R
Right Wing
Guest
I was a driver for my team one time during a divisional field exercise at Ft. Riley. In the training area, total blackout conditions were required, so during the hours of darkness, we had to drive using NVGs. As most of you know, it is difficult to judge depth and surroundings, so among the tank ruts and everything else I ran into, I also went the wrong way down a tank trail en route to our C.P.
I didn't realize until I saw the gate separating Fort Riley and the town of Riley. I slammed on the brakes, but the Hummvee in a quick skid, still struck the metal gate, causing the padlock to snap, the chain to break, and the metal gate to bend.
My sergeant did not tell anyone, as there was no damage to the Hummvee. What harm could it do to keep this a secret? Later that day, our Lt. was in our C.P. She was a very soft spoken old fashioned female. To give you an idea, we all referred to the Lt.'s driver as "Driving LT. Daisy." Lt. Peters vented to us out of the whole division the general chose her to go to the town of Riley as a diplomatic liason to apologize to some people, primarily an old woman whose house was just outside of the gate. Apparantly, some tankers took advantage of the open gate to drive into Riley and obtain food from the convenience stores, and the tanks went through this lady's yard.
Lt. Peters went on and on about how these thoughtless and selfish people broke the gate and crashed through this lady's yard to go to the store. The tanks had torn apart the garden and most of the yard.
Little did Peters know, the guy who did it was sitting right next to her. This combined with the irony of the general of the division choosing the Lt. of the culprit without knowing it, caused my team and myself to laugh. Peters had a suspicious tone as she asked what we were laughing at. We said it was a joke, but she pressed, wanting to hear it. The more she pressed, the sergeant said he forgot what it was. We thought we were caught, but she did not press any further and left.
I found out years later from another soldier who was assigned to Ft. Riley at a later time there was another accident at the same gate a year later than my accident. This time, a captain's driver rammed the gate and the metal bars of the gate went through the doors breaking the captain's legs. The traffic accident report revealed the bars were bent previously, and if they had been straight, they would have gone through the captain's torso and probably pierced his heart.
I saved his life a year ahead of time.
I didn't realize until I saw the gate separating Fort Riley and the town of Riley. I slammed on the brakes, but the Hummvee in a quick skid, still struck the metal gate, causing the padlock to snap, the chain to break, and the metal gate to bend.
My sergeant did not tell anyone, as there was no damage to the Hummvee. What harm could it do to keep this a secret? Later that day, our Lt. was in our C.P. She was a very soft spoken old fashioned female. To give you an idea, we all referred to the Lt.'s driver as "Driving LT. Daisy." Lt. Peters vented to us out of the whole division the general chose her to go to the town of Riley as a diplomatic liason to apologize to some people, primarily an old woman whose house was just outside of the gate. Apparantly, some tankers took advantage of the open gate to drive into Riley and obtain food from the convenience stores, and the tanks went through this lady's yard.
Lt. Peters went on and on about how these thoughtless and selfish people broke the gate and crashed through this lady's yard to go to the store. The tanks had torn apart the garden and most of the yard.
Little did Peters know, the guy who did it was sitting right next to her. This combined with the irony of the general of the division choosing the Lt. of the culprit without knowing it, caused my team and myself to laugh. Peters had a suspicious tone as she asked what we were laughing at. We said it was a joke, but she pressed, wanting to hear it. The more she pressed, the sergeant said he forgot what it was. We thought we were caught, but she did not press any further and left.
I found out years later from another soldier who was assigned to Ft. Riley at a later time there was another accident at the same gate a year later than my accident. This time, a captain's driver rammed the gate and the metal bars of the gate went through the doors breaking the captain's legs. The traffic accident report revealed the bars were bent previously, and if they had been straight, they would have gone through the captain's torso and probably pierced his heart.
I saved his life a year ahead of time.
