OSHKOSH, WIS. (March 8, 2001) – Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NASDAQ: OTRKB], a leading manufacturer of trucks and truck bodies, announced today that the company has reached a major military milestone as the 296th Brigade Support Battalion became the First Unit Equipped (FUE) with its new Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck-Load Handling System (HEMTT-LHS) model.
The 296th Brigade Support Battalion, headquartered at Fort Lewis, Wash., is the U.S. Army’s first new medium force that was developed under the new Army transformation initiative. Called the Brigade Combat Team, it can be called upon to deploy anywhere in the world within 96 hours. Serving in a variety of combat support roles, the C-130 air-transportable Oshkosh HEMTT-LHS is integral to achieving this unit’s military mission.
We’re proud to have our vehicles serving this key role in the Army’s transformation initiative. The HEMTT-LHS combines large-scale payload capacity and exceptional battlefield mobility in a package that’s fully deployable by C-130 aircraft. This vehicle’s combination of features speaks to the engineering expertise and military application experience that we put into all of our defense trucks. Oshkosh Truck is on board to support the Army transformation,” said Robert G. Bohn, Oshkosh’s chairman, president and chief executive officer.
“Ceremonies marked the FUE landmark on March 1 at Fort Lewis, where the first 25 HEMTT-LHS units were officially handed over to the soldiers in the field. The ceremonies were attended by Jim Sutton, project manager for heavy tactical vehicles, Tank Automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM); Lieutenant Colonel Cindy Lee-Knapp, commander of the 296th BSB; Major Philip Schoenig, assistant project manager for operations and logistics for heavy tactical vehicles, TACOM; and Norb Osburn, director of heavy tactical vehicles for Oshkosh Truck.
“The soldiers and equipment standing here today represent a very important part of the Army’s transformation initiative set forth by Chief of Staff of the Army, General Eric Shinseki. [They] will spearhead our Army into the 21st century by employing cutting edge technology as a combat multiplier and reorganize the total force to a lighter, faster and more deployable unit,” said Major Schoenig during the ceremony.
Crediting the Oshkosh HEMTT, Major Schoenig commented, “The variety of equipment seen here . . . plays a significant part in reducing [the Army’s] logistical footprint. Every piece of equipment must be transportable by C-130 aircraft. The [HEMTT] vehicle family, produced by Oshkosh Truck Corporation, is rapidly deployable and is designed to operate in any climatic condition where your operations may occur.”
The HEMTT-LHS was developed by Oshkosh Truck to transport 11 tons of payload on cross-country military missions. The model features the same LHS as the revolutionary Oshkosh Palletized Load system vehicle, allowing the truck to be loaded and unloaded with cargo without additional material handling equipment. A large arm-like crane grabs pre-loaded cargo flatracks, shelters and containers, and then hoists them on to the rear of the vehicle. A trailer can also be added to double the payload.
The truck features a 450-horsepower engine. It can climb 60-percent grades, ford four feet of water and has a cruising range of 400 miles.
Oshkosh Truck Corporation [NASDAQ: OTRKB] is a leading manufacturer of specialty trucks and truck bodies for the defense, fire and emergency, concrete placement and refuse hauling markets. Oshkosh Truck is a Fortune 1000 company with products marketed under the Oshkosh, Pierce, McNeilus and Medtec brand names. The company is headquartered in Oshkosh, Wis., and had annual sales of $1.324 billion in fiscal 2000.
