Two Rivers Jeep Club joined UFWDA in 1999 and started an ambitious training program based on United's 4WD Awareness Course. This is the story on how our club used United's course to get our training program started. This is a reprint of the article that appeared in the Winter, 2000, issue of United's Voice.

This past year, our club became aware of the importance that safety and off-highway driving skills play in our hobby when one of our members was seriously injured during vehicle recovery. Tim Miller, our club's Trail Master, suggested that a few people from our club take the UFWDA 4WD Awareness Course for instructors and evaluate it to see if it was something we could use.

In November 1999, the director of the UFWDA 4WD Awareness Program, Chris Tefke, flew to Chicago and conducted a two-day instructor training session for Two Rivers. The class lasted a day and a half. We may have been a little skeptical at first, but as we got into the course we knew that it was a winner. Chris did an excellent job of teaching the instructors and spent extra time helping us understand how this course would benefit Two Rivers.

Seven members of our club completed the training for Two Rivers and were certified by UFWDA as instructors. In addition, four of these instructors completed CPR and First Aid training and were selected by UFWDA to be certified as Chief Instructors. The instructors for Two Rivers are O.R. Freesen, Tim Miller, and Bill Zoetvelt. Dave Christensen, Graham McNeill, Garry Shadwick, and Gary Schreiter were certified as Chief Instructors.

After the instructor training session, we all agreed that this was an excellent course and that some form of awareness training would be initially required, at least for trail and club officials. The "stock" UFWDA course was designed for those fairly new to wheeling. While this would serve the needs of new members who have not yet had much experience, we really needed an advanced course that we could give to our experienced trail and club officials. Our trail officials are also volunteers for the Land of Lincoln Jeep Jamboree. Since this is the first national event of the year for our trail guides, we wanted to ensure that they had all taken the Awareness Class and had additional training in advanced skills, such as emergency response and advanced vehicle recovery before the Jamboree in May.

We decided to use the UFWDA course as a base and add to it such topics as advanced recovery, vehicle inspections and some guidelines that we expect our club members and officials to abide by. Throughout December and early January a couple of instructors and a volunteer club member pulled together and organized a set of guidelines for club members and trail officials. These guidelines came from various sources, such as existing club policies, the new ideas we had learned from the UFWDA Instructor's Course, some ideas that were common knowledge within the club, and some that were just common sense. Another instructor developed a vehicle inspection program, while yet a fourth worked on a section for advanced vehicle recovery.

The result was a set of guidelines for Trail Etiquette, Emergency Response, Trail Guide Responsibility, and Trail Building. Checklists were developed for Vehicle/Required Equipment, the General Driver's Meeting and the Trail Head Driver's Meeting. Some, like the Trail Building Guidelines, are unique to our club inasmuch as we operate 100% on private land. The rest of the guidelines are not much different than those of UFWDA or other clubs. The big advantage is that we had all our written and unwritten guidelines in one document, we had a set of checklists to ensure we didn't forget anything, and we could easily merge these with the UFWDA Course. We also added mandatory vehicle inspections as a replacement for the "hands-on" portion of the UFWDA course. Finally, we created a course outline with approximate times for each section and assigned four instructors to teach the various sections, each based on their personal level of expertise.

Our first course was held on January 22nd and was given to 34 trail guides and club officials. This was only two months after Chris had trained the Instructors. Feedback on the course was encouraged. The results were astounding - virtually no changes and extremely positive feedback - and this from the most experienced group of leaders in the club! Dave Christensen taught the basic UFWDA course. Tim Miller presented the TRJC guidelines. Gary Schreiter taught advanced recovery techniques. Garry Shadwick talked about vehicle maintenance and conducted the first phase of the mandatory vehicle inspections. A number of vehicles failed in the first batch of inspections indicating that the inspections are worthwhile in finding vehicles with deficiencies.

Throughout the course, emphasis was placed on practical application. The adverse effects of high centers of gravity, correct strapping and winching techniques, and how to avoid vehicle or trail damage are a few examples of some of the topics covered. Environmental responsibilities were addressed, such as guidelines for building new trails and how to prevent oil and grease spills when emergency trail repairs are needed. Also, during the course it was suggested that since we operate in a county with no 911 service yet, we should create stickers with emergency phone numbers. These could then be placed somewhere in the vehicle and, in the event of an emergency, there would be no doubt about which emergency number to call.

Based on the positive feedback, that evening at our regular Board meeting, the Directors approved the training program in its entirety. All trail and club officials will be required to take the course before May 18. After the officials have taken the course, it will be opened to all members of the club on a voluntary basis. The vehicle inspection portion of the course, however, will be mandatory for all club members.

We learned from the training that one course level would not fit all the skill needs of our members. To accommodate the various skill levels, future courses will be taught at three levels: advanced, intermediate and basic.

The advanced course is primarily for trail officials and club officers, but it is open to anyone. The UFWDA Awareness Course is still covered but an emphasis is placed on club guidelines, advanced vehicle recovery and trail leadership issues. Trail leadership is a key item since our trail guides are role models and must set a good example for others. Vehicle inspections constitute the hands-on portion of the course. This was the course taught on the 22nd and is expected to be taught about once a year (or as required, such as training for new trail officials).

The intermediate class is for experienced drivers but has less emphasis on trail leadership. The basic course is still the UFWDA Awareness Course but augmented with trail guidelines for participants and intermediate vehicle recovery techniques. Once again, the hands-on portion will be vehicle inspections. The intermediate courses will be offered as needed, however at least two of these have already been scheduled for the next few months.

The basic course will be targeted for those new members each year that are fairly new to wheeling. For them, we will offer the "stock" UFWDA course with few changes and will cover only those guidelines that pertain to participants. While no basic courses have been scheduled, we are already getting requests.

Another unique feature of our club is that members come from as far as 300 miles away for weekend events and trail maintenance. So as not to interfere with trail maintenance and to accommodate the "need to wheel" on Saturdays, all classes will be held Sundays, starting at 8 AM, with a working lunch so that we can finish by 2 PM. Since some of the Chief Instructors live in the Chicago and St. Louis areas, some classes may be held near those cities later this year.

As time goes on, the guidelines and checklists will change. Updates will be made available to all members on-line and via the newsletter. There has been talk of making the course mandatory for everyone, but that decision will be made after we hold a few more courses and see what additional feedback we get.

Those who worked to develop the guidelines solicited input from many people and sources, both within and external to the club, but without Chris' effort and the UFWDA training, this program would probably never have taken off. Implementation of this program in such a short time (two months after Instructor training) shows the level of commitment Two Rivers has to improving the level of skills within the club. Special thanks go to UFWDA, Chris Tefke, and the instructors, but also to all club members who provided input and support for this course.

The need for this course became apparent due to an accident. The specific circumstances that led to the accident, and how to avoid that type of incident in the future, are covered in the stock UFWDA course. Our recommendation to other clubs: Consider the UFWDA Awareness Course. Just a little education may prevent an accident in your club.