Courtesy Photo | Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Jonas of the 45th Sustainment Brigade helps Spc. Crystal...... read more read more
WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, Hawaii – As a way to reestablish basic standard sustainment operations throughout the Pacific Theater, the 45th Sustainment Brigade has implemented a Command Maintenance Evaluation Team (COMET) designed to streamline the way sustainment personnel conduct unit level inspections.
A COMET enhances unit readiness by identifying and resolving equipment and maintenance management issues. This can involve anything from proper preventative maintenance checks and services (PMCS) on motor pool vehicles, to the best way to manage an entire shop of staff and equipment.
“The first day I started working in the support operations shop (SPO), I asked what we were doing to support the units within the 8th Theater Sustainment Command,” said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Kent Shepherd, the 45th Sust. Bde. senior ground maintenance warrant officer. “I suggested we start a Command Maintenance Evaluation Team because there were no resources on Schofield Barracks that offered training assistance for unit inspections.”
Coined ‘The Sustainment Unit for the Pacific’, 45th Sust. Bde. has a long history of providing support during contingency operations as well as humanitarian missions and joint logistics exercises across the world. A part of maintaining this level of support is validating Soldiers basic knowledge with the proper procedures.
“We realized there were some experience gaps between maintenance required and Soldier knowledge and we wanted to fix that,” said Shepherd.
The current initial entry Soldiers are not certified on the Standard Army Maintenance System, or SAMS, which is an essential program used by sustainment personnel Army-wide. As the contingency operations slow down, it gives the seasoned professionals an opportunity to reintegrate standard Army practices and with Hawaii’s limited training opportunities because of geographical location, the COMET was the right fit.
“There was a program in place before all of these rapid deployments for the sustainment army,” said Chief Warrant Officer 3 Jason Jonas, Armament Systems Maintenance Warrant Officer for the 45th Sust. Bde. “When the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan kicked off it was discontinued because we didn’t have the manpower in garrison. Now that we have a full staff again, we can recreate the inspection team and model it around an expeditionary agenda.”
Jonas and Shepherd began their program by inspecting and communicating with units island-wide, then identifying challenges each one was facing. They also pinpointed who needed what training.
“A lot of junior officers and senior noncommissioned officers do not have that formal training on how to manage a motor pool,” said Jonas “Mostly because their units are deployed or resetting from a deployment from the past few years.”
“We identified these shortfalls and based our program around these knowledge needs,” added Shepherd. “We can’t officially certify Soldiers, but what we can do is give them the tools they need to be successful on the job.”
After their assessments, Jonas and Shepherd created accelerated day long classes to teach anywhere from 10-20 Soldiers at the Soldier’s place of work. They have trained more than 250 Soldiers in the past three months on various maintenance tasks.
One of their most popular classes focuses on military publications, which teaches Soldiers how to order specific equipment and field manuals for their shop. Knowing how to use this Army system can help them prepare their unit for future inspections.
“The class was helpful for me because there are times when I need a technical manual or am unsure about the function of a certain part,” said Sgt. Clint Hornaday, a 25th Infantry Division missile technician on Schofield Barracks. “The publications class gave me the tools I need to order them so I can properly instruct my Soldiers on how to repair equipment.”
The team also offers services such as segmented inspections, desk-side visits, arms room maintenance, standard operating procedure instructions, and assistance with filing, management, and proper labeling techniques.
“These classes are an opportunity for executive officers and senior noncommissioned officers to have dialogue with a senior warrant officer about how to run a motor pool or manage a shop floor,” said Shepherd. “We also take everything we teach along with sample standard operating procedures and post them in a portal online so resources are easily accessible.”
“In the end it really comes down to communication” added Jonas. “We want units to know we are there as a resource to help. If we know about an issue we can provide an answer instead of them having to search for it.”
| Date Taken: | 03.30.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.06.2015 16:56 |
| Story ID: | 162464 |
| Location: | WHEELER ARMY AIRFIELD, HI, US |
| Web Views: | 62 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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