Marine MRAP Drivers Get Rollover Safety Training
Delivered using a special vehicle at an air base in Iraq, the training includes simulated rollovers to varying degrees and a casualty rescue, according to an article from the Pentagon.
Drivers and passengers in the U.S. Marine Corps' Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles encounter some of the same hazards as do drivers on standard U.S. roads, and a group of Marines are receiving egress training to help them prevent and survive rollovers, according to an article posted July 8 by the Pentagon, datelined Al Asad Air Base, Iraq, and written by Cpl. Triah Pendracki of Multi National Force - West. Her article says rollovers "are extremely dangerous and are usually caused by speeding, poor vehicle control while cornering, untrained or inexperienced drivers and inclement driving conditions."
The Marines whose training she described are from Truck Company, II Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group (Forward). All personnel who operate MRAP vehicles have been ordered to receive the training, which began with the delivery of a nine-passenger training vehicle in June 2009, the article states.
Instructors taught safe evacuation procedures using three egress drills inside the vehicle. One was a rollover where the vehicle stopped at 30, 90, and 180 degrees from the ground on both sides. The second flipped the vehicle upside down so the students could practice evacuations, and the third was a 90-degree drill involving rescue of a casualty through the gunner's turret, Pendracki wrote.