US Army technology helps soldiers survive Humvee rollovers

Not sure exactly what's scarier - actually flipping something as large as a Humvee or being trained to survive the flipping of a Humvee. The US Army this week opened its latest Humvee Egress Assistance Trainer, or HEAT, a machine that simulates a Humvee rollover and helps soldiers practice escaping safely from an inverted vehicle.

About 250 U.S. troops have been severely injured in rollovers since Operation Iraqi Freedom began in March 2003, with 90 of them dying from their injuries, according to a U.S. Army report released in 2006.

In a nutshell the HEAT is an M1114, or what's called an uparmored humvee, chassis mounted on an axle, powered by a generator. When in operation, the device rotates the entire chassis to simulate a rollover situation.

According to the Army conducting this sort of training under controlled conditions will let soldiers learn safer egress procedures. Such practice is necessary for the Soldiers to achieve self-control and overcome natural fear and panic following the catastrophic event which led to the vehicle becoming inverted, the Army said.

"This helps with soldier's muscle memory, so they know how to react if the vehicle rolls over," said Anthony Moore, chief of the Kaiserslautern Training Support Center of the 7th U.S. Army Multinational Training Command in a recent Stars and Stripes article. . "If you turn over enough times you know what to do if the vehicle flips."

The HEAT weighs 13,200 pounds, and has a gun turret and armor similar to its real-life counterpart. Up to five soldiers can participate in HEAT training exercises at a time. 53 HEAT trainers at a cost of about $250,000 each are set to be manufactured by Red River Army Depot and they will be utilized Army-wide. Some have been deployed in Germany and Iraq.

The HEAT is not unlike the US Navy's Dilbert Dunker which was intended to teach Naval Aviators how to get out of ditched aircraft that had crashed in the water and were inverted. The Dilbert Dunker impacts the water, becomes submerged and flips over (upside down) with the student strapped in its "cockpit," simulating what might happen in a real ditching. The student then orients himself or herself, unstraps and swims clear. Safety swimmers are underwater to assist when necessary.

The Dunker made famous in the movie, "An Officer and a Gentleman" was located on the naval base on Whidbey Island, Washington. It has since been retired from duty but over 8,300 naval aviators trained on it.