Army Guard members trained to drive big rigs

BANGOR – The Maine Army National Guard 1136th Transportation Company will be able to get more provisions to more people from now on.

In a unique converging of the military and civilian worlds, 12 Guard members were chosen to participate Saturday in a two-week course from Bangor’s Omega Pro-Truck Driving School so they could become certified to drive any commercial Class A vehicle, such as tractor-trailers, tankers and dump trucks.

Now the men can haul hazardous materials, such as home heating oil and gasoline, as well as food, supplies and ammunition, Staff Sgt. Billy Potter said Saturday after a graduation ceremony at the Army National Guard headquarters.

The training also gives them more employment opportunities stateside.

“This is the thing the Guard does best – not only making you a better soldier, but [also giving you] a skill to take back to the community and family to better your own circumstances,” Maj. Gen. Joseph Tinkham II, adjutant general and commissioner, told the men as they received their certificates.

Driving the big rigs with their eight-, 10- and 13-speed transmissions took some getting used to, according to Sgt. Richard Brown of Chester, one of the graduates.

While the five-speed military vehicles are able to pull a 28-foot-long trailer, the civilian rigs can tow a 48- to 53-foot-long trailer – around 80,000 pounds, Brown said.

Another difference is that the commercial trucks are able to go a lot faster. The military vehicles, made for cross-country driving, have a top speed of just 40 mph, Brown said.

Paying attention to detail, driving defensively every minute and constantly checking out the rearview and side mirrors are musts when driving a big rig, according to Gabe Rios, assistant director of Omega, who praised the men on Saturday.

“You did an outstanding job, we’re glad you had a good time,” he said.

Service members from the United States naval base in Winter Harbor also have been certified through the truck-driving school, he said later.

The Army National Guard’s contract with the school cost around $26,000, according to Potter. The unit should know within the next few months whether the course can be offered annually, he said.

The idea to have Guard members take the class was generated by the Maine National Guard Education Assistance Pilot Program in which Guard members may receive up to 100 percent of their tuition for schools included in the University of Maine System or the Maine Technical College System, as well as the Maine Maritime Academy, Potter said.

Other graduates were: Sgt. James Pearson of Perry; Specialist Jody Farley of Passadumkeag; Sgt. Gary Leighton of Exeter; Sgt. Michael Page of Hancock; Sgt. Robert Dorr of Hudson; Sgt. James Howes of Bucksport; Sgt. George Hardgrove of Alton; Specialist Ernest Steuber of Madison; and Sgt. Timothy Tabbutt of Columbia Falls.

Graduates from the unit’s Sanford detachment were Sgt. Daniel Emond of Lewiston and Cpl. George Monette of Bath.