar stories. The six-person team provided

transportation services 24 hours a day during the exercise.

Editors Note: Due to space lim itations, we were unable to

print all photos. Additional photos and captions can be seen at

the Pacific Air Forces news website: http://www.pacaf.af.mil/

news/story.asp?id=123422477&source=GovD

Senior Airman Jack Cortez, 374th Logistical Readiness Squadronvehicle operator, stands near his assigned 44-passenger bus at OsanAir Base, South Korea, during Ulchi Freedom Guardian, Aug. 25, 2014.Cortez, a mission support augmentee, is stationed at Yokota Air

Base, Japan. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Racheal E.Watson/Released)

1 Oct 2014

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10/13

Less armor, but more protection? The new,high-tech push to improve military vehiclesby Dan Lamothe August 19 / The Washington Post

Submitted by Dan Berlenbach, CMSgt (Ret/2T3)

When insurgents began laying improvised explosive devices by

the dozen in Iraq to kill U.S. troops in 2004, no immediate

answer was available. Soldiers and Marines responded by

hanging any kind of scrap metal they could find to better protecttheir Humvees. But Hillbilly armor, as the troops sometimes

called it, weighed the vehicles down, made them prone to

rollovers and still didnt cover the bottom sides of the vehicle

most exposed to a blast.

The Pentagons fight to keep the weight down on vehicles has

never really ended. To fight off IEDs, it eventually fielded

MRAPs, short for Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles.

The beefy trucks have an armored V-shaped hull that deflects

roadside blasts, and are credited with saving thousands of lives

in Iraq and Afghanistan. But even the smallest ones still weigh

in excess of 25,000 pounds, and are prone to rollovers that kill

troops.

With all that in mind, a Pentagon agency has launched a new,

high-tech effort to protect troops while reducing armor. The

Ground X-Vehicle Technology Program is investigating options

available to improve both the mobility of military vehicles and

the safety for troops inside.

The goals, expressed hereby the Defense Advanced Research

Projects Agency, appear to be a tall order:

Reduce vehicle size and weight by 50 percent

Reduce onboard crew needed to operate a vehicle by 50percent

Increase vehicle speed by 100 percent

Access 95 percent of all terrain

Reduce the enemys ability to detect and target an approaching

vehicle

DARPA says that some ways to reach those goals could include

radically enhanced mobility, figuring out ways to autonomously

dodge threats and re-position armor, and improving situational

awareness for troops inside the vehicle. The agency also wants

to explore making it more difficult for adversaries to see and

hear the vehicle.

Despite the programs futuristic goals, DARPA says it plans to

develop technology for the program over two years after initial

contracts are awardedaround April 2015.This artists rendering was released by the Defense Advanced

Research Projects Agency in an attempt to explain its Ground

X-Vehicle Technology program. It seeks to protect vehicles better

from explosions without increasing armor. (Image released by

DARPA)

This artists rendering was released by the Defense AdvancedProjects Agency in an attempt to explain its Ground X -Vehicle

Technology program. It seeks to protect vehicles better fromexplosions without increasing armor. (Image released by DARPA)

1 Oct 2014

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11/13

Francis Jeep Sanza describes his stinttransporting Gen. Patton during World War II

by Howard Yune / Napa Valley Register / April 30, 2012

Editors Comments: There has been a renewed interest in

General Patton in recent weeks. Bill OReilly of Fox News fame

has published his latest book, Killing Patton. As many of you

know, Gen Patton was involved in an automobile accident in

Germany after the war and died 12 days later. His death is

controversial and has spawned conspiracy theories.intriguing.

Since our newsletters theme is vehicles, I began to wonder

about his driver, who he was, and whether or not there was any

record of him. After all, there is plenty of information available

about Gen Eisenhowers driver/secretary, Kay Summersby.

To clear up matters, the subject of this article, SGT Francis

Jeep Sanza, was not Gen Pattons driver at the time of his

accident; that was PFC Horace Lynn Woodring. Gen Patton

had inherited PFC Woodring from Gen Leonard Gerow upon

assuming command of the 15th Army in 1945. Much has been

written about that incident.

In my research, I discovered SGT Sanza s story and found it

more interesting. He drove Gen Patton across France to Berlin

with the 3rd Army. Here is his account.

On a table in the foyer of a three-story Victorian home in Napa is

a model of a World War IIera Jeep, its paint an authentically

flat shade of olive, a red flag with three white stars topping the

right front fender.

In other households, the model might be a mere symbol of its

owners interest in vintage cars or military history. But this

artifact is a key to the background of its owner: Francis Jeep

Sanza, a driver for Gen. George S. Patton during the final year

of World War II.

His conveyance became first his nickname, then his ticket to the

side of one of the wars most legendary and controversial

figures. More than six decades later, Sanza, now 93 and a

great-grandfather, still signs checks as Jeep and remembers

the overwhelming personality of his former boss almost as if

reliving the events of a few weeks ago.

I do a lot of thinking. When I lay down at night it all comes to

me, he said Wednesday in the home he and his wife, Evelyn,

have shared for 50 years.

Growing up in the hardscrabble coal-mining town of Minersville,

Pa., Sanza bore the rather less imposing nicknameChickie

asthe shortest of five brothers. But his new identity took hold

shortly after he was drafted into the U.S. Army in April 1941 and

was assigned to test-drive a stubby, agile four-wheel-drive

vehicle the Willys-Overland company was developing for the

U.S. military.

After guiding the four-wheelers on North Carolina torture-test

courses that included plowing through the Pee Dee River, Army

buddies started nicknaming him after the vehicle Jeep

and the name stuck.

