Sealy Police Department Acquires Military Vehicle For High Water Rescue [VIDEO]

The next time Sealy faces a flood situation, it will be well prepared.  Today, the Sealy Police Department took possession of an M-1078 LMTV.  LMTV stands for Light Medium Tactical Vehicle.  This large military vehicle has the ability to move in very high water conditions where most other vehicles would stall out.  The vehicle can transport people, either rescue victims or rescue workers, where they need to go in flood situations exactly like what Austin County experienced last month.  The vehicle was part of the army surplus buying program instituted by the federal government.  This particular vehicle, ironically, was manufactured at the BAE plant right here in Austin County back in 1998.  When it was purchased this week, it had only 2,800 original miles on it.  The vehicle originally sold for $104,626 but, the police department was able to acquire the vehicle for $7500.  The vehicle is painted in the desert tan that most military vehicles these days are painted in but, the police department plans to have this one repainted.  The goal is to make it look as much like the other police vehicles in Sealy PD’s fleet.

Police Chief Chris Noble was kind enough to give us an interview and explain the Sealy PD’s plans for the vehicle.  The interview below is just a little over four minutes and includes not only the chief’s interview but, video of the LMTV as well:

We also got to take a ride in the LMTV.  We filmed the entire ride as Mayor Mark Stolarski and Councilman Michael Kubricht explained details about the vehicle and their hopes for its use for the city.  We also annotated as best we could how it felt and what we were experiencing riding in the vehicle.  The ride-along video is a little under twelve minutes.  

Captain Scott Riske gave us a quick demonstration of all the controls on the new vehicle since many of them are not on a standard vehicle.  The video is a little under two minutes long: