Army - Heavy Vehicle Mechanic

[Xul]

Well I've decided recently to join the Army as a HVM (apprenticeship). I tossed up whether to go Air Force or Army for a while but I figured Army would give me the the best experience for when I leave.

I'm just wondering if there are any people on this site who are currently or have served as a HVM and what you thought of it.

I'd be keen on hearing from other people who are serving with their thoughts on Army Life as well.

[Blknight.aus]

Like I tell all Army mechanics....

you ticked the wrong box then dintcha.

Let me give you an idea. Im about to go off on a month long exercise with the RAAF to exmouth.

Im taking 2 laptops, a fridge, a push bike, snorkling gear, civvies, fishing gear, booze, coffee maker, stereo and in order to make more room on the vehicle we put the spare parts and oils into a container which will be coming along later. (bout a day or 2)

We're flying over on civilian aircraft and they're puttin us up in single room accomodation while we're there.

Of all the time that we're there we've been warned out that we have to take our packs and webbing just incase they decide they want us to partake in 3 days of the exersize for our yearly "ground combat" currency. which means basically that I have to sit in a pit for a couple of hours a day while living out of my swag along side of the vehicle in stead of out of a room and a workshop.

I'll be supporting.

landrovers, mogs, a mack, hino, scania, bobcat, busmaster, fire engine, gensets, helping the gun plumber, and whatever else they take that they havent told me about. Thats assuming Im not of fishing, diving the ningaloo, driving on the beach, drinking, eating or generally having a good time.


Do you want me to tell you how I'd have done that trip when I was in the army?

at work I get 3 hours a week to do whatever the hell PT I like and then on top of that theres 2 structured pt session I can do as well.
3 breaks a day (mornos, lunch, afternoon hyrdation)
I knock off every friday at 1200
no packmarches
I can go to and from work in civvies

think of it this way

Stars.
The army sleeps under them
the navy navigates by them
the RAAF choose their accomodation based on them.

RAAF - Rarely Available After Five.

[THE BOOGER]

Hey dave didnt you tick the wrong box first time :D

[Xul]

Cheers for the feedback mate will definitely put a bit more thought into it and maybe change my preferences.

In your normal duties what vehicles do you work on?

[MacMan]

Like I tell all Army mechanics....

you ticked the wrong box then dintcha.

Let me give you an idea. Im about to go off on a month long exercise with the RAAF to exmouth.

Im taking 2 laptops, a fridge, a push bike, snorkling gear, civvies, fishing gear, booze, coffee maker, stereo and in order to make more room on the vehicle we put the spare parts and oils into a container which will be coming along later. (bout a day or 2)

We're flying over on civilian aircraft and they're puttin us up in single room accomodation while we're there.

Of all the time that we're there we've been warned out that we have to take our packs and webbing just incase they decide they want us to partake in 3 days of the exersize for our yearly "ground combat" currency. which means basically that I have to sit in a pit for a couple of hours a day while living out of my swag along side of the vehicle in stead of out of a room and a workshop.

I'll be supporting.

landrovers, mogs, a mack, hino, scania, bobcat, busmaster, fire engine, gensets, helping the gun plumber, and whatever else they take that they havent told me about. Thats assuming Im not of fishing, diving the ningaloo, driving on the beach, drinking, eating or generally having a good time.


Do you want me to tell you how I'd have done that trip when I was in the army?

at work I get 3 hours a week to do whatever the hell PT I like and then on top of that theres 2 structured pt session I can do as well.
3 breaks a day (mornos, lunch, afternoon hyrdation)
I knock off every friday at 1200
no packmarches
I can go to and from work in civvies

think of it this way

Stars.
The army sleeps under them
the navy navigates by them
the RAAF choose their accomodation based on them.

RAAF - Rarely Available After Five.

Not a hint of smugness there either...

:cool:

Sounds like a great way to travel.

[weeds]

there are a few of us kicking around the site......although i was a fitter and had to put up with the greasers

everybody's experiences will be different, i enjoyed the 9 and a bit years, funny enough my discharge date was 1st april, still not sure who had the last laugh, make the most of your time is all i say. i ran a muck and got into a fair bit of trouble but had a ball doing it

what you get to work on will depend on the unit you are posted to, nearly every field force unit will have 110's and unimogs and the odd mack, if you get posted to armoured you will also work on tanks/ASLAVS, if you get posted to engineers you will work on plant i.e. dozers, graders, semi trailers etc

i have been out of the regs for 12 or so years but still do reserves and there has been no change to the dis-organiation :D

[Blknight.aus]

Hey dave didnt you tick the wrong box first time :D

yes but I had a lot of fun there as well. I am quite happy to honestly state that I wouldnt enjoy the airfarce nearly as much if I hadnt done my time in the army.


Cheers for the feedback mate will definitely put a bit more thought into it and maybe change my preferences.

In your normal duties what vehicles do you work on?

Same list + anything else they throw at me (tow motors, talu/taslu, forklifts, basically anything airforce thats not a plane and broken)

a rough outline of my service history and my official employments (which aint always what I was doing)

Army Armoured corps (M113a1 driversig/pretendy gruntapeed)
Army Transport driver (110, 6x6,mog, R series mack +trailers + instructor + supervisor role in one unit)
Army Terminal Operator (forklifts, cranes, container handlers logistics co-ordination)
RAAF heavy vehicle mechanic (fixing and driving pretty much everything, Evacuation Handling Center, DACC.)

If you've got any questions pop em out and If I can I'll give you the real world answers as opposed to the recruiters world answers. I;ve got some work in with the navy as well as a bunch of ex navy mates so I can throw some answers from their side as well.


Not a hint of smugness there either...

:cool:

Sounds like a great way to travel.

maybe just a touch... the mearest whiff. and yeah, its a hard life.

[slug_burner]

yes but I had a lot of fun there as well.


I am quite happy to honestly state that I wouldnt enjoy the airfarce nearly as much if I hadnt done my time in the army.



Sounds a bit like "the good thing about banging your head against a brick wall is that when you stop it feels good"

[Grockle]

I was a HVM with the REME over here, had 10 yrs at it,hope all goes well for you.

[Ralph1Malph]

Well I've decided recently to join the Army as a HVM (apprenticeship). I tossed up whether to go Air Force or Army for a while but I figured Army would give me the the best experience for when I leave.

I'm just wondering if there are any people on this site who are currently or have served as a HVM and what you thought of it.

I'd be keen on hearing from other people who are serving with their thoughts on Army Life as well.

Hi,
I have a bit of experiance in this area which I won't share.:D
Rather, I'll give you my opinion as that's far more emotive, thought provoking and likely to bring on the flames!:twisted:

First, the Army, Navy, RAAF thing. You are really limited to Army and Navy if you want to join the Armed Forces. As Dave so delicately put it, the RAAF is where you go if you found another Govt department a bit hard, or you want to continue your Boy Scout or Cadet career!:p In fact, many within the Army/Navy believe that RAAF should not be allowed to march with the Armed Services!:angel::wasntme::wasntme:

As for a HVM, I personally would have tried to steer you towards another trade. They pay more and are in such high demand that for the next few years at least, you can negotiate better posting outcomes. Also, with the near aquistion of Project Overlander, (google it if you are not familiar), the requirement for mechanics will reduce (less cars, more reliable, heavy reliance on contract and OEM maintenance).

Still, the Army is a pretty good life as long as you don't expect the following: To get rich. To immediately travel to exotic countries on operations/deployments/exchange or work. To be treated differently or as a special case, and lastly, Have all weekends off with regular hours otherwise. :eek::eek:.

I have been at it for 27 years now so I geuss I am guilty of being either biased or institutionalised!:angrylock:

Have fun.

Ralph

[roverspec]

Dont bag them to much now my husband is a mechanic for the Army. At the moment he is posted to an armoured unit. The reason he joined was to have a steady job, better pay, accomidation so we always have a roof over our heads, and we will never be kicked out.

He enjoys it very much so i think it would be a wise move in this current employment situation.

You get feed, a place to sleep and pay ,, what more do you want.

See ya

carla

[Xul]

Hi,
I have a bit of experiance in this area which I won't share.:D
Rather, I'll give you my opinion as that's far more emotive, thought provoking and likely to bring on the flames!:twisted:

First, the Army, Navy, RAAF thing. You are really limited to Army and Navy if you want to join the Armed Forces. As Dave so delicately put it, the RAAF is where you go if you found another Govt department a bit hard, or you want to continue your Boy Scout or Cadet career!:p In fact, many within the Army/Navy believe that RAAF should not be allowed to march with the Armed Services!:angel::wasntme::wasntme:

As for a HVM, I personally would have tried to steer you towards another trade. They pay more and are in such high demand that for the next few years at least, you can negotiate better posting outcomes. Also, with the near aquistion of Project Overlander, (google it if you are not familiar), the requirement for mechanics will reduce (less cars, more reliable, heavy reliance on contract and OEM maintenance).

Still, the Army is a pretty good life as long as you don't expect the following: To get rich. To immediately travel to exotic countries on operations/deployments/exchange or work. To be treated differently or as a special case, and lastly, Have all weekends off with regular hours otherwise. :eek::eek:.


Cheers mate, out of interest what other trades would you recommend? I have Sparky down as my third preference.

Also I don't particularly care about getting rich, exotic locations or working hours. I just like the idea of a secure job, especially for doing an apprenticeship.

[weeds]

if i had my time over i would do elec mech or is it elec fitter....um not the do house wiring as they pick up refrigeration mechanic as well

[cewilson]

Well there are certainly some interesting and biaised responses amongst that lot. :angel:


Firstly - congratulations on deciding to join the ADF. It is a rewarding career, if you can get through the initial training, which will push you in either service then IMHO it's one of the best things you can do in life.

Second - heavy diesel mechanic (either service) is a good trade, especially if you own a Land Rover :angel: Seriously though it's one of the core trades that will always have work even in bad financial times.

Third - personally I would have joined the Army or Navy first if I had my time again. IMHO as a single bloke/girl you'll get more opportunities for deployment than you would in the RAAF as a mechanic. I also believe that the RAAF is better suited to me as a married bloke now. Again just my thoughts and I'm being careful of my comments too on a public forum........

There will always be people that are very passionate about their individual service as the ADF is very much a big family - and as such you always feel obliged to defend against and 'perceived' attack against your individual branch. At the end of the day though, the bigger picture is that we all support each other to get the end job done - which being very biaised is a bloody good job.

Cheers
Chris

[Blknight.aus]

many within the Army/Navy believe that RAAF should not be allowed to march with the Armed Services!:angel::wasntme::wasntme:


thats because our uniforms look better and they're jealous.....

besides we dont march, thats sooo disciplined, we prefer a good meander.

[Hoges]

thats because our uniforms look better and they're jealous.....

besides we dont march, thats sooo disciplined, we prefer a good meander.

hard to keep it straight in a cross wind? :angel: :wasntme: :p

[Blknight.aus]

nope, we're just usually drunk.

[Ralph1Malph]

nope, we're just usually drunk.


Touche!

[Ralph1Malph]

Cheers mate, out of interest what other trades would you recommend? I have Sparky down as my third preference.

Also I don't particularly care about getting rich, exotic locations or working hours. I just like the idea of a secure job, especially for doing an apprenticeship.

My Pref, in order, would be:

Electronics Technician - Not seen as especially sexy, but the highest paying of all the trades and atm, promotion is whizz fast and you have a huge amount of leverage when it comes to postings. By way of example, we are so short of these guys that in my WKSP, I have ONE tech and 18 vacancies! (I treat him like gold). The world is looking up for these chaps as every new piece of kit has electronics in it - even new cars, plant, and of course all the gucci missile/target computer stuff! No probs getting a job after Army either.

