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[rutleddc]

My job hunt as a defense engineer is finally over after six months.    Since this forum is filled with people from a military and police background I thought my new job would be of interest.

I have accepted a position of Senior Principal Engineer - Survivability with Oshkosh Defense, a major defense firm in Oshkosh, WI. I will join a team very small team of survivability engineers to develop, test, and evaluate tactical wheeled vehicles (trucks!), to ensure the best possible protection for our service men in harms way. With the proliferation of IEDs it is becoming very tough to balance protection versus mobility.

I will be starting in a couple of weeks. Now comes the process of selling our house, buying one in WI, and moving. Good but busy times.

One good think about this location is that it puts me within reasonable distance of Hock's seminars in Illinois - it was such a long drive from Minnesota I did not go the last couple of years. Eventually it would be nice to find a place to train in the Oshkosh/Appleton area, but I have a lot on my plate right now...

[juszczec]

Oshkosh?

Bgosh!

 

[jmech]

Welcome to the Dairyland!  Remember, you are not a true Wisconsinite until you meet the following requirements:

-You know at least two quotes by Vince Lombardi (if you have to ask who he is, you'll never make it...)
-You understand that hunting season is a state-wide, week long holiday
-You are a Packer fan (bonus points if you own at least one cheesehead hat)
-Friday evening meal is a fish fry. Always.
-you know the proper pronunciation of Racine, Waukesha, Lake Buttes de Mortes, and can spell Oconomowoc at the drop of a hat
-You know that "south of the border" starts at Chicago
-the five major food groups are: venison, fish fry, cheese, bratwurst, and beer

Anyway, hope all goes well for you.  I'm about an hour to an hour and a half away from Oshkosh, hit me up if you want to do any training.

Joe

[whitewolf]

good luck- help out our soldiers- WW

[rutleddc]

Joe: thanks for the offer to train. I need to get back into it as I have been too focused on keeping and then getting a new job the last year or so. One aspect of survival is keeping the cash coming in to take care of my family - soon I will have that and can focus on other things like training again (I have been doing Tai chi with a friend who knows it very well - it does a lot to keep you healthy). PS Do you want me to bring Bret Favre with me when I come LOL

WW: Thanks for the kind words. My calling since being a little kid has always been to either serve in the military or be a military weapons developer. The former was very short due to my rotten right knee resulting in a medical discharge from the Navy. I have been doing the latter since starting at Edwards AFB in 1980, going wherever the work is like a engineer-nomad. 

[jmech]

Brent who?

you're not talking about that Vikings Cash-for-Clunkers guy are you?

 

Joe

[Kentbob]

Oh man...so many things I could say about the current crop of armored vehicles we've had foisted on us.  I think I can sum it up in a few simple words.  Over-engineered, too maintenance intensive, and not soldier-proof.  In short, many of our MRAPs are insects of the vehicle world.  Too specialized.

Having said that, good luck with your new job.  I can provide probably a bazillion examples of what I am talking about, if you ever want to know.  Since you're only moving from Minnesota, I guess you're already familiar with the frozen north.  Again, good luck.


Kent

[whitewolf]

Ill say one thing-when i was in kuwait we had to drive humvees-the mirrors sucked you could not see out the drivers side to the rear-what a piece of dangerous crap it was-
and the company who made them racked in a fortune- WW

[rutleddc]

WW, Those Humvees were made by AM General - I have heard that they are unreliable and very hard to maintain.

Kentbob, I know what you say is true of many MRAPs. The majority were made by my former company BAE. When I worked with the Secretary of Defense in 1995 two of us analysts wrote a report to congress saying that the FMTV truck the MRAPs are based on were not reliable enough to. purchase. The two of us were RIFed shortly thereafter and replaced with "diversity boosting candidates." Two years later the Army suddenly discovered that the trucks were unreliable. 

The Oshkosh trucks have been much more popular with the Marines, as they spend a lot more effort making sure that they have the features and design soldiers ask for. That is why I wanted to work for Oshkosh, because I think they are better made than their competitors. That said, I am sure there is plenty of room for improvement. The workforce is very motivated to serve the troops from all I have seen, and I hope to be part of that improvement.

[Kentbob]

Rutleddc,

Sounds good, best wishes working up there in Oshkosh.  The MRAPs we've had foisted on us have more to do with political liability than any real field expediency or utility.  I'm not sure what vehicles up there, it seems like I rode around in one and was still less than impressed.  I recall International makes the MaxxPro and variants, and BAE makes the RG-33.  Both have HUGE issues, as I've already stated.  I hope to never see another MRAP again, no matter who makes the damn things.  Give me a ruck, and Leather Personnel Carriers, and I can make it to the objective.  If I was worrying about dying of old age, I wouldn't be a soldier in the first place.

Kent

[rutleddc]

The only armored vehicles DESIGNED by Oshkosh Defense that I can think if is the M-ATV, which is a world of improvement over the MRAP (none of the four builders was Oshkosh) and the armored version of the MTVR (which Marines really like and call Truckzilla). The Army buys the FMTV instead which has had a lot of automotive problems and cannot really do well off-road. The Oshkosh vehicles have independent rear suspension which is a vast improvement over live rear axles.

Armored trucks are a new field for the US so hopefully they will improve a lot as time moves on.

[rutleddc]

I have found a school and started training again. There are not a lot of decent choices in the Oshkosh area, but a friend had me meet a TKD instructor named Glenn. What is good is that he treats everyone with decency and respect, something getting harder to find in martial arts. He also moves very well and does not let the style define him the way previous TKD people that I met have. Also, there are a lot of normal (to me  ) people that work as engineers and professionals. My last school was dominated by progressive Earth huggers who could communicate with whales telepathically and knew that there was no God but that Bush was the devil LOL.

I thought I was still working out enough to be in good shape; after sparring on Tueday I found out differently.

[whitewolf]

good luck in the training-WW