The Army’s program office for light tactical wheeled vehicles
is drafting a requirements document that would eventually lead to
the acquisition of the ultra-light, all-terrain truck known as the
Gator.
The vehicle gained vast popularity in Afghanistan, because it’s
small enough —at 1,600 pounds—that soldiers found manifold
applications for it. “We used it for everything from hauling
ammunition to hauling casualties, it fits onto the Chinook helicopter
without having to take the troops’ seats out. ... You can
fit two or three in a Chinook,” said Staff Sgt. Anthony Franke,
from the 101st Airborne Division. He spoke to National Defense during
the 2002 Joint Services air show at Andrews Air Force Base, Md.
The manufacturer of the Gator, John Deere & Co., already is
selling the vehicle to Army, National Guard and special operations
units, even though the Gator is not officially an Army acquisition
program. The units are purchasing the $14,000 vehicles with their
own discretionary operations and maintenance (O&M) funds.
“We are currently working with the Army Reserves on a plus
up to fund an urgent requirement for M [military] Gators to support
their homeland security mission,” said Dan Smith, a Deere
& Co. executive.
He explained that the M Gator was conceived jointly by Deere and
the Army XVIII Airborne Corps, to replace the M274 Mule, popular
with light forces during the Vietnam War.
The acquisition of the Humvee in the mid-1980s, Smith said, “meant
the loss of the Mule, the M151 Jeep and the 3/4 ton truck, leaving
the soldier with no capability to carry loads and provide medical
evacuation in small areas of operation such as a drop zone or a
battalion support area.”
Most of the Army Gators, he said, have been purchased with O&M
funds, with some help from Congress. The Special Operations Command
also has bought several vehicles.
Franke, the air assault soldier, explained that the Gator is “good
for getting into little tight places like a stand of trees for example,
where you might have an infantry company sitting, or a platoon,
and you want to bring them their chow or ammo around.”
The vehicle, he added, “works great for light infantry support.
It is a lot quieter than a Humvee. We have had guys strap a machine
gun onto the front of it. ... We can use it to haul ammo up from
an ammo dump to a forward mortar team, for example. They can haul
it up real quick.”
But Franke explained that the Gator has some significant limitations
too. “It is kind of slow,” he said. “The thing
only goes 15 miles an hour. ... It is a little more than a tough
golf cart. It does have the capability to act like a dump truck,
so to speak, because the bed does tilt so if you had a whole load
of dirt for sand bags you can do that with it. It is also more than
a golf cart, because it is all four-wheel drive.”
However, he added, “I wouldn’t call it more mobile
than a Humvee, because a Humvee can get into the deep mud and into
nasty stuff, and I would not take a Gator into that.”
A soldier from the 75th Ranger Regiment, who requested that he
not be quoted by name, said the Gator is “loud, noisy and
goes too low to the ground. It’s a golf cart, it is used for
administrative purposes. It can only get used on dirt roads. Four
wheelers do a much better job.”
Phil Mengs, deputy program manager for light tactical wheeled vehicles,
said it’s not certain yet whether or when the Gator will become
an official Army acquisition requirement. “We are still working
on a future acquisition strategy,” he said. “Once we
get the requirement complete, we will put together the acquisition
strategy.”