Truckin' On Dec 2014

8/10/2019 Truckin' On Dec 2014

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Disclaimer: Truckin On is an unofficial newsletter published every month in the interest of serving Air Force active duty, civilian and retired vehicle operations

and maintenance personnel. Articles submitted by its contributors are not to be considered official statements by the U.S. Air Force.

Congratulations 2T Chief Selects

Dedicated to the Men and Womenof

AF Vehicle Operations & Maintenance Past, Present, and Future

Truckin on

S P I:

I A A F E PG 1

49 LRS M PG 2

C S L A

Inside this issue:

380 ELRS Maintainers Go

iTech

PG 3 -4

Video Fillers PG 4

Christmas Convoy 2014 PG 5

Anti-Idling Technologies PG 6 -8

SEMA Show 2014 PG 8

Vehicle Ops Schoolhouse PG 9

Red Ball Express PG 10 -11

The Infamous Wolf Mobile PG 12

CMSgt Troy Saunders explains the

importance of using your vehicle

efficiently and offers best practices

to help you get more out of your

car, van or truck.

You are Air Force Energy, all year

long!

1 Dec 2014
http://www.youtube.com/embed/pfAhgMaHEOw


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1 Dec 2014

The 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron Remembers

The 49 LRS Establishes Memorial to HonorFallen Airmen

by CMSgt Michael Lindemann, AMC A4/A4REV and TSgt

Carey Kane, 49 LRS/LGRDDO

Members of the 49th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Holloman

AFB, NM, constructed a memorial in tribute to fellow LRS

Airmen who have lost their lives in the line of duty in Iraq and

Afghanistan.

Mr. Allan Bartolome, Mr. William Schofield, SSgt Noe

Gutierrez, and A1C Tayler Hiser each contributed to the

completion of the memorial, which took five and a half months to

build.

Each display is split into one upper and one lower part. The

upper portion of the display features a photo of the member,

medals earned from the event in which they were killed, and a

short memoriam describing the members deployment and the

circumstances of their death.

The lower part of the display holds an AFSC-specific token to

showcase the members career field and/or their job in the

AOR.

Mr. Allan Bartolome from Vehicle Maintenance created

eight unique displays over a span of five and a half months

to honor the fallen heroes.

Mr. William Schofield from Vehicle Maintenance restored

the gear and wrench token exhibited in SSgt Bowles

display.

SSgt Noe Gutierrezalso from Vehicle Maintenance restored

the refueling nozzle exhibited in MSgt Gillespies display.

A1C Tayler N. Hiser from Vehicle Operations restored the

wood platform on which all eight of the displays are

presented.

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iPads used to complete mission first in AOR

by Tech. Sgt. Marie Brown,380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Vehicle mechanics at an undisclosed location in Southwest

Asia are the first in the area of responsibility to use technology

to make their job easier.

Airmen with the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness

Squadron vehicle maintenance section recently received 15

iPads to use in accomplishing their daily mission, quickly

returning vehicles to the user.

With this newly implemented program, a device called Lemur

BlueDriver Onboard Diagnostic system connects to the

vehicle and in return sends out a Bluetooth signal to the iPad

running the Lemur BlueDriver application. At this point the

application displays engine codes, trouble codes and steps

needed to correct the problem.

Prior to using iPads, Airmen checked out the diagnostics tools

in order to troubleshoot each vehicle and researched technical

orders afterwards. Now mechanics use just one device for

on-board diagnostics and researching, saving a minimum of

two hours per vehicle, which means a quicker turn around for

the user.

We can troubleshoot vehicles faster, said Staff Sgt. Victor

Dioquino, 380th ELRS NCO in charge, customer service center.

We just plug in the Lemur BlueDriver system and go.

Using the iPad is lightweight and very easy to use, added

Dioquino. Instead of hauling around a box, now we just carry an

iPad and a small device.

All of our technicians are going to be using the iPad,said Staff

Sgt. Jason Fox, 380th ELRS maintenance support. They will

be able to use them not just for technical orders, but also to

perform diagnostics on the vehicles.

Sta Sgt. Victor Dioquino, 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness

Squadron NCO in charge customer service center, uses an iPad to

perform a vehicle diagnostic while Sta Sgt. Stewart Brown, 380th

ELRS vehicle mechanic, prepares to take corrective actions at an

undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Nov 4, 2014. With this newly

implemented program, a device called Lemur BlueDriver On-board

Diagnostic system connects to the vehicle and in return sends out a

Bluetooth signal to the iPad running the Lemur BlueDriver application.

