London Calling

Quite the adventures these past couple of weeks! Well, comparatively speaking. We've been pretty busy, being a forward support company and all. Charlie battery has been going here and there the last couple of weeks, and we're their main means of transport. The missions have generally been go out, pick up troops, drop them off, and then go get supplies and run them out. There's a military regulation (one among thousands) that says you can't transport troops and tow a trailer, and can't transport cargo and troops. This does make some degree of sense, though like many things in the military, is a bit of overkill. Generally our trailers are tame little 400-gallon water trailers, and the cargo is ice and/or MREs. Ice is for one of two things- the medics will use a couple bags of it to keep some sheets wet and cold, used for the occasional case of heatstroke- not fun, believe me. I didn't get 'iced' when I had heatstroke, rather managed to pull it together enough on my own to go sit in the shade and get some water into me. Still, a condition best avoided. The rest of the ice goes in the aforementioned water trailer, which contains water for drinking purposes. It's just one more service we like to provide, and to maintain the reputation of one of the best and most efficient support units on post.

Today we wound up with extra trucks, which was unusual. We headed up to the pickup point to pick up Charlie's troops, only to find there were about 10 people there! We had come out with four trucks, expecting the whole battery to be ready to roll. So obviously some of us were not needed. I was in one of the old trucks, and we were one of the ones to go back, as we were not needed. However, like I said, this truck is old. I always thought there should be a bumper sticker on the back- instead of "This Truck Climbed Mt. Washington", something along the lines of "This Truck Survived D-Day", or "This Truck Made It Through The Tet Offensive", something like that. Actually, during the Tet offensive, I think the Army was still using the (much missed) Deuces, but you get the idea. At any rate, we were ready to go- we went to start the truck up, and heard a bang, about as loud and very similar to a blank round going off. What that was, we didn't know- something with the truck? We noticed the truck was now no longer running- not a good sign. I went over to the side of the truck and looked under it, thinking the transmission had finally gone, which it had been threatening to do for about a week. Why the transmission would bang and cause the truck to shut down didn't occur to me at the moment. A look revealed no obvious damage, and no new leaks. However, there was a weird smell, somewhat like sulfur. It turned out there was a major short circuit somewhere along the electrical system. This would generally be what we'd call a major pain in the ass. I noticed the battery gauge was reading next to nil, and couldn't get a reading at all from the individual battery cells- unlike a car battery you can open the individual battery cells and check for fluid, as well as use a handheld test device to check for a charge. So we had to pretty much jump the battery, which is always fun. When you connect the cables, ideally you shouldn't hear the thing crackle and spark, which is what we heard. Finally, we got the truck running and moved back to the motor pool, parked, and shut down. After that, there it sits, awaiting repair. I didn't see anything really obviously wrong, meaning the short could be anywhere- nothing obvious was there, like corrosion, a blackened wire or burned-looking components, or a lack of fluid in the batteries. Well, sounds like a fun project, anyway. I can recall starting a vehicle with a shorted relay, which was most interesting. A sergeant showed me how to do this, as a last resort- take a screwdriver, lay it across the terminal posts, crank the vehicle, and watch the sparks fly! Make sure this screwdriver is from the truck's equipment box, as it tends to get rather burned in the process. Very cool.

Well, it looks like the week grinds on- this afternoon, more picking things up and putting them down, (an integral part of the job), then tomorrow, more of the same. Friday I get to close out the motor pool, oh frabjous day. Well, could be worse. Yesterday we had to check an entire line (20-odd vehicles) with four people, and of course nitpick them to the nth degree, as that's what our superiors were doing- "Find something wrong with these vehicles, they are old enough that none of them is in mint condition". Brilliant. Well, that's why they don't pay me the big bucks. Have a great remainder of the week, and I'll continue holding it down here.