Learning to drive a light armoured vehicle

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This article was published 19/10/2018 (2758 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

The hills of Brandon are alive with Canadian Forces Base Shilo military student drivers learning to command light armoured vehicles.

“Ideally, we train them up on all aspects of the car,” Sgt. Dustin Tymchak said.

Brandon residents will see Canadian Forces artillery teams training to drive giant light armoured vehicles over the next few weeks.

Soldiers train to drive the vehicle for 18 days, beginning with in-classroom learning theory and continuing with more than two weeks’ training in groups of three in the vehicle, driving in both rural and urban spaces. Students can then work up to being a gunner, shooting from the turret located on the vehicle.

They will drive 200 kilometres in each environment to ensure they are comfortable on the road.

The ultimate goal is to have student drivers comfortable in the vehicle before they hit the road in more populated areas like Brandon, Tymchak said. It’s one thing driving in an open field, but it’s a whole other beast conquering merging and sharing the road with other vehicles.

“It (driving) gets them used to driving in any conditions possible,” said Master Bombardier Ryan Gilks.

Before coming to Brandon, students work in a Shilo training area, driving around different ranges. This is one of the many practices used to encourage students’ comfort driving the vehicle. An emphasis is placed on learning to drive the vehicles tactically in these scenarios, taking advantage of the environment to hide the vehicle, Gilks said.

The training exercise also help Gilks to get comfortable with the students he’s training.

The light armoured vehicle version 6 is the main car driven by students. The car itself is intuitive to drive, said Tymchak. Each one costs $1.5 million and includes a lot of technology, making it easier to drive.

“These cars are always evolving,” Tymchak said.

The vehicle stretches approximately three by five metres and weighs about 40,000 pounds unloaded. One tire alone weighs approximately 500 pounds and there are eight tires on each vehicle.

Driving the light armoured vehicle is like driving a normal vehicle, but with bigger blind spots, Gilks said. One can’t see behind them and it is difficult to gauge the distance from objects.

“It’s like a normal vehicle. It’s got a steering wheel, a shifter and a brake pedal. It’s like driving a big pickup truck,” Gilks said.

Equipped with two fuel tanks holding approximately 200 litres each, the light armoured vehicle can travel at maximum about 600 kilometres.

During road moves to areas such as Wainwright, Alta., every step is planned out and gas stations warned. A troop of light armoured vehicles can drain a gas station dry.

The large size of the vehicle creates exaggerated movements when driving, with the excessive weight lurching it forward. When you stop, the whole car stops, with all the weight moving at once.

Driving the vehicle is comparable to driving a boat, Tymchak said. The exaggerated movements are like being on open water, creating a swing in the vehicle.

The main challenge in learning to drive the light armoured vehicle is creating familiarity with the sheer size and associated spacial awareness needed to drive it.

Driving in the tight quarters of urban areas can prove difficult given the weight and size of the vehicle.

Due to these extraneous conditions, an emphasis is placed on defensive driving as new students learn to drive.

“They’re driving for everybody else … for everybody else’s safety,” Tymchak said.

The students conduct laps driving in and around Brandon, and the sight has become so commonplace that Tymchak said affected communities barely even blink.

These training exercises are conducted one or twice per year, Tymchak said.

While on the road, student drivers are met with a mix of excited passersby waving, to those completely indifferent to the sight of a light armoured vehicle driving down 18th Street, Gilks said.

The common complacency in the communities to student military drivers has been a boon for safety on the road because they do not distract other drivers.

The military tries to avoid busy urban centres or areas where they may be a distraction, to avoid accidents.

“It’s something so odd some people get really caught off guard and we have accidents, unfortunately,” Tymchak said. “We get into some larger areas and it becomes something of a spectacle.”

» ckemp@brandonsun.com

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