Military Vehicles, March 1997,: The M-151 Roll Over Debate
The M-151 Roll Over Debate
Gary R. Downing (gwhiz@interoz.com)
Thu, 13 Mar 1997 14:32:15 -0600
About M-151 Roll overs: I haven't felt like diving into the fray over this
vehicle before now but it seems like there are lots of opinions out there
so I thought I would serve up some facts. The following is NOT a
collection of my opinions except where noted. I will simply relate what
happened during my 20 years in the Airforce, pertaining to this vehicle.
I had lots of time with the M-38 jeep with radios in it. I never had
any trouble with that vehicle. Later the AF bought M-151s and with HF,
VHF, UHF and FM radios it became the MRC-107 Radio vehicle. We thought it
handled and rode well but the rear end made so much noise the enemy could
hear you coming 5 minutes in advance. As time passed rumors arose about
roll over fatalities around the world. This phenomena had not arisen with
the M-38. After more time, enough of these "alleged" roll overs became so
frequent that, by now, we knew some of the people that suddenly became
dead. Installation of a roll bar or roll cage was suggested. The Air
Force replied (You will love this!) that "If roll bars were installed,
drivers would be encouraged to drive recklessly". (Then why do we have
helmet laws and seat belts?)
After the body count reached 200 in the combined services (This was the
published figure.) The Air Force created a world wide training program
including a training film to educate and warn drivers of the roll over
danger inherent in this vehicle. They would not issue a license to drive
one of these to anyone who had not been through the course. My opinion:
This is a lot of effort and money to expend on a vehicle that compares
favorably to others in it's class.
An Air Force memorandum on this vehicle explained that the independent
suspension caused drivers to be lulled into a sense of security because
unlike straight axle vehicles, the impending feel of possible roll over was
lacking and due to the suddeness, control was irretrievable. Further, a
straight axle vehicle tends to "wheelbarrow" out of the roll over, giving a
moment of warning while the independent axled M-151 would "launch" the
vehicle over the CG without any significant warning.
This is the story, from the Air Force as well as I can remember it. In
my whole military career, I never saw the service jump through their own
butts over a piece of equipment as much as they did with this one.
One last fact. My best friend was killed at Fort Bragg when an oncoming
vehicle forced him to take instant and severe evasive action. A passenger
in the jeep was thrown clear and survived. I have no opinion about this
except to note that the radio package makes this vehicle quite top heavy.
Again, my opinion (shared by a lot of others): We entered WW-2 with
an obsolescent main battle tank and a WW-1 designed General Purpose machine
gun. Even a late as the Vietnam era our troops were issued the M-60
machine gun which is demonstrably inferior to the German MG-42 which the
Germans designed in 1942! We couldn't do better with 25 years to do it in?
My opinion: Politics determines what is purchased not function.
As to the M-151 however, I wouldn't drive my loved ones on the highway
with one.
G.R. Downing USAF, Ret.