(U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Marie Brown)

The Lemur BlueDriver application is displayed on an iPad Nov. 4, 2014, atan undisclosed location in Southwest Asia. The application is used by

vehicle mechanics from the 380th Expeditionary Logistical ReadinessSquadron to store technical order manuals as well as perform diagnosticson vehicles. They are the rst unit in the region to use this technology toenhance their mission. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Marie Brown)

See ELRS on PG 4

1 Dec 2014

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ELRS Continued from PG 3

The use of an iPad has its own advantages as well as

disadvantages just as any other new program that is

implemented in the Air Force.

An advantage is that the technicians will be able to access the

TOs on the iPad without having to find an open computer,said

Fox. All the information will be right at their fingertips.

On the flip side, our biggest disadvantage at the moment is not

having Wi-Fi connectivity, said Fox. Wi-Fi allows the Lemur

BlueDriver application to search the internet for possible causesand solutions in regards to trouble codes that the vehicle is

displaying.

Fox also added that Wi-Fi will also allow mechanics to perform

research for specific vehicle parts without having to leave the

vehicle itself.

One of the overall Air Force benefits is a reduction in

purchasing equipment upgrades at about $2,400 annually,

added Fox. Some of the diagnostic tools we were using

required periodic updates, which ranged anywhere from $350 to

$1,000 a year depending on what updates were needed, said

Fox.

Using the iPads we are able to eliminate that cost and use the

money to purchase other equipment needs within our unit. But

just like any other technical device there is always the potential

of it failing, breaking or getting misplaced, lost or stolen.

Our plan is to have a MacBook Pro, which is basically going to

be our master system with all the TOs loaded on it,said Fox. If

one of the iPads gets lost or broken then we will be able to

recover that information from the MacBook Pro. We will also be

able to track each individual iPad using the Find My iPadapplication.

A concern for many vehicle maintainers here is will the iPad be

durable enough to withstand a beating over time. At this time

no iPad has been broken, said Fox. Everyone likes the fact

they are easy to use and light to carry.

As time goes on, they vehicle maintainers will continue to

advance their use of technology in their day-to-day operations.

Hands-on training sessions have been conducted for

approximately 25 mechanics to make sure they fully

understand how the latest system works

Video illers

Printing a Car: A Team Effort in Innovation

Submitted by Mack Burton, CMSgt (Ret/2T1)

See more at: http://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovation

Heres afun couple of minutes for you; fastenyour seatbelts!

Submitted by Reade Holzbaur, WS-12 (Ret/2T3)

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http://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.youtube.com/embed/Uzgh8iSuTZAhttp://www.youtube.com/embed/gWAavCjVQvMhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovationhttp://www.energy.gov/eere/amo/downloads/printing-car-team-effort-innovation


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Anti-Idling Technologies: Do They Work?

Continued from PG 7

The cost per unit for parts is around $450 per car and requires

about four hours of labor per car for system installation, which

was performed in-house.

We fully expect an ROI in less than six months while at the

same time helping the Sheriff to comply with the grand jury s

mandate and the countys anti-idling policy, Guenthart said.

We will be closely monitoring actual savings and results going

forward.

Clark Public Utilities: 6 Years of Idle Reduction & Some

Surprising Benefits

Clark Public Utilities in Vancouver, Wash., approaches

idle-reduction technology from a slightly different standpoint.

Where many fleets invest primarily because of the fuel savings,

this fleet found that excessive idling had a big impact on

equipment engine life, especially in its diesel application, where

a major cause of engine failure was excessive idling.

To address the problem, the fleet services department first

looked into using auxiliary power units but found them to be too

large and expensive for its specific application. It then started

experimenting with smaller technology and eventually found a

system that could fit onto large, medium, and small trucks alike.

Today, Clark Public Utilities has 10 large manlifts and eight

one-ton cargo vans using idle-reducing equipment. By the end

of next year the organization hopes to have 25 more units

equipped.

Clark Public Utilities uses an idle reduction module from Ozone

Technologies designed to automatically start and stop the

engine within a controlled set of programmable values and

ambient temperature.

It, along with a 3,000-watt inverter and three auxiliary six-volt

batteries, provides for a system that is designed to let ourequipment operate all their emergency lights, work management

systems, and other auxiliary systems for over three hours before

a restart, said Paul Chamberlain, fleet services manager. Itcan be integrated into both gas and diesel engine applications

within any application and vehicle or truck electrical system.

After six years in use, Clark Public Utilities has seen about a

10% reduction in idling. We are using the data we collect to

assist us in communicating the impact that excessive idling has

on equipment reliability, Chamberlain said. The pay-off for uswill come in an opportunity to increase fleet reliability when

idling is reduced as we have found that excessive idling is

detrimental to equipment engine life.

