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Combat Airmen Gives New Touch to War Machine

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jarrod Chavana
  • ACCE Public Affairs
BAGHDAD --  A Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicle towers near the heights of an 18 wheeler. Weighing-in at more than 20 tons, MRAPs are designed to survive blasts from improvised explosive devices and small arms fire.

This near impenetrable beast can transport Airmen, Marines, Soldiers, and Sailors in and out of the battlefield, without hesitation at blazing speeds. The gunner -- who can possess a massive .50-caliber weapon-- and driver-- who commands actions within this war machine -- are nearly in sync as they relay commands to each other via internal communication systems. This manly machine is every guys dream to drive, but who is behind this steering wheel?

Behind the wheel is Senior Airman Kayla Manning, an Airman from the 732nd Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, Detachment 2, nicknamed the Reapers. Before missions, she has her weight nearly doubled when she dons her "battle rattle." While climbing into this life-saving vehicle, she has to place one knee on the MRAP's steps to hoist her weight upward to climb into the vehicle. However, despite a stature of just 5 feet 2 ½ inches, she possess the power, control, and confidence of someone twice her size.

"This is my Big Bertha", said Airman Manning, MRAP driver. "Before arriving in Iraq, we were trained on smaller vehicles. Once we arrived here, I was assigned to drive this big beast. Believe it or not, I drive better in this vehicle than the smaller ones."

Since Airman Manning is in control of the vehicle and its occupants, she decided to add a few personal touches of her own.

"My favorite color is pink, so I tried to put in a pink steering wheel cover, but it wouldn't fit", said Airman Manning, who is deployed from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. "So I sewed some pink fabric to the steering wheel. Then one of my teammates' mom bought me a gear shift knob and painted it pink."

"Sometimes the guys tease me, 'we can't drive around with all this pink in the truck'," she says jokingly. "Then I have to tell them, it's ok; it is my truck."

"She is kind of the mom of this truck," said Senior Airman James Matthews, 732 ESFS Det 2 MRAP gunner, deployed from Eglin AFB, FL. "She looks at it as it's her house, her rules'. It fits because she takes great care of the truck."

Although she may get picked on about her pink steering wheel, when it comes to a mission, she is all business.

"Once you get into the MRAP and you're ready to go out you have to get into a proper mindset," said Airman Manning, a native of San Diego, Calif. "That's probably the last thing I do before I drive outside the gates. I pray not only to come home safe, but to be aware and for my family in case something was to happen."

Her biggest fear isn't being attacked but making a mistake and hurting those inside the vehicle.

"I've been here since December 2009, and we've done at least two to three missions per week since we got here," said Kayla. "I'm at the point where I know the roads and where it dips, so I know what to do and where. Some roads you hope and pray you don't roll over. That's my biggest concern. I follow the soccer mom rule: I tend to be more worried of hurting those inside than myself. If someone gets hurt because I rolled it, I would feel horrible; I'm very protective over my guys."

One of the biggest roles, within the vehicle, is the communication between the gunner who scans from the turret, and the driver who scans the roads while driving.

"The gunner/driver relationship is the most communication two people will ever have," she said. "Because what the gunner sees, I need to see and what I see, he needs to see. You need to be each other's eyes. They can see things further out that I can't see and I can see things closer to the ground that they can't see.

Her truck mates may have had doubts about her being their driver at first, but Kayla has proven herself.

"She isn't what I expected," said Airman Matthews, a native of Slidell, LA. "I thought she would be frail and timid and I didn't think she would be able to handle this type of machine. Now I think she is one of the best drivers in the fleet."

"A lot of men don't think women can drive," said Airman Manning. "But don't be fooled, we can drive!"