Fort Campbell Soldiers Train to Mitigate MRAP Rollovers

Soldiers rig cables to an overturned MRAP during training at Fort Campbell.

The military’s new mine-resistant vehicle, meant to replace the humvee, has a potential for rollovers. That’s why Fort Campbell soldiers are now training on how to quickly flip the so-called MRAP right side up.

The Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle, known as the MRAP, can weigh nearly 30 tons and sits much higher than an armored humvee. Those factors keep passengers safer from roadside bombs, but they contribute to its tendency for rollovers. And getting it back on all four wheels takes some heavy chains.

Engineers with the 101st Sustainment Brigade rig two cables from a wrecker to a toppled MRAP. One is to stand it up straight. Chief Warrant Officer Cleveland Witherspoon says the other cable, strung through a system of pulleys behind the overturned MRAP, keeps the vehicle from slamming down too hard.

“You don’t want to snatch it back over and damage it any further. So if you can bring it back over nice and easy, you can pull it out of that mud and get right back into the convoy.”

Two cables from an Army wrecker truck pull the MRAP upright, while also letting it down gently.

Witherspoon is visiting Fort Campbell from Fort Jackson, South Carolina. He and a team of trainers are traveling to Army posts with new instructions on how to respond to an MRAP on its side as soldiers prepare for deployments to Afghanistan.