While idling reduction has been in place for years, Chamberlain

said there is still room for more to come. I hope to expand

further into more of our medium--duty service type trucks. Right

now our department goal is to communicate the data and talk

about the benefits to get department buy-in, he said. Once we

get buy-in, our utility should easily see a 30% reduction in

idling.

Click to View AutoGuides Top 10 Cars of SEMA 2014 SEMA Show

Click RealTruck.Com Logo to View Gallery of Trucks and More

8

1 Dec 2014
http://www.youtube.com/embed/gcwFrkqZfoMhttp://www.realtruck.com/sema/?utm_source=youtube&utm_medium=invideo&utm_content=sema2014day1realtruckcom&utm_campaign=sema


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Road Warriors.still truckin on

by Dustin Silk, CIVInstructor Supervisor

The Vehicle Operations Apprentice Course moved from

Lackland AFB to Fort Leonard Wood, MO in 1997. The Vehicle

Operations career field is responsible for transporting AF

personnel and cargo world-wide to achieve mission objectives

during peacetime and wartime operations.

The course is designed for 30 academic days or 240 hours oftraining. On average, the schoolhouse can have as many as 60

students in training at any time and graduates 290-400 students

annually. The students receive 13 CCAF semester hours for

completing the course.

The schoolhouse instructors prepare active duty, AF Reserve,

and ANG basic trainees and cross-trainees to assume the 3-skill

level in the 2T1X1 career field.

Airmen attending the course are taught at the basic task level

how to operate buses (28 & 44-passenger), forklifts (4k & 10K),

and tractor trailers.

In addition to operating vehicles, the students learn material

management in distribution, Information warfare/OPSEC

vulnerabilities, AFSC duties and hazards, vehicles under/over

10,000 GVW, radio communications, and loading/lashing cargo.

The course also includes accountable document distribution,

special handling assets, protocol functions, flight-line operations,

operator care, wrecker/recovery vehicles, wheel assembly

removal and replacement, military design vehicles, mobility

operations, form documentation, official use/misuse policies,

land navigation, transporting hazardous cargo, tow hitch/pintle

hook, and basic convoy operations.

In the near future, the Vehicle Operations Course will be startinga new curriculum that will increase from five blocks of instruction

to six blocks of instruction.

This re-write will add at least 20 hours of additional hands on

driving for the students before they graduate.

The Vehicle Operations Schoolhouse also dedicated their

vehicle simulator bay to the Convoy Warrior Association (CWA).

All graduations will be held in the bay to allow graduating

students, family members, and instructors to see the Convoy

legacy of the 2T1 career field.

Vehicle Operations Instructors

1 Dec 2014

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1 Dec 2014

African Americans Gain Fame as World War II

Red Ball Express Drivers

by Rudi Williams

American Forces Press Service commemorate

WASHINGTON, Feb. 15, 2002 "When Gen. Patton said for

you be there, you were there if you had to drive all day and all

night. Those trucks just kept running. They'd break down, we'd

fix them and they'd run again," said James D. Rookard, a truck

driver with the famous World War II Red Ball Express.

Army Gen. George S. Patton's bold armored advance across

France in 1944 is credited historically as a significant

contribution to the Allied victory in Europe in World War II. The

Allied breakout from Normandy and the French hedgerow

country in the summer started a race to Paris and points north

and east. Patton stretched his supply line to near collapse.

Since an army without gas, bullets and food would quickly be

defeated, the Army Transportation Corps created a huge

trucking operation called the "Red Ball Express" on Aug. 21,

1944. Supply trucks started rolling Aug. 25 and continued for 82

days. Men like Rookard, then 19, played a major role in the

Nazis' defeat by ensuring U.S. and Allied warfighters had whatthey needed to sweep across France into Germany.

Nearly 75 percent of all Red Ball Express drivers, like Rookard,

were African American. That's because well before and during

the war, U.S. commanders in general believed African

Americans had no mettle or guts for combat.

Consequently, the Army relegated blacks primarily to "safe"

service and supply outfits and the Navy assigned them as mess

stewards. All Marines are combat troops --the Corps refused to

take blacks at all until 1942.

"Red Ball Express" was the Army code name for a truck convoy

system that stretched from St. Lo in Normandy to Paris and

eventually to the front along France's northeastern borderland.

The route was marked with red balls. On an average day, 900

fully loaded vehicles were on the Red Ball route round -the-clock

with drivers officially ordered to observe 60-yard intervals and a

top speed of 25 miles per hour.

