That HUMVEE pic Muddydawg just posted reminded me of this article:

I hope you find it as interesting as I did....

Gunner

Soldiers' lives riding on depot's expertise



War-weary Humvees leave Red River in fighting shape
12:03 AM CDT on Monday, August 13, 2007

By DAVID McLEMORE / The Dallas Morning News
dmclemore@dallasnews.com

NEW BOSTON – Every 16 minutes, a shrill horn blast cuts through the din of power drills and a hundred hammers pounding steel, signaling that another worn and battle-damaged Humvee is entering the assembly line while a seemingly new one is going out the door.
For the workers at the Red River Army Depot, the rapid, steady pace required to restore military vehicles – broken either by roadside bombs in Iraq or the simple grind of daily use – is as certain as the rising of the sun.
But the workers have found enough letters home and relics of combat in worn-out Humvees and Bradleys to know that each vehicle carries some soldier's story. And each one they fix and send back to service may help bring a soldier safely home. So they work 10-hour days – and often six-day weeks – because someone's life depends on what they do.

We find bullets, photos, parts of uniforms in the vehicles ... letters addressed to home," said Floyd White, a supervisor on the assembly line that resurrects a never-ending line of Humvees. "You wonder what happened to the people. ... Did they get hurt or get home safe? We want the next people to use this Humvee to be safe."
Red River Army Depot, a sprawling complex on more than 18,000 acres of old cotton farmland about 15 miles west of Texarkana, opened in 1941 as an ammunition storage facility. It narrowly avoided closure by the Army in 2005, largely because of the need to rebuild the military's equipment being used in Iraq and Afghanistan.

It also serves as a staging area for 7,000 to 10,000 battered vehicles waiting for funding to be fixed.
When the Humvee went into service in the early 1980s, the Army estimated its life cycle at 13 years. Those used in Iraq last no more than two.
At Red River, East Patrol Road runs straight as an arrow for about a mile near the edge of the depot. Parked on both sides like some forlorn car lot are thousands of Humvees – lines and lines of them – ranging from ambulances to scout vehicles.
Some are Army green. Most are painted the desert tan used in Iraq. Many are scarred with shrapnel or pocked by bullets. They lean wearily on ruined tires and broken springs. They carry the names of dozens of combat units on their bumpers.
As the road leans into a curve, the line of worn-out vehicles continues.
Back in the pandemonium of the assembly line, Tim Perkins, who oversees the Humvee production, said the work almost never stops. At any given time, there are about 250 Humvees in the process.
"Depending on what the Army needs, we do reset or recapitalization – which means we replace what is broken and repair what isn't. Or we tear it down and build it back up with a complete overhaul – new parts, new engines so it rolls out just like new," he said.
"We strip them down, weld the cracks and holes, strengthen the suspension to support more armor and put them back together," he said. "The line moves from station to station every 16 minutes, which means we put out 32 or more vehicles a day."
Sand and shrapnel [/align]Since 2004, the depot has shipped more than 10,000 Humvees back to the Defense Department.
The damaged vehicles arrive almost daily at the depot by rail, shipped directly from Iraq. Many come in with fuel still in the tank and sand f

 

They sure are tough..... and yet.... still not enough

 

Those things are being pushed WAY beyond the purpose for which they were originally intended.

I don't think the engineers ever saw this type of use and abuse in their little crystal *****.......

 

that was a great read...thaks for posting it. I actually have wondered about what happened to all the vehicles they use over there...pretty amaing that they get welded up gone through and sent back over....AMAZING!! They didn't mention it in the article and I know it's pretty morbid to think of but, in the vehicles where soldiers were injured or past away....are they covered in blood...or pressure washed before shipping back to the US? That must be really tough to work on a truck and find blood or worse.. I just wish I was still healthy...I would love to go down there and volunteer my services[sm=americanasmiley.gif][sm=americanasmiley.gif][sm=americanasmiley.gif][sm=americanasmiley.gif]

 

Well............I once knew a guy who worked there for a short stint and asked him that same question:

His answer: "Things are found"............Then he trailed off into his beer........

 

wow...that's gotta be tough to deal with....them guys don't make enough $$ for what they do.

 

They take pride in the job, cause that dude sure wasnt making any money at it.......

 

interesting