Military Vehicles, March 1997,: Re: The M-151 Roll Over Debate
Re: The M-151 Roll Over Debate
Jim Rice (jimrice@iamerica.net)
Thu, 13 Mar 1997 15:58:12 -0600
During my entire association with the M-151 series, I've never seen or
known personally anyone that has ever rolled one. The Army did go to
great lengths to train M-151 drivers though. There were a multitude of
training films and pamplets to read. I have seen pictures of rolled
M-151s but they were never accompanied with detailed explainations. Of
course, I've seen pictures of rolled tanks and APCs too, so pictures
don't always tell the whole story. What matters is knowing the vehicles
characteristics and understanding how a given action will cause a
specific reaction. Proper training and knowledge will avoid most
problems. A CJ-5 mishandled will kill you just as quickly as an M-151
and the number of CJ-5's still on the road is quite high.
I've never come close to rolling an M-151A2 and in my seven years of
dealing with them in the Army we took them in some pretty rough terrain
and long distance road marches. I've also driven several miles in the
last three years in an M-151A1 and had no problems on the road and that
is where most of the roll overs occured. I AM NOT DISPUTING that the
M-151 will not roll if abused. They in fact do and have. But again, so
will any CJ.
Jim Rice
Major, US Army