Maintaining vehicle readiness: AST-Balkans keeps KFOR troops rolling

Photo By Ardian Nrecaj | Edmond Rexhepi, a quality assurance engineer for the Department of Logistics, assigned to the Area Support Team-Balkans, poses at the Camp Bondsteel, Kosovo, vehicle servicing site. Rexhepi and his AST-Balkans teammates are responsible for keeping U.S. Soldiers serving in Kosovo safe on the road by providing routine vehicