Operational safety at reenactments

[Chuck Anderson]

Great topic Jim!

Two offerings.........

1. Have a designated POC to communicate with the driver. When you're "in the hole", you have no way of knowing if everyone has mounted up safely or not and everyone in/on the vehicle is yelling, laughing, not paying attention. If you generally ask if its clear, you'll get 20 different answers from 20 different people. The POC would be the only voice the driver should rely on to move the vehicle. He would also be the decision maker as to when the vehicle is "full". I've been told that all was clear and as soon as I stated to roll, everyone is freaking out yelling "STOP!!!". I didn't know if I just killed someone or what.... it turned out that someone really wanted to ride after we were moving and tried to jump on. The riders on the back were "guests" and didn't feel they had the right/responsibility to tell that person "no".

2. No leaning equipment/weapons against the vehicles. This may not be a "safety" issue per se, but it can lead to a major safety concern. Whether armour or soft skins, I've seen rifles get driven over and troops panicking to grab their gear from falling into the road wheels.