Electrical Fitter - As said before a bit of a sexy trade, (the trade, certainly not the tradies!:p) but postings can be limited up the rank chain. Per capita, these guys deploy the most of all the trades. Not uncommon for them to go on-off-on-off the deployment wagon. After Army, these guys are gold.

Fitter Armourer - I describe these guys by saying that they actually make stuff! Mechanics only change broken for good. Widest variety of employment and as technology progresses, are being increasingly used to fix mech stuff as well. As a manager I find it better value for money to take a fitter armourer with me who can change alternaters, brake disks and tune the chainsaw than take a mechanic who can only do mech stuff. Very employable after Army.

Mechanic - Most know about these guys so I won't rabbit on. Suffice to say that their world is changing in line with the global attitude to tradies. Multiskilling is hurting these chaps as the world moves to very narrow employment specs for mech trades. What I mean is that there is global pressure to make tradies equipment specific ie, trained on one piece but learn the electronincs, hydraulics, mech, fridge for that piece only. In this context, it is easier and more economical to train a fitter or electrician to do the mech stuff rather than the other way round. We'll always need them though so a safe trade.

Whew, just my thoughts on the subject.

As has been said, ADF is a good life, not a fantastic life and not without its failings.
Best of luck.

Ralph

[Blknight.aus]

if you come into the RAAF they have now changed the career progression for the GSEFITT (me) to be GSETECH.

you enter as a grease monkey, get promoted and then have to go off and do the tech course. which gets you basic sparky-ing and refrig as well.

and you get to stay drunk and wear a nice uniform on parades ,if thats your thing.

at my level in the RAAF i cover most of the bases for the trades as Ralph described them but I dont do fabrication of parts or reapair weapons and I can play with on vehicle electronics but not the ECU/ECM or the 2 way style radios on the vehicles. I also cover some very limited 240v stuff on gensets but its mainly a case of using a plug in meter and load test after doing the engine side. All of that is covered in the TECH part of my current career progression.

The ADF is about the only place left that has cross trained mechanics I do mechanical, electrical, hydraulics and pnuematic systems covering every facet of the vehicle from the engine to the wheels and everything else besides. We're not limited to one type of vehicle or sub system like the yanks

[Hymie]

IMHO ECN 226 Mechanic Recovery is the best of the RAEME trades.
If I had my time again I'd do the HVM courses then cross train as a Reccy Mech.

[Xul]

Yeah I'd actually noticed recovery mechanic, thought it wouldn't be all that good on its own though. Will definitely look into doing it when I get in though.

Cheers for the advice all, I'll have a ponder over it but I have a feeling I'll stick with HVM, mostly because it's what I want to do and even if jobs die out in the future it isn't necessarily what I want to do for my whole life either.

[Zute]

Do they take bored 47 year olds ?:)

[easo]

No matter what service you choose you'll get,
Secure career,
good pay,
meet good and bad people,
make good mates,
drink loads,
good and bad times, etc


The list goes on and on.

Easo

[It'sNotWorthComplaining!]

My 14 yr old son has decided that when he's old enough to Join the ADF to do mechanic work.
The ADF Army is a better choice than a Civvy apprenticeship.
The ADF take you on as an adult mechanic traineeship. So you get full pay plus allowances VS Civvy appenticeship working for peanuts at $6.50 an hour and having to pack a cut lunch!

[Ralph1Malph]

My 14 yr old son has decided that when he's old enough to Join the ADF to do mechanic work.
The ADF Army is a better choice than a Civvy apprenticeship.
The ADF take you on as an adult mechanic traineeship. So you get full pay plus allowances VS Civvy appenticeship working for peanuts at $6.50 an hour and having to pack a cut lunch!

Cool decision.

Have him bear in mind that he should also choose a second pref because of all the reasons I mentioned before but more importantly, by 2014 we (Army) will be full to the gunwales with mechs. It will be harder to be selected. In contrast to the electronics techs in my WKSP, I have ZERO VM vacancies and therefore have neither the room nor justification to hold apprentices.
Just let him know to consider another trade as second choice that's all!
Cheers
Ralph

[Blknight.aus]

hey Ralph you might find that your boys are going to be forced onto the program the RAAF now has....

mechs must do tech elec to get career progression...

ceiling rank for a GSEFITT as of about next year in the RAAF is going to be CPL.

