No, I'm not talking about a single, 40+ desperate woman in search of a young, innocent male. A Cougar is one of the vehicles we use to travel in Afghanistan. There are only a handful of paved roads in all of Afghanistan so when we travel to a village or construction project we need a heavily armored all-terrain vehicle. The other vehicle of choice is the MRAP (Mine Resistant Ambush Protected). The Navy and Marine Corps typically have Cougars while the Army has MRAPs. Because the PRT is a mix of Army and Navy, we have both vehicles.
You're getting a view I took from the TC (Truck Commander) position aka shotgun. As TC on a Cougar I'm conducting similar duties to the one's that I had when I was flying P-3s to include communications, navigation, and directing the weapon system (authorizing my gunner in the turret to engage targets). The glass you're looking through is several inches thick. We're actually driving down a road here, but it looks more like a river. For those detail oriented people, the vehicle in front of me is an MRAP.
4 comments:
Since the infrastructure in Afghanistan is so much poorer than Iraq and the terrain is so much more severe, one might wonder how MRAPs like the Cougar fare if they have to go off-road.
Hi Drew,
Dave % I are loyal followers of your blog. We have learned and will continue to learn so much about Afgh and the work you guys are doing! Your sense of humor is great and your courage is incredible!
Stay Safe!
Nancy Record
It looks pretty desolate. The sky is beautiful is it usually like that or just some days? Are there just roads leading to where the towns and nothing before the towns? So you must have a large group of people traveling place to place. When I read about the military vehicles, I wondering what those vehicles get mgh wise? There is still snow there, in Yakima there is nothing, dang it, but the skiing is still available up on White Pass and Snowqualmie.
Amy
Hi Andrew,
It sure must take a long time to go from place to place in the slow paced Cougar. Is it a diesel engine? Is it one of your job descriptions to be TC all the time or does your team take turns? I was talking to Jude Bervincheck a little while ago to update him on your deployment...his concerns and prayers are for you. Strong wrestling program, finished second in their section. Hempfield boys basketball have an undefeated season in the L-L League, 20-1 overall. I've been going to F&M games, 19-2 overall, rated first in the Middle Atlantic Region Poll, ranked 21st nationally in the D3hoops.com Top 25 poll (Division III). Miss you. Love,Dad
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