Security forces members battle HEAT

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Ryan Hansen
  • 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Airmen here are receiving specialized training designed to help them know what to do if their tactical vehicle was to rollover and increase survivability.

The training, termed HEAT, encompasses instruction and the use of the Humvee egress assistance trainer.

"This is a two-part training exercise," said Master Sgt. John Ward, NCO in charge of training for the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron. "The first part is how to avoid rollovers in a Humvee, and the second part is if you do get into one, how you get out."

HEAT is an authentic, up-armored Humvee cab suspended six feet off the ground on a flatbed trailer. It sits on two horizontal axles and can turn a full 180 degrees in six seconds. It is powered by a hydraulic motor and has four seated positions inside the cab, including a spot for a gunner.

"This is really a Monster Garage type of thing," said Sergeant Ward, who is deployed from the Idaho Air National Guard.

The trainer is owned by the Army's Coalition Forces Land Component Command at Camp Arifjan in Kuwait. It is one of only two HEAT systems in the world and the only one in the area of responsibility. It is designed to increase military members' awareness of rollover conditions, how they can avoid them, actions to take if they are involved in one and use of seatbelts.

"Many of our (military members) are dying as a result of vehicle rollovers," said Army Sgt. 1st Class Eva Roberts, deputy director of CFLCC safety. "When CFLCC heard of the (HEAT) concept, we decided to build our own. This training has already been credited for saving one Soldier's life, which makes this training worth its effort."

After a safety briefing, Airmen enter the HEAT wearing all of their personal protective gear and strap themselves in. The instructor then banks the trainer 25 degrees each way to get the trainees used to the movement before the Humvee is turned all the way over.

"The first time they get in it they're spooked a bit," Sergeant Ward said. "When you're upside down it's easy to get disorientated. Everything is opposite of what you're used to."

Once their world is turned over, the security forces members take their seat belts off, unlatch the combat locks on the doors and egress out. It takes them an average of 20 to 30 seconds to escape the rolled-over Humvee.

"This is very good training," said Airman 1st Class Rufus Dixon, a 386th ESFS member deployed from Ramstein Air Base, Germany. "Getting out of the Humvee when it's upside down with all the gear on is hard. It really takes teamwork."

"Once it's upside down you have to relax, take a deep breath and go through the training steps we were given," said Senior Airman Shila Kingsland, a 386th ESFS member deployed from the Wisconsin Air National Guard. "It was very exciting."

Hopes are that HEAT will help curb rollover accidents and end Humvee-related fatalities. According to CFLCC, there have been 249 rollover injuries and 90 fatalities since the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"This training … will help (military members) react on memorization when it comes to survival and being in a traumatic experience such as a rollover," Sergeant Roberts said. "Although this simulator doesn't roll nearly as fast or violent as the real thing, it does give an individual the sensation of being upside down and the confusion that comes with it."