Afghanistan Duties

[MercGirl]

I'm working in Afghanistan as a security person. We drive armoured vehicles (Not HMMWV's). What extrication tools would be best to overcome the armour on theses type vehicles. Keep in mind that we are dealing with the variables of IEDs and Rocket Propelled grenades. We do not have a training facility or Fire Department nearby so Hydrolic tools are not available. Any help or suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

[mcaldwell]

This question was asked before on this forum, and got little to no replies.

Folks here are kind of protective of information that can be used against our various troops or contractors abroad (this is a publicly accessible forum).


The manufacturer of your vehicles will be the best source of information.

[MercGirl]

Afghanistan duties

Thank you for your concern for the various troops and contractors over here. Being both a retired soldier and now a contractor I am doubley appreciative. I will try to track down the company that makes the armour and go through them. I hate to say that I didn't even consider the fact that you (collectively) have no way to verify who I am or what I do. Lesson learned. Again Thank you and God Bless.

[mikeyboy411]

P.M. me.......

Mercgirl,
P.M. me...... I have some information that you may want to see, regarding your question.

[hrtrescue10]

Ok, guess i am stupid. Please enlighten me, that is why I am posting.

As a member of Special Forces, because you never truly leave, I don't grasp how the information on which tools would work best to perform extrication on up armored vehicles could "help" enemy combatants.
I have been to Iraq to train our folks currently serving and the tools and info is not classified.
I was contracted to provide training in many phases of rescue, on aircraft and land vehicles. We were provided Holmatro tools, this was three years ago, and I am going back in 4 mos. The large cutters worked well in most areas of the armor, I am sure the newer tools would work even better.

I hope I have not jeapordized National Security with this post

Have a good one.

[mikeyboy411]

Tried to P.M. this to you.....

Merc,
I tried to P.M. this to you yesterday...... not sure why it didn't let me.

Here is what we install in our "Fly Away Kit:"

Amkus Spreaders, Cutters, and 3 Rams of various sizes. Champion hydraulic tools are a great back-up or great additional set of hydraulic tools (and they cut different than Amkus). Remember to take the manufacturers chains for dash pulls and the such.

If the armor is on a Military Vehicle like what you are dealing with you will also need a pump type, pressurized bottle (like the kind that are used to spray pesticides and such) with floor wax in it.

The floor wax is used to keep the CARP (Chemical Attack Resistance Paint) particles down (It's often forgot about and will damage your respiratory tract faster than all get out, and you can't get rid of it once it's in your system).

A heavy-duty Air Chisel with various blades and numerous BA bottles. Great for making access through the roof or the floorboard.

A torch (Oxyacetylene) is also very useful. However, when being used make sure that personnel are all in BAs that may be exposed to the smoke.

Holmatro High-pressure Airbags with various sizes: Find the weight of your heaviest vehicle and get the next sized bag that is larger than that weight.

Cribbing of various sizes.

For bolt on armour, a full tool box with various sized sockets: Anything from 1/2" all the way up to 1 1/2" with major torque components and a "Cheater Bar."

A Heavy Duty Come-Along.

Load securing straps (I believe approx. 6" wide).

All this equipment can be carried in either one large stokes basket or two stokes baskets. I also recommend getting the wheel attachment since it makes it easier for the personnel to manipulate.

This is a recommended minimum list...... Most, if not all of these tools should be able to get you into any Armoured Vehicle.

Lemme know it there is anything else that I may help you with.

Mikeyboy

[JTFIRE80]

From personal experience over there dealing with crashed/blown up/destroyed up-armored vehicles, it always came down to basics. Hydraulic tools--useless, air chisel--useless, sawzalls-useless. We went old school with screwdrivers, wrenches, pliers, haligan bar and sockets. It was very time consuming, but none of the "modern stuff" would work. The longest took approx. 3 hours to get them out; that was an up-armored Land Cruiser.

[mikeyboy411]

We have the same outlook........

We have the same outlook that is why we take the hydraulic equipment and such, but also take the tool box and handtools...... sorry to miss the haligan bars X 2 and the pry bar with the purchase point X 2.

We recently had an incident where we had to use the socket driver with a 9/16" socket.......

Air chisel, is very usefull for removing GPS Units from the dash. Pull/pry and cut.......

Sawzall is great for cutting the seats to give you more room........

Try to build the "toolbox" as big as possible........ Options, options, options...... LOL.

Now how did you deal with the paint dust?

[kferrara2002]

Military vehicle extrication

Easiest method that we teach our Air Force personnel to get personnel out of the humvees is to attack the hinges. By taking a diamond tipped rotary saw and cutting the hinges, you can gain access quicker. Just watch out for the door dropping on your feet! If anyone wants additional info, let me know. Drop me a line or two at [email protected]