A Hazardous Path -
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Published on: 12/19/2004
Last Visited: 12/19/2004
Brian Geehan, the Army's chief of transportation.
To a certain degree, the Army thought Iraq would be another Afghanistan.
Transportation operations there, the ones that began right after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks, didn't require armored vehicles, he said.
There weren't as many troops to keep supplied and the enemy largely focused its attacks on combat soldiers."In Afghanistan the threat to the soldiers was not convoy attacks," Geehan said.
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Geehan.
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"We need to catch up," Geehan said earlier this year while on a visit to Kuwait and Iraq.
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Geehan.
Due to the high demand for truck drivers and officers, graduates often are sent to the desert as soon as they finish their initial training.At times the demand was so high that soldiers were pushed through required training courses more quickly.
It was just a couple of weeks and instructors made sure no vital information was overlooked, Geehan said.But the extra time allowed the Army to send those soldiers to the front that much quicker.
Transportation soldiers on the ground in Iraq say training needs to be upgraded, redefined and lengthened to better reflect the realities of the desert.
Geehan said the training already is being revised to adapt to the new way of fighting.
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"We have to train our soldiers technically and tactically to be ready to go when they leave our schools," Geehan said."That puts the burden on the transportation school."
Since the upsurge in attacks on convoys, the transportation school has received more ammunition for live-fire training and more weapons familiarization.
"Soldiers are getting a lot more weapons training now," Geehan said."We are cross training soldiers on different weapons now."
The Fort Eustis transportation school also recently bought some "very sophisticated simulated weapons systems" to train on.The simulated guns are gas powered, yet feel and shoot the same as guns with live rounds - a money and ammunition savings.
One local unit, Geehan said, has developed a program in which truck drivers who have been to Iraq share stories and advice in the classroom.
More important, Geehan said, the Army is building a mock city at Fort Eustis to simulate urban warfare.
It's not Baghdad, Geehan said, but it's better than it was.
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Geehan said there are simply too few Army drivers for the number of trucks required.
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Geehan said the night vision equipment also can't be used because convoys drive through towns - lit areas that wash out night vision.
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Right now, Geehan said, not much can be done about the use of contract drivers.
The Army does plan to bolster the transportation corps.It recently approved the addition of up to 400 new lieutenants over the next three years.It plans to add 9,000 drivers over the next 10 years.
Admittedly, Geehan said, that is a long-term solution.
"That goes to the heart of Army transformation," Geehan said, which doesn't happen overnight."We are growing and reorganizing."
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"That's a lot of national treasure and capital assets," Geehan said.
But, he said, "we have identified not only wear and tear and combat damage to the fleet in theater, but we are also mindful that we have to rebuild a lot of this fleet."
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