Man, and we think it's rough when we get stuck! At least it doesn't happen to us with artillery firing overhead (at least not usually). You have to hand it to our highly trained military who, even after all the hardship and tough times they see, are still able to stop, smile, and take the time to share with us some of the best Whoops! incidents we've ever seen. Thanks again, guys. We hope you're off and out of that foreign terrain soon.
These pics were taken in Baqubah, Iraq, just before the elections in January. This Bradley was so stuck that it took another two Bradleys to get it out. For the record, that's not just mud it's stuck in. At least where I come from, mud does not have small chunks of corn in it. You can imagine how pleased these guys were.
Rick Lamach
Troop E 163 CAV
Crazyhorse Patrol Base
This is a picture of some of my Marines stationed in Djibouti, Africa (right above Somalia), as part of Operation Enduring Freedom (I'm sure some don't even know we have a base there).
And this is how we do off-roading in the Second Provisional Security Company while we're away from home.
To all the people who think Humvees are unstoppable, think again. Maybe we should let real off-roaders build rigs for the military.
Christopher Tobias
via e-mail
We're currently deployed in Kyrgystan, and we went to go pull out some cops (like we always do around here) when we ran across this. It had been raining for two days straight and the Security Forces were patrolling outside the wire when their HMMWV sunk to the frame. With a good yank, we pulled it out no problem (we were in a 5-ton M-series Wrecker with 49-inch tires).
Name Withheld
via e-mail
While on patrol in a small village outside Kirkuk, Iraq, we came across this mudhole. The lead vehicle got buried before they realized it was too late. We tried to pull it out with another vehicle but got that one stuck too. It took almost an hour, plus another vehicle, to get unstuck.
Chad Cross
via e-mail
Recently Marine Forces reserve participated in Battle Griffin '05. Naturally, we took our gear into elements that most Marines don't see every day. During this time we had several pieces of stuck gear, and we had to send you some pics.
The first is of our HMMWV that decided to follow a Norwegian BV (a tracked snow truck) and found out rather quickly that Hummers can't walk on snow.
The second is of a Norwegian BV that was no match for an iced-over creek (glad we weren't the only ones who got stuck!)
Semper Fi.
Staff Sgt. Rick Megee
Heavy Equipment Chief, I&I Savannah, GA
Out on patrol in Iraq, we were searching a brush-covered river when my armored Humvee sank. The land was dry and hard as a rock, but 6 inches down it was a thick, clay goop. Another Humvee got stuck trying to free mine, and we finally had to call an eight-wheel-drive HEMTT Wrecker to get us out. He almost got stuck too.
Luke Harriman, Halfway, OR
Typical day, out on a mission and just when everything seems OK and it's time to go back...we hear, "Uh guys, can you hold up a minute?"
We turned back around to find this. Nothing was broken except for the driver's pride.
Sgt. Bennett (and no, I wasn't driving)
U.S. Army, Infantry
Baqubah, Iraq
Spc. Binning had to get a running start to pull this 5-ton truck onto the flatbed trailer, but as you can see things didn't go as well as planned.
Spc. Joseph Caito and Spc. Landon Binning
Operation Iraq Freedom III
Northern Iraq
Here is a fueler I was driving when it stuck itself.
3rd Brigade 2nd Infantry
Division Stryker Brigade
Q West Airfield, Iraq