Though Sanza was present for the creation of one of the world s

most famous vehicles, his real brush with the heart of the Allied

effort would come in May 1944, when Patton chose him for histeam of drivers for the U.S. Third Army s march across

Nazi-occupied western Europe. The Allies were three weeks

from D-Day, the perilous crossing from England to the fortified

coast of Normandy.

A sharp and daring tactician with a gift for inspiring soldiers

devotion, Patton nonetheless inspired almost as much fear as

respect with his volcanic temper particularly after the general

nearly torpedoed his career in 1943 by twice slapping soldiers

diagnosed with battle fatigue whom he accused of malingering.

What he encountered instead, Sanza recalled, was a

paradoxical mix of orneriness and a more reflective side. The

general usually knelt in silent prayer before entering the vehicle,only to let loose with his swearing during the conversations on

the road and just as readily keep his thoughts to himself

again.

He was a quiet guy; he talked to himself a lot, saying I

shouldve done this or I shouldve done that. But when he got

nervous, boy would he turn red!

Sanza learned to sense when Patton was especially agitated; in

such moments, the general would hit the windshield with his

riding crop.

Continued

1 Oct 2014

11


12/13

1 Oct 2014

Francis Jeep Sanza describes his stinttransporting Gen. Patton during World War II

When I took him someplace, he would say, No matter where I

go, you stay here. The Jeep would be here and he d walk the

rest of the way.

Over the 10 months on battlefields and roads in France and

Belgium, Sanza saw qualities in the general that balanced his

angry and moody sides. Many Thursdays Patton set aside for

visiting wounded American soldiers in field hospitals, handing

Purple Hearts to the most valorous ones.

I never asked him about that; I d have been scared to, Sanzasaid. But I was glad hed done that. It made the kids feel good

that the boss came out to see them.

Pattons determination to stand by his soldiers showed up even

in the rare peaceful moments, Sanza said notably during a

brief respite in December 1944, as the German army launched

a huge last-gasp attack that became known as the Battle of the

Bulge.

Seeing a Red Cross canteen truck in Bastogne, Patton told his

driver to pull off the road. The woman charged Sanza 10 francs

for two crullers and a coffee, but offered Patton his snack free of

charge an innocent gesture that enraged the general, who

demanded to see the money she had collected from other

soldiers.

So she takes out this orange crate filled with money, puts it

down on the ground, Sanza remembered, still moved to

chuckles 68 years later. He took out a lighter, lit one bill, let it

burn and then ignited the whole box. Then he took a shovel

from the Jeep and buried the ashes.

As we walked back, I told him he shouldve given me that

money. And he said, Well, if you need the money so bad, I ll

just cut you a check right now!

As the German military crumbled in the early months of 1945,

Patton was fired on by his dream of bringing the Third Army intoBerlin first, and even of executing swift justice upon Adolf Hitler.

Sanza remembers overhauling the generals official Jeep for the

triumphant entry they expected, equipping the four-by-four with

a .50-caliber gun, air horns and running boards.

But that dream vanished in March when Gen. Dwight D.

Eisenhower, the Allied supreme commander and future

president, held back U.S. troops and allowed the Soviet army to

seize the German capital on May 2.

When he got the word to go no further, he had tears in his eyes

that day, Sanza said.

Sanza returned home to Pennsylvania in November 1945, half a

year after the German surrender. The following month, Patton

died in Germany after breaking his neck in a traffic collision.

Sanzas first postwar job took him west to Mare Island, where

he worked in its ammunition department before stints as a beer

distributor and Clover Stornetta dairy salesman, a job he still

performs part-time in his tenth decade.

In the living room of the Sanzas downtown Napa home,

envelopes often arrive with photos and newspaper clippings of

Patton, from those seeking Sanzas autograph as a rare living

link to the warrior known as Blood and Guts.

On Wednesday, Sanza took yet another envelope from his

writing desk, pulling out a letter from a German admirer and two

black-and-white images of Patton. Above him, in a painting

hung high in the corner of the room, the generals image

continued to look upon the man called Jeep.

Note: Jeep Sanza talks about his wartime experiences with

Gen Patton in a two-part YouTube video. Pt 1, however, seems

to be corrupted, so I did not include it. Pt 2 is below (10:17).

There is also an interview on C-Span that can be viewed at the

following website: http://www.c-span.org/video/?c4472630/sgt-

francis-jeep-sanza-veteran(36:45).

Continued from PG

12
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13/13

Misc. News & Videos From the Web

NHTSA promotes two connected-cartechnologies to prevent crashes


Submitted by George McElwain, CMSgt (Ret/472)

Smartphones behind the wheel

connue to kill / USA TODAY

http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/

Submitted by MacArthur Burton, CMSgt (Ret/2T1)

(video made before HD)

Submitted by George McElwain, CMSgt (Ret/472)

http://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-

vehicle


Click image to activate video

Click image to activate video

1 Oct 2014
http://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/http://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttps://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFxwJ8mIDtAhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFxwJ8mIDtAhttps://www.youtube.com/embed/Q_L1vLv84vshttps://www.youtube.com/embed/ZFxwJ8mIDtAhttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://aviationweek.com/military-government/unmanned-k-max-operates-unmanned-ground-vehiclehttp://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/http://www.usatoday.com/videos/news/usanow/2014/09/05/15126065/http://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Emailhttp://www.government-fleet.com/news/story/2014/08/nhtsa-takes-steps-to-mandate-connected-car-technology.aspx?utm_campaign=enews-wednesday-20140820&utm_medium=Enewsletter&utm_source=Email

Truckin' On Oct 2014

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