sandcobra164

I actually had a great time even though we mired a truck. Twice, two different days and the same mud hole. I'm with a Forward Support Company and we were tasked to train some straight out of basic Infantry Troops on operating a HMMWV. This was actually day 2, on day 1 we stuck the HMMWV in the same hole with the same problem. Entering the hole too fast, without the fording kit, the water planed over the hood and engulfed the intake cap. The air box fills with water, the motor ingests the water and dies. It was a very fortunate weekend in that we hydrostatic locked the motor twice and never bent a connecting rod. We just drained the air box and bumped the motor over to displace the moisture (a 10 minute process, yes the cylinders were pretty full of water) and once it was turning over smoothly it took about 10 minutes of starting and letting the starter cool between 30 second cycles to start up again. Goodness the amount of smoke it belched out the exhaust once it did start up. I know the hole looks pretty deep but I'm confident it would have made it had we installed fording kits..... which are now on order!!!! The 1SGT was a little mad but then again, his job is to get mad when stuff get's a little awry. Trucks still run, nobody got hurt save for a little wet in some cold water, and everyone had a good time. We also learned that it takes 2 HMMWV's to pull 1 stuck one out of the mud. Twice!!! Good Training!!!