In almost every Army unit, vehicles are required to have a guy in the right seat to be the "TC". Truck Commander? Tank Commander? Not Vehicle Commander because that particular achronym was already taken in Asia. In any case...the duty of the TC is to be in charge, keep the driver awake, help spot landmarks and road signs, perhaps navigate, and make sure the vehicle doesn't get used for anything it isn't supposed to be used for. Some units take the TC job more seriously than others, but by and large the guy in the right seat is responsible for everything the vehicle does. In the Seventh Infantry Division they took the TC job very seriously. A Sergeant First Class (who was sleeping when the truck he was right-seating in took a turn onto a clearly marked closed road and minutes later slid off of the side-hill and rolled over killing three of the passengers) chose to hang himself in his tent rather than explain how he let those GIs die. So it is pretty serious stuff. Told ya all that so I could tell you this:
I had to go to Vilseck to do some pre-deployment business at the ammo dump there. I took a HEMTT (an eight wheel drive, two front axles that both steer and two drive axles in the rear, a material handling crane and a 375 horsepower Detroit Diesel V8) rather than our platoon jeep because the truck was faster and a nicer ride. As an E7, I was exempt from having a TC, but LT Marcus was new in the platoon and wanted to go so I told him he had to be the TC and make sure I stayed awake and safe. He grumbled as he climbed into the right seat and began snoring almost as soon as we left the motor pool. Marcus was single, a party guy, and a collector of Letters of Reprimand. I could tell from the red in his eyes that he wasn't going to make the whole trip with eyes open, but I expected there to be an effort anyway. About 30 minutes into the trip we got to Kaiserslautern and climbed up on the Autobahn. The snoring was annoying me and I decided to play with the LT. As soon as there was a clear strip of road and not too many cars around, I eased the truck out of the right lane onto the shoulder, then gently dropped the right wheels off the road. The truck bucked and jumped and slewed a little and Marcus shot up out of his seat. As soon as he sat up I yelled some expletive and acted like I, too, had just been awakened by the truck running off the road. I played it real big and made a show of getting the truck back under control and onto the Autobahn again (it never was OUT of control, but Marcus was a tanker, he didn't know). You know, that kid's eyes didn't close one time all the way down and all the way back.
If Kevin Marcus is perchance reading this right now, it is the first time he has ever known that I wasn't asleep at the wheel that day, I never told him. He never turned me in for "running off the road" and I never said anything about a sleeping TC. Heheheeee.