At the Red Ball's peak, 140 truck companies were strung out

with a round trip taking 54 hours as the route stretched nearly

400 miles to First Army and 350 to Patton's Third.

Rookard recalled convoys rolling all day every day regardless of

the weather. Night driving was hard because of blackout rules.

"We had to drive slowly at night because we had to use 'cat

eyes,' and you could hardly see," he said. "If you turned on your

headlights, the Germans could bomb the whole convoy. So we

had to feel our way down the road." "Cat- eyes" were slitted

headlight covers that reduced light to a dim beam on the

highway.

Nobody wanted to invite air or ground ambushes --only some

trucks had .50-caliber machine guns for defense, he said. The

drivers carried only carbines.

Continued on PG 11

Editors Comments: I think its safe to say that most of us are

familiar with the Tuskegee Airmen and their role in the Allied victory

in WW II. However, a lesser known Army unit called the Red Ball

Express, nearly 75 percent of which were African Americans, also

made a significant contribution to the war effort by trucking vital

supplies to the front lines. They were a forerunner to the gun truck

convoys in Vietnam and Combat Truckers in Iraq. DoD News

published this article in 2002 to commemorate their distinguished

service.

Also visit these websites: http://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/

museum/transportation%20museum/redballintro.htm and http://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gun

Soldiers load trucks with rations bound for frontline troops. From left toright are Pvt. Harold Hendricks, Sta Sgt. Carl Haines, Sgt. Theodore

Cutright, Pvt. Lawrence Buckhalter, Pfc. Horace Deahl and Pvt. David N.Hatcher. The troops were assigned to the 4185th Quartermaster ServiceCompany, Liege, Belgium. Photo Courtesy Army Transportation Museum.

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http://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/redballintro.htmhttp://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/redballintro.htmhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.truckercash.com/blog/combat-truckers-driving-under-the-gunhttp://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/redballintro.htmhttp://www.transchool.lee.army.mil/museum/transportation%20museum/redballintro.htm


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1 Dec 2014

The strain on personnel and equipment began to show. Drivers

wanted to live up to their growing reputation among combat

units and reporters, who sent home news stories about their

exploits. They regularly began to ignore speed and weight limits

and their own fatigue. The number of one- vehicle accidents

climbed. The solution was easy -- the Army assigned relief

drivers to ride shotgun.

"We hauled anything Gen. Patton needed," said Rookard, who

was drafted into the Army in March 1943 and was discharged in

December 1946. "We took supplies all the way to the front line,

back and forth, back and forth. Some of the fellows ran into

ambushes, but my company, Company C, 514th Quartermaster

Regiment, wasn't. We were lucky, because there was shooting

all around us. The Germans had 'buzz bombs' (V-1 missiles).

They were set to fly a certain amount of miles and (then) drop

just like a bomb. We had to watch out for those.

"My worst memories of being in the Red Ball Express were

seeing trucks get blown up and being afraid that I might get

killed," said Rookard of Maple Heights, Ohio. "There were dead

bodies and dead horses on the highways after bombs dropped.

I was scared, but I did my job, hoping for the best. Being young

and about 4,000 miles away from home, anybody would be

scared."

Rookard, who became a Cleveland city truck driver after the war

and retired in 1986, said the only fond memory he has is that of

the French people, who treated African Americans nice. "Some

of the white soldiers told the French people that black soldiers

had tails and stuff like that," he said. "But other than that, our

company didn't have too much trouble with segregation and

discrimination." When the program ended in mid-November

1944, Red Ball Express truckers had delivered 412,193 tons of

gas, oil, lubricants, ammunition, food and other essentials. By

then, 210,209 African Americans were serving in Europe and

93,292 of them were in the Quartermaster Corps.

James Rookard was 19 when his truck company

drove in the famous Red Ball Express, the U.S.

supply lifeline that allowed frontline units to

advance and force a German retreat from France.

Over just three months, drivers delivered 412,000

tons of gas, food, ammo and other materiel around

the clock. Photo courtesy James Rookard.

See related story at the following website:

http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/

wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.html

African American members of the World War II Red Ball Express repaira 2.5-ton truck while a crewman at a machine gun keeps watch for theenemy. Photo courtesy Army Transportation Museum.

A Red Ball Express truck gets stuck in the mud during World War II.

Photo Courtesy Army Transportation Museum.

Editors Note: Additional photos from this article can be viewed at:

http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43934

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Continued from PG 10
http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.htmlhttp://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.htmlhttp://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.htmlhttp://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.htmlhttp://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43934http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43934http://www.defense.gov/news/newsarticle.aspx?id=43934http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.htmlhttp://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2009/09/wwii_driver_recalls_the_red_ba.html


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