At the risk of belaboring the point, I must add that we are not born with
information on special purpose vehicles nor are we all born with common
sense. The only way we gain knowlege is to ask questions of people who are
experienced with the equipment and this list has an abundance of knowlege
of all aspects of the subject. An example, from personal experience, is
the M-715 series truck I bought a couple of years back. I took a chance
and bought one even though I couldn't find any information on them or where
to get parts. It was asking "stupid questions" to the kind and patient
folks on this list that allowed me to find sources of info and parts. I
made contacts that quickly got me up to speed on the quirks and
peculiarities of this series of vehicle. There are plenty of guys on the
list, ex motorpool sargents, that will tell you just what you are getting
yourself in for if you buy that "neat truck" you asked about. The
youngster who potentially buys a Deuce and a half and goes out unprepaired
and runs over some one could more easily go buy a used Mustang GT and let
that High output 302 get away from him and cause an equally bad tragedy.
As for common sense, it seems to come with experience. When a person comes
to the realization that his knowlege base is a little weak then he is ready
to seek the experiences of others. Due to the input from all of the list
members that have helped me with my first personal military vehicle, I have
confidence in the truck and what it can and can't do. I now know how to
handle all sorts of problems including total brake failure (which happened
once without any tragic results).
With gratitude to the members of the list,
Jim 1967 M-715 Kaiser Jeep cargo truck
1983 M-101A1 cargo trailer (USMC)
----------
> From: Julian Burke <julianb@esper.com>
> To: Military Chat Group <mil-veh@skylee.com>
> Subject: [MV] Reality
> Date: Wednesday, May 05, 1999 16:23 PM
>
> Hello, I forgot to make the point of the deuce. DRMO's are open to
EVERYONE
> over 18 years of age. Suppose a 20 year old sees a duece and "thinks
it's
> neat" and wants one. M35's go for around $1200-2500 from surplus. He
buys
> it and gets some "fatherly advice", gets in and "fires it up" not knowing
> the throttle control or how the brake system works. It gets away from
him
> and he kills someone or himself. People will run around asking "what
> happened"? DRMO's don't check if you know how to operate one. He may
have
> not known of some cannabalization that took place on the brake system and
> couldn't stop it even though it was listed in "good condition". Then
they
> WILL be placed on the "demil" list. One DRMO has already said they were.
> M35's are NOT to be reckoned with like a Dodge Caravan for fatherly
advice.
> There are procedures/experience that MUST be known to a driver to operate
> these big machines and NOT fatherly advice. Does anyone see my analogy
> here? The DUCK that sank in Arkanas will not help our cause even though
it
> wasn't the operators fault. It's how the media portrays it. If you want
> one and know nothing about it, find someone who has one, learn to drive
it
> and only then should you find a "gettin place" for one, NOT "what should
I
> look for". I hope this clarifies my opinion. Julian Burke
>
>
> ===
> To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
> UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.
===
To unsubscribe from the mil-veh mailing list, send the single word
UNSUBSCRIBE in the body of a message to <mil-veh-request@skylee.com>.