Photo By Spc. Rochelle Prince-Krueger | Sgt. Malik Matthews, assigned to 32nd Composite Truck Company, 541st Combat...... read more read more
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CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait - The “Trey Duce” Soldiers of 32nd Composite Truck Company drive their trucks almost every day in order to complete their mission at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. The unit, which is assigned to 541st Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, is a line-haul truck unit that drives heavy equipment transport systems, or HET, and the 915 tractor trailer, commonly called a 915.
What happens when one of the trucks breaks down or it’s time for their service? The maintenance crew of approximately 25 Soldiers answers the call.
“When we arrived to Kuwait in November, from Fort Carson, Colorado, the equipment that we fell in on was at only about 70 percent operational readiness, which means that only 70 percent of our equipment was mission ready,” said Warrant Officer Justin Bramlett, the leading maintenance officer for 32nd CTC. “Within 60 days our maintenance Soldiers quickly and proficiently increased the readiness rate to above 95 percent and has maintained that level since.”
There are two main sections within maintenance: scheduled, which does services for all the equipment at a set time, and unscheduled, which troubleshoots when issues unexpectedly occur with the equipment.
“Our days vary being on the unscheduled team. It’s like if the check engine light on your vehicle comes on you take it to a shop to see what is wrong and get it fixed,” said Spc. Jessica Raack, an all-wheel vehicle mechanic assigned to 32nd CTC. “It’s our job to troubleshoot and find out what is wrong with the vehicles. I’ve worked on everything from transfer cases and electrical issues to having to replace anything from headlights to engines.”
“Scheduled is like when you take your vehicle in for an oil change at a set number of months or miles,” said Spc. Jared Bailey, an all-wheel vehicle mechanic assigned to 32nd CTC. “It is our responsibility to ensure the equipment gets serviced at the proper intervals and it is done correctly the first time to prevent issues from arising.”
Bramlett said that both teams are vital to the mission. There are also a few stand-alone Soldiers who ensure the parts are ordered and all environmental requirements are met.
“Our two petroleum specialists have done a great job of getting 100 percent on the environmental inspections each time, which is stand-out for them,” said Bramlett. “We also would not be able to do our jobs if it weren’t for the automated logistical specialist ensuring the correct parts are ordered and picked up.”
The scheduled crew is also getting the rare opportunity to complete five-year services on the M1000 trailers, instead of contracting the services to higher agencies.
The M1000 trailers are the trailers that have the ability to pull almost anything the Army owns: from the M1A1 Abrams tank to a mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicle. The trailers are serviced quarterly, semi-annually and annually by the service team, but the five-year service is on another level.
“When you contract out a job, you are taking the service and piece of equipment out of your hands,” said Bramlett. “You lose valuable job experience and proficiency training.”
Staff Sgt. Jason Ruehl has been in the maintenance field for 18 years and the motor sergeant for Trey Duce said he has never seen this type of work completed by Soldiers before.
“It’s a great opportunity for our Soldiers,” said Ruehl. “It is hard labor with heavy lifting but our Soldiers are making it happen.”
“We have to isolate each individual bogie, which is where the wheels are attached to the trailer,” said Bailey. “We then take the bogie apart to replace the bearings and seals inside, which helps maintain the life of the trailers.”
Bramlett said it is a lot of labor intensive work because each bogie has a nut on it that is torqued to 850 foot-pounds, which calls for special tools to remove it.
“The process takes one to two days per bogie, and there are 10 bogies on each trailer,” said Bramlett. “But sometimes the bearings or nuts are seized so we have to cut it off or super heat it to remove it, which takes a longer amount of time.
“As Soldiers are executing this service, they could almost build a resume off of this deployment,” said Bramlett. “It is not every day that you get to remove bearings and do major maintenance to build your (job) proficiency.”
As of May 1, every maintenance Soldier with Trey Duce had received his mechanic’s badge.
“It’s an observational award that proves the effectiveness and efficiency of doing your job,” said Ruehl. “Many of these younger Soldiers came to us straight from school and are tackling tasks that veteran mechanics are still learning.”
“I’m proud of what our mechanics have done,” said Bramlett. “Awarding them their mechanics badges is a testament of their work ethics to improve their technical skills and show their proficiency on all of the equipment we have.”
The mechanics have been behind the scenes ensuring every vehicle is equipped to roll out in a moment’s notice.
“Being a mechanic is awesome; these vehicles go out and drive hundreds and hundreds of miles,” said Bailey. “To see them go out, perform their missions and come back in one piece gives us a lot of gratification and makes us proud to be a mechanic.”
| Date Taken: | 05.15.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 05.15.2015 09:53 |
| Story ID: | 163412 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Hometown: | FORT CARSON, CO, US |
| Web Views: | 118 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
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