American Sniper - Boekje Pienter

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brackets on the tubular upper frame. Adding to the coolness factor is
the sat radio antenna on the very top of the vehicle, with a donkey-dick
radio antenna next to it.
Practically every picture you see of a DPV has the sucker flying
over a sand dune and popping a wheelie. It is an exceedingly bad-ass
image.
Unfortunately, it is just that—an image. Not a reality.
From what I understand, the DPVs were based on a design that
had been used in the Baja races. Stripped down, they were undoubtedly
mean mothers. The problem is, we didn’t drive them
stripped down. All that ordnance we carried added considerable
weight. Then there were our rucks, and the water and food you need to
survive in a desert for a few days. Extra gas. Not to mention three fully
equipped SEALs—driver, navigator, and Pig gunner.
And, in our case, a Texas flag flying off the rear. Both my chief and
I were Texans, which made that a mandatory accessory.
The load added up quickly. The DPVs used a small Volkswagen
engine that was, in my experience, a piece of junk. It was probably fine
in a car, or maybe a dune buggy that didn’t see combat. But if we took
the vehicle out for two or three days, we’d almost always end up working
on it for the same amount of time when we got back. Inevitably,
there was some sort of bearing or bushing failing. We had to do our
own maintenance. Luckily for us, my platoon included an ASCE-certified
mechanic, and he took charge of keeping the vehicles running.
But by far their biggest drawback was the fact that they were twowheel
drive. This was a huge problem if the ground was in the least bit
soft. As long as we kept going we were usually okay, but if we stopped