A vehicle review that stresses using the right tool for the job

OPFOR contributor Slab has just returned from a tour in Iraq, and has posted a first-hand review of the MRAP JERRV, which has the same pedigree as Canada's recently-purchased Cougar Expedient Route Opening Capability (EROC) vehicles (I believe ours are the 6x6 model, not the 4x4 that Slab's team was using).

While it's worth reading his entire review, I found these passages particularly relevant to the Canadian perspective:

In January, my team traded out our well-worn M1114 Up-armored HMMWV for a 4X4 JERRV, one of the models of Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicles purchased by the Marine Corps. We were pretty excited to have the new vehicle, especially after our first look inside. I mean, the thing looks like the Cadillac Escalade of tactical vehicles. The IED threat in our little slice of Al Anbar had long since dropped to non-existent, but it felt good to have something that was specifically engineered to combat the threat, you know? It didn't take long for the novelty to wear off, however, and by the end of the deployment we had taken to operating mainly from a Humvee again. The MRAP is a superb EOD and convoy security vehicle (the acronym JERRV stands for Joint EOD Rapid Response Vehicle), but it is merely a passable utility and/or fighting vehicle. The thing was obviously designed with the EOD mission in mind, and if any operator input was incorporated into the design, it clearly did not come from the infantry community. [my emphasis]

Given the fact that the CF ostensibly purchased it precisely for the EROC role for which it was designed, Slab's criticisms may not be as valid for the Canadian experience. But I'm not sure how much off-road work our EROC vehicles are doing in Kandahar, and I'd be interested to hear from CF personnel who have first-hand operational experience of these vehicles in the field. If you're not comfortable posting to the comments section, feel free to drop me an e-mail at damian dot brooks at gmail dot com.