National Guard Humvee To School Project
Project A Success
by Casey Amerin
December 16, 2009
Sergeant Hoesing of the Kansas National Guard, along with two members of his Humvee Maintenance Team, brought a Humvee to school on Tuesday, November 24.
The National Guardsmen showed a video documenting how the Humvee came to be developed. The video showed numerous cuts of the Humvee in a multitude of radical environments that showcased the Humvee’s amazing abilities.
After the video, the National Guard Team took the students out into the shop to see an actual Humvee! The kids learned that the Humvee has many safety related items that a civilian vehicle would not have. For example, a Humvee has a solid rubber doughnut wheel inside the regular outer tire. If the tire goes flat, the solid rubber doughnut will give the Humvee enough support and range to evacuate the personnel and the vehicle out of a potential fight and into a safe zone. The vehicle includes three radiators, one of which acts as back-up. The transmission is designed in such a way that one gear will still be operational even if the transmission is nearly destroyed by poor operation, rough treatment, or firefight. That gear will allow the soldiers and the vehicle to limp to safety.
The students were given an interactive opportunity to help check all the Humvee’s main operational systems, which Sergeant Hoesing explained are all daily checks performed on any Humvee before it is put into service for the day. Among the checks made, the students helped check the tire pressure, engine oil, transmission oil, radiator and radiator fluid, and power steering. Nathan Fowler stated the following about the Humvee to School Project, “It was a good learning experience because we got to do some hands-on work with the different systems of the Humvee.”
Nathan Fowler checks to see if the radiator has enough fluid.
Sergeant Hoesing teaches Shannon Wallace about power steering fluid. Derek Revell watches in the background.
Sergeant Hoesing shows Heather Kohl how to check the transmission fluid. Ben Bradley looks on.
Ben Bradley prepares to start checking the Humvee.
Standing in front the Humvee (L to R): Sergeant Hoesing, Shannon Wallace, Nathan Fowler, Trenton Kohl, Derek Revell, Heather Kohl, and Ben Bradley.
