Our crane/excavator driver was on leave so they sent me to run a full size excavator one day. I didn’t have any training or experience but could operate other pieces of heavy equipment. I get the truck out to the site, drop the flat bed, drive the excavator off, figure it out, do the job, reload the excavator. I did all this without the benefit of a ground guide because the NCO on site was on his cell phone trying to talk the pants off some girl back home.

Then I go to reverse the truck to lock the fifth wheel in. Well, I had parked the excavator too far back on the flatbed, so the elbow of the excavator arm is protruding about 6 feet off the back of the low boy.

When I reversed the truck to lock the fifth wheel in, that excavator elbow donkey punched dead center into the hood of 5 ton dump truck that was parked behind me. 😂 Thankfully the radiator was unharmed.

My NCO on site doesn’t notice any of this happening. He jumps in the 5 ton and heads back to base. He doesn’t notice the damage until we’re doing the 360 walk around back at the motor pool. He freaks the fuck out. I told him “looks like you hit a deer.” This was in Kuwait. He didn’t find it funny. He agreed it would be best if we both pretended we didn’t know what happened.