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Last military vehicle to leave Iraq goes to Fort Hood museum
AAS 5/8/12
Last military vehicle to leave Iraq goes to Fort Hood museum
The last U.S. military vehicle to leave Iraq passed through the gates of Fort Hood on Tuesday.
It will take up residence at a military museum there and serve as a physical reminder of the end of the Iraq war. The mine-resistant, ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, belonged to Fort Hood's 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Combat Brigade, the last Army unit to depart Iraq in December. The vehicle left Kuwait in March, traveling on the cargo ship Ocean Crescent and arriving at the Port of Beaumont this week.
Under cloudy skies, the 14-ton behemoth rolled into Fort Hood chained to the back of a tractor-trailer about 2:30 p.m. Soldiers had scrawled "Last Vehicle out of Iraq" on the vehicle's heavily armored flank. A dedication ceremony at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum is scheduled for mid-June.
The design of the MRAP is a testament to the unexpected challenges faced by American troops in the early years of the Iraq war, when lightly armored Humvees left soldiers and Marines vulnerable to insurgent attacks and roadside bombs. The MRAPs, with their V-shaped armored hulls, reduced damage from improvised explosive devices and saved lives but weren't put into heavy rotation in Iraq until 2007, when the Department of Defense ordered more than 15,000 vehicles.
(snip)
Soldiers with Fort Hood's 3rd Combat Brigade, which operated in the four southernmost provinces of Iraq, were the last to leave the country, with many arriving at Fort Hood around Christmas. The last MRAP was part of a historic convoy of Fort Hood soldiers and vehicles that crossed the Iraqi border into Kuwait on Main Supply Route Tampa just before dawn Dec. 18.
Last military vehicle to leave Iraq goes to Fort Hood museum
The last U.S. military vehicle to leave Iraq passed through the gates of Fort Hood on Tuesday.
It will take up residence at a military museum there and serve as a physical reminder of the end of the Iraq war. The mine-resistant, ambush protected vehicle, or MRAP, belonged to Fort Hood's 1st Cavalry Division, 3rd Combat Brigade, the last Army unit to depart Iraq in December. The vehicle left Kuwait in March, traveling on the cargo ship Ocean Crescent and arriving at the Port of Beaumont this week.
Under cloudy skies, the 14-ton behemoth rolled into Fort Hood chained to the back of a tractor-trailer about 2:30 p.m. Soldiers had scrawled "Last Vehicle out of Iraq" on the vehicle's heavily armored flank. A dedication ceremony at the 1st Cavalry Division Museum is scheduled for mid-June.
The design of the MRAP is a testament to the unexpected challenges faced by American troops in the early years of the Iraq war, when lightly armored Humvees left soldiers and Marines vulnerable to insurgent attacks and roadside bombs. The MRAPs, with their V-shaped armored hulls, reduced damage from improvised explosive devices and saved lives but weren't put into heavy rotation in Iraq until 2007, when the Department of Defense ordered more than 15,000 vehicles.
(snip)
Soldiers with Fort Hood's 3rd Combat Brigade, which operated in the four southernmost provinces of Iraq, were the last to leave the country, with many arriving at Fort Hood around Christmas. The last MRAP was part of a historic convoy of Fort Hood soldiers and vehicles that crossed the Iraqi border into Kuwait on Main Supply Route Tampa just before dawn Dec. 18.
Now we need to get out of Afghanistan too.