[Ralph1Malph]

hey Ralph you might find that your boys are going to be forced onto the program the RAAF now has....

mechs must do tech elec to get career progression...

ceiling rank for a GSEFITT as of about next year in the RAAF is going to be CPL.

Yes,
We are having quite a few discussions regarding that.
As usual, we are split down the middle, Mechs for it, the rest against it.
The problem is what to do with the Tech Elecs - Electricians (and others) ...if mechs are gunna be trained to do fridge and auto elec, will Eleckies be cross trained to to do gear boxes or brakes?
The debate is about training liability. It comes down to whether we are able to base train a mech for 18 mths then extend for a further 12 to do the other stuff. Bear in mind that not all mechs are cut out for electricity or fridge so attrition may be high.
The converse is having already trained an Eleckie for 24 mths, do we extend him for 6 mths to pick up mech stuff?
At the moment, the momentum is with the non mechs and they are stopping the mechs from stealing jobs and quals.

We have a problem with remuneration (or justifying it) as few of our trades actually carry ATF quals anymore. Many of us are pressing for a formalised promotion/remuneration pathway whereby (example) one would leave trade school as cert 3, cert 4 for CPL, Diploma SGT, Adv Dip WO2, Grad Cert WO1 etc.

Cheers.

[Blknight.aus]

the RAAF solution appears to be that

existing techs who havent come up through the mech stream can hold the tech position and maintain career progression but they can also branch off into coms and proper tech stuff not just power/refrig. Incoming mechs will be limited to corporal and to progress must go and do the tech course.

whats going to settle it is the ending of the OEM warranty support for the busmasters and the new fleet thats coming on with the Gwagon. Im tipping that in Aust conditions your going to have more tech faults than Mech faults.

Ive already done the been there done that thing with both the Kalmar 240 rtch and the faun-tadano 30-2. Things that were coming up as mech faults were really electrical control related.

[Ralph1Malph]

the RAAF solution appears to be that

existing techs who havent come up through the mech stream can hold the tech position and maintain career progression but they can also branch off into coms and proper tech stuff not just power/refrig. Incoming mechs will be limited to corporal and to progress must go and do the tech course.

whats going to settle it is the ending of the OEM warranty support for the busmasters and the new fleet thats coming on with the Gwagon. Im tipping that in Aust conditions your going to have more tech faults than Mech faults.

Ive already done the been there done that thing with both the Kalmar 240 rtch and the faun-tadano 30-2. Things that were coming up as mech faults were really electrical control related.

You'll have to keep me informed how it goes!
There is bound to be resistance.
Ralph

[Blknight.aus]

yep The mechs dont like it and since it no longer means automatic CPL hooks for techs the wanna be techs arent to impressed with it either. You can bet its not going to come with a pay grade either. I'm giving very serious consideration to transfering over to plant operator if it goes to outsourcing mechanical work and its a diagnostics only job the RAAF can look forwards to me driving a bobcat or grader.

[Xul]

Thanks again for all the helpful replies guys, it's been great.

Well I've passed my YOU session and am on my way to an assessment day.

Army mechanic is out as there are about 280 people waiting for 30 or less jobs. I've decided to put the RAAF Mech as my first preference.

Apparently my assessment day may be in about 4-6 weeks - probably should start getting a bit fitter!


IMHO ECN 226 Mechanic Recovery is the best of the RAEME trades.
If I had my time again I'd do the HVM courses then cross train as a Reccy Mech.

Mechanic Recovery isn't open for recruiting at the moment, I'm thinking of eventually crosstraining if I can.

Do you know if you get your Doggers/Riggers from that? I heard a (probably embellished) story from a guy at work who used to be with the Dep. of Def. Apparently he was working with Recovery Mechanics who were winching a semi up a cliff!