437th flies monster equipment to war zones
AIRMAN 1ST CLASS TIMOTHY TAYLOR
U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTO
Three High Mobility Engineer Excavators, or HMEEs, already have been shipped from the Charleston Air Force Base, and three more will go out as soon as another C-5 aircraft is available. The HMEEs are 30-foot-long, mine-resistant earthmovers that can dig holes and clear or block roads or bridges.
A new phase in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq has been moving out of Charleston this week.
C-5 cargo planes are transporting a fleet of super-fast, mine-resistant earthmovers that can scoot along at 60 mph — even off road — to dig holes, clear or block roads and bridges, take a hit and keep on trucking.
They're called High Mobility Engineer Excavators, or HMEEs. They're meant to ensure that fewer soldiers will be easy targets while creeping along hauling heavy equipment to build roads and bridges, according to military personnel and the manufacturer, JCB of Savannah.
"The HMEE revolutionizes the way engineering is used on the battlefield," the company said in a statement. JCB has a $230 million contract with the Army to build 800 of them.
The first three went out of Charleston on Monday, according to Trisha Schmalz, media chief for the Charleston Air Force Base's 437th Airlift Wing. Three more will head out as soon as another C-5 is ready, she said.
The first half-dozen are heading for Afghanistan, according to the release from JCB.
"What's great about these machines is that they are mine- resistant and they give our guys who are driving them a precious few seconds to get out of harm's way if they do get hit by a mine or improvised explosive device," Staff Sgt. Heather Kern, with the 437th Aerial Port Squadron, said in a statement. "It's very important to make sure the guys on the ground in Iraq and Afghanistan have the equipment they need."
Chris Saucedo, JCB's general manager for military products, has been in Iraq twice with the Marine Reserve, according to his biography.
He was commander of the division that built a floating bridge, nearly the length of two football fields, across the Tigris River for the 1st Marine Division's drive into Baghdad.
"This machine is definitely different," he said in a statement. "I want every troop in harm's way to know ... we're all behind you and pulling for you 100 percent."
The 30-foot-long behemoths can carry two soldiers in an air-conditioned cab, dig holes 13 feet deep, lift more than 2.2 tons and keep driving on flat tires, according to the specifications.
Reach Dave Munday at 745-5862 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.
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