Mechanics are working hard to support the mission

Photo By Staff Sgt. James Hunter | Spc. Kenneth McDonald, mechanic and native of Loganton, Pa., with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault) fills a Humvee up with transmission fluid during a technical inspection at the 2nd BSTB motor pool, Nov. 26.  

BAGHDAD, IRAQ

11.28.2007

Story by Staff Sgt. James Hunter 

2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (AA) Public Affairs

By Sgt. James P. Hunter
2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division Public Affairs

CAMP LIBERTY, Iraq – Music from the Armed Forces Network plays in the background, such songs as Johnny Cash's "A Boy Named Sue," as mechanics from the 2nd Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), turn their wrenches as they work through tight, cramped spaces while "greased-up and getting dirty" under the hood of a Humvee.

With nearly 150 pieces of equipment needing repair at anytime, nine mechanics from the BSTB motor pool work daily to ensure the Strike Brigade is constantly combat ready and efficient.

Not everyday is normal for these troops. They can be found working on a Humvee, conducting technical inspections or verifying an operator's preventive maintenance checks and services. But one thing is for sure, these troops take their job very seriously.

"Our job is actually very important," said Sgt. Joshua Summers, senior squad leader and native of Knoxville, Tenn., with Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 2nd BSTB. "It is minimized by others who don't respect our job. Without these vehicles, without the armor, without the route clearance, without our jobs, the mission doesn't happen."

It's important, but being a mechanic can also be very exciting.

"When you find out a truck doesn't work, then find out why it doesn't work and repairing it or replacing the faulty part to get the truck back into operation is intriguing," Summers said.

For Spc. Kenneth McDonald, mechanic and native of Loganton, Pa., with HHC, 2 BSTB, he has been working on motors, small engines and mini-bikes since he was just a child.

McDonald remembers jacking up his mother's car and working on it, so his love and excitement for mechanical issues comes at no surprise, but, again, what he does he feels is important.

"As you can see, trucks break down all the time," he said. "Operators don't really have the resources to fix them. We know how to take it apart and fix it and get you back on the road."

The mechanics of 2nd BSTB work on "anything with wheels," said McDonald. From tactical vehicles to the Gator's running around post, these troops stay constantly busy.

"When we deploy, the workload does increase," said Summers. "In the rear, we have a lot of vehicles, but not all are in constant use. Here vehicles are always constantly in use. There is more wear on the vehicles, so our mechanics workload is severely increased."

At anytime during the day, the troops can be called in to work on a vehicle that is needed immediately for an operation in northwest Baghdad.

"If the vehicle has to come up, we will come in as early as it takes to start, and stay as late as it takes to finish," said Summers. "Last deployment, we would start at four or five the morning and end at twelve o'clock at night. It's not over until the job is done."

These mechanics see every imaginable fault within the vehicle—from a bad power steering due to sand clogging up the seals, to ball joints popping because of the heavy weight of the vehicle.

With these faults and long days comes stressors, said both Summers and McDonald.

First off, there are too many vehicles for the number of personnel they operate with, said Summers. "One comes in then three more follow. You finish one and then go onto the next one."

Because of the cramped spaces under the hood, to fix one part, they may have to take "half the truck apart" to repair it, said Summers.

"You have to know how the vehicles work to fix them," he said.

But not all lies on the hands of the mechanics, Summers said. Operators play an important role in the upkeep of their vehicles, too.

"Do a thorough PMCS. Not just a check the block with a pencil. Actually, get under the vehicle—take a look," he continued. "Look at the half-shaft bolts. If they're loose bring them to us, and we'll tighten them."

Whatever the case may be, the 2nd BSTB mechanics stand ready to ensure operators are on the road in no time, with an efficient, well-operating vehicle.

• Date Taken: 11.28.2007
• Date Posted: 11.28.2007 07:13
• Story ID: 14249
• Location: BAGHDAD, IQ