FORT STEWART, Ga. – Many soldiers are encouraged to wear multiple hats and become fluent in skills both in and outside of their military occupational specialties.

Soldiers with 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division, were given opportunities to do just that during the 4th IBCT “Vanguard” Focus field training exercise, Sept. 10-14, on Fort Stewart, Ga.

Throughout the exercise “Maintainer” skills were tested in vehicle recovery lanes run by soldiers with Company B, 703rd BSB. The lanes addressed a variety of vehicle maintenance and recovery skills.

Sgt. Ron Billingslea, with Company B, 703rd BSB, said vehicle operators should be able to mend problems while on missions away from their maintenance bays.

Billingslea and his soldiers provided hands-on training with the Army’s newly-improved Recovery and Battle Damage Assessment and Repair kit, which contains materials that can be used to repair tires, plug leaks in fuel tanks and mend broken wires.

Pfc. Kenesha Howard, with Company A, 703rd BSB, said the training was important.

“I enjoyed the hands-on part of plugging tires because it helped me better understand the steps of the process,” Howard said.
soldiers also received training on self and like vehicle recovery.

The self-vehicle recovery lane taught soldiers how to attach recovery materials to the vehicles for recovery purposes, while the like-recovery lane taught soldiers how to utilize other vehicles during recovery operations.

Another portion of the training covered recovery skills using the M948 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck.

All together, the vehicle recovery lanes provided vehicle operators with valuable knowledge of recovery skills they can utilize both in garrison and in deployed environments.

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This work, Vehicle recovery lanes push ‘Maintainers’ to learn new skills, by SGT Sarah Bailey, identified by DVIDS, is free of known copyright restrictions under U.S. copyright law.