Slidell - The vehicle of choice for combat missions and convoy escorts is produced at the Textron plant in New Orleans East, with final assembly in Slidell.
For Textron employees like Gregory Jackson, the mission in Iraq begins at home with each individual weld.
“I feel a part of the military. I’m trying to protect and serve them,” Jackson proudly stated.
That sense of pride is shared by members of the 2228th Louisiana National Guard MP’s providing security in Basra. They use the vehicles on combat patrols inside of cities.
"It's got dual weapon systems, nobody really messes with you," Specialist Christopher Smith said. Smith drives an ASV.
So far, local workers at Textron have built 1,800 ASV’s. Fifty roll off the line every month.
Textron will not detail specs, but by armored standards, the ASV is one versatile ride. It goes 60 miles per hour, has independent suspension and four wheel drive – a mix that is lethal, yet mobile.
The great irony of this story is, for all its success, this program very nearly died. In the 2000, before the terrorist strikes, long before the war in Iraq, it was almost the victim of budget cuts. Then, in the early days of the war, roadside bombs decimated military Humvees. With troop casualties mounting, the Pentagon searched frantically for a substitute that could take a pounding.
U.S. troops now walk away from roadside attacks that would have had disastrous results in the past.
"We see it being used on television and we see television shows or feedback from the soldiers, telling us how they feel when they're in the vehicles, how well they perform and that's an extra source of price for us," said Russell Gonzales of Textron.
The military's contract with Textron calls for up to 1,300 more ASV’s. Work should run into the year 2013. It’s a Louisiana lifesaver on the production line and in the line of fire.
