From: Mel Miller (nourmahal@worldnet.att.net)
Date: Sun Feb 15 2004 - 13:13:05 PST
On Saturday, February 14, 2004, at 12:37 PM, Bjorn Brandstedt wrote:
>
> The first time I slid down a small hill on snow (w/o chains), I felt
> hoplessly powerless. The truck starts to go sideways, I pump the brakes
> and get it back under control. That moment, when the truck goes its own
> way is very scary. The best way to train for this is to actually let it
> happen. Once you know that you CAN get back in control, it feels OK to
> slide a little, BUT the first time may be the last for many if it
> happens when we are not alone.
>>
Bjorn,
Your paragraph about sliding brought back my memories of driver
training in the Training Command of the 91st Div.(Tng) of the Army
Reserves in the San Francisco Bay Area in the 1980's. I was a 1st. LT in
the Tactics Committee when it was decided that all the instructor
personnel and officers needed to get military drivers licenses in case
we had a driver shortage or someone had to take a vehicle somewhere on
short notice.
Accordingly, one drill weekend we sat through some training films on the
Deuce and the M151. We then received hands on training in the motor pool
in pre operation checks on both vehicles. Each person was paired up with
a qualified driver and we fired up about fifteen M151s and took shifts
driving them around on pavement and in a large field behind the motor
pool. It had been raining for two days prior to the Drill weekend so we
got to play in the mud after a while. This all went fairly well except
that most of the troops were not used to stick shifts and the notchy
action of the long throw shifters and throttle/clutch coordination
created some lurches and launches off the line.
Then came our turn at the Deuces. I forget exactly which models we had
but they were all from the M35 Series. Most were 'whistlers'. We changed
instructors and fired up about ten Deuces and set off around the roads
of the reserve base we were on. This deactivated base was great for our
Training Command because it was not being used as a RA base so traffic
was non existent and yet all the road signs and traffic lights worked.
There was no civilian traffic to get in our way so we could get a feel
for the vehicles unfettered by concerns about anyone except the guy in
front and behind you. This was good because most of the guys who had not
driven Deuces on active duty had a really hard time shifting and
accelerating smoothly. It was funny to see the trucks lurch around and
stall when someone dumped a clutch without sufficient throttle or missed
a shift.
My Sergeant from the motor pool did not know me and he exuded a slight
attitude of the "Officers should never be drivers - at least not one of
my trucks". He was polite of course, so we set out with our Captain in
the lead followed by myself and the rest gaggled on behind. Luckily for
me I had been driving four speed BMW's and Fiat's for the previous 10 0r
12 years. I grew up on a ranch in south Texas and had driven jeeps and
tractors (talk about notchy shifters, try a John Deere!) so I was
forceful when shifting and never failed to get my Deuce into gear.
Everything lurched along fine as we wound through the deserted housing
area. Then we went off road..... Playing in the mud is fun but the Motor
Pool personnel had a little surprise finale to the driving test planned.
From the field we had been churning up we went up a high hill via a
relatively gentle slope cresting in a 250' hill with a large plateau and
one slope of about 20% leading back to the motor pool area. I am not
sure of the slope, but it reminded me of some of the San Francisco
streets with cable cars on them that I drove on every day. Anyway, the
Captain started down the slope, promptly locked all wheels, and started
to slide. He began to slew sideways but finally let off the brakes and
recovered before he got totally sideways and rolled. Next it was my
turn. The Sergeant told me to put it in third and pump the brakes.
Evidently he had done this before. I was dubious about third but did as
he said. I brought the rev's up, slowly let out the clutch and headed
down. The truck began to pick up speed uncomfortably even with me
pumping the brakes like mad. The Captain's run had stripped the wet
grass off the hill leaving only mud for traction ( it had started to
rain lightly again). I decided that I needed second gear to help out
so, before the Sergeant could protest I yanked the shifter out of third,
double clutched, and jammed it into second. We slowed to a more or less
acceptable speed and proceeded on down the hill, with the Sergeant's
eyes bulging and looking like he was about to pop a gasket. At the
bottom of the hill all he could manage to say was, You passed, Sir.
The Sergeant then spoke with the Motor Pool Top, who had been riding
with the Captain, and they decided to have the rest of the student
drivers circle around and come back down the gentle slope up which they
had previously come. Needless to say I got my license. All in all, a fun
day!
Mel Miller
Corpus Christi, TX
361-937-3317
M725
M884
86 VW Doppelkabin Drop Side Diesel PU (OD)
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