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M1977 Common Bridge Transporter with MKII Bridge Erection Boat loaded.
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I have been tasked to bring two vehicles and four Soldiers to a St. Patrick's Parade this weekend. No biggie, conduct a PMCS (preventive maintenance check and services), double check safety equipment, check fuel level, stage in the company parking lot and ...wait a minute, is my boat truck too tall?
In my MOS (military occupational specialty) we use large trucks and boats to build floating bridges. The M1977 Common Bridge Transporter (CBT) is a modified M977 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Trucks (HEMTT) chassis with a load handling system (LHS) installed. Manufactured by Oshkosh Defense, the M977 chassis is used for many things like wreckers and tankers and guided missile transporters.
We use our M1977A2 CBTs to haul supplies, bridges and boats. It is pretty strange to see a truck with a boat in the middle of the Iraq desert but we were there. The M14 Improved Boat Cradle (IBC) holds the MKII Bridge Erection Boat (BEB). Yes, we erect bridges with it.
One would think they could find the simple answer of how tall this combination is from a technical manual. Nope. Through the power of the Internet, I was able to find the final transportability approval for the CBT program. And in Table 1 was my answer.
However, what is legal in the state of operation? Look no further than vehicle restriction statutes found on the department of transportation web site.
Now we just have to make sure we don't hit any low hanging cables. Éirinn go Brách.
Additional notes:
"Truck, Cargo, Common Bridge Transporter, With Winch, M1977A2", "Transporter, Common Bridge" (NSN 2320-01-492-8219) $217,434.
"Truck, Cargo, Common Bridge Transporter, Without Winch, M1977A2", "Transporter, Common Bridge" (NSN 2320-01-492-8218) $207,241.
The boat video is pure MOS porn. Army recruiters don't show teenagers the very heavy bridge parts they get to lift or mention rolling around in human and camel feces under damaged bridges in a combat zone while wearing 50+ lbs of body armor. However, I signed back up--twice.