buzz@toast.net wrote:
One of the problems being faced by the military is the dramatic
change in the mechanical nature of it's vehicles.
could be maintained by anyone
who has ever worked on a tractor.
Buzz makes some good points. I would add one of the biggest problems is that
most of todays soldiers have ever worked on a tractor. If
you drive by the high schools in suburbia the kids drive better, newer cars
than the teachers. Given that modern cars do not lend
themselves to owner maintenace most of the kids have never worked on them.
When I was a company commander finding troops who could drive stick shifts
was very diffficult, let alone finding ones with mechanical
experience to work on vehicles. My motor sergeant preferred the operators
not work on the vehicles as they tended to create more
problems just performing simple operator maintenace than they resolved. This
of course over-worked the mechanics
I also agree that design has become more complex (and the vehicles more
capable in some ways but there are tradeoffs.
Paul f
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