Combat convoy course expands to driving 18-wheelers

  • Published
  • By James Coburn
  • 37th Training Wing Public Affairs
LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) --  The Basic Combat Convoy Course here now includes teaching Airmen to drive tractor-trailer supply trucks and gun trucks as convoy operations in Iraq have evolved into longer, more dangerous missions, course leaders said.

All Airmen in the course also are now receiving combat lifesaver training during the 300-hour course, compared to only 25 percent who went through the course in 2004.

Officials at the 37th Training Wing created the course at nearby Camp Bullis to train transportation Airmen in convoy operations to augment Soldiers in Iraq.

During a recent course simulation, the convoy was “ambushed” on two occasions, one requiring treatment of a “casualty” whose Humvee was towed from the site after it was “disabled.”

Air expeditionary truck detachments are replacing Army units in Southwest Asia, said Capt. Robert Shaw Jr., the course commander. Under the new mission, Airmen are driving 18-wheelers as well as guarding the convoy with gun trucks on supply missions to locations in Iraq, some lasting five to 10 days, Captain Shaw said.

“(The tractor trailers are) less maneuverable, so there are more vulnerabilities they have to deal with out there,” he said. “It’s actually a tougher, more dangerous mission” than previous convoys when the Airmen were centrally located within Iraq and most of their missions were one-day trips, with only an occasional overnight convoy.

It takes about a week to learn how to drive and maneuver the tractor trailers, Captain Shaw said, so the course has been lengthened from four to five weeks. Because the training is phased with three flights of about 60 Airmen, each arriving for training in successive weeks, Airmen are at Camp Bullis for periods ranging from five to seven weeks.

Detachments of 160 Airmen each graduate at the same time and leave for Fort Sill, Okla., for two weeks of follow-on training, Captain Shaw said.

“This is where they validate the training they did here and actually start working in their full detachments so they have time to become cohesive,” he said.

Two detachments have already graduated from the expanded course and two more will graduate within two months.

The detachments go from Fort Sill to a forward-deployed location for five days of live-fire training, said Master Sgt. Martin Lund, the course’s superintendent.

Airmen receive some “high-risk capture training … so by the time they get to their actual location, they’ve had several layers of training to get them up to speed,” Captain Shaw said.

About 1,200 Airmen, the majority of them from the transportation field, have been trained for convoy duty in Iraq since the convoy course began in June 2004. They have traveled 3 million miles in convoys on more than 6,000 missions that moved 30,000 tons of materiel, course leaders said.

“We’re very proud of what we’ve done up to this point,” said Captain Shaw, who noted engagements where Airmen have received 150 Bronze Stars.

While 60 Airmen have received Purple Hearts, “fortunately, we only suffered two (fatalities),” said Staff Sgt. Randolph Radosevich, of the course’s operations section. “That’s a credit to the training.”

Airmen are trained by hand-picked instructors assigned to the 342nd Training Squadron. During the last week of training, Airmen convoy to Fort Hood, where they receive live-fire training using .50-caliber gun trucks.

Gun trucks use blank ammunition at Camp Bullis, but Airmen do undergo live-fire training at the ranges using M-4 carbines as well as M-240 and M-249 machine guns. According to many of the students, the .50-caliber machine gun is impressive even while firing blank rounds.

“It’s pretty awesome,” said Staff Sgt. Ryan Tanez, who is from Altus Air Force Base, Okla. He was firing back at opposition forces who shot at the convoy during training. “I don’t know about the getting shot at part, but shooting (the .50 caliber) is pretty fun.”

Sergeant Radosevich said the course is always evolving, working hand in hand with Air Intelligence Agency officials here. They provide course instructors with the latest tactics being used by insurgents in Iraq.

Airman 1st Class Rahmon Harrell, from McGuire AFB, N.J., was driving an M-915 tractor during convoy training.

“I enjoy it,” he said. “It feels like I’m in control of everything when I’m up there.”

Asked if he was worried about convoy duty in Iraq, Airman Harrell said, “At first I was, but now I’m not, since I came here and made a team with my troops. I’m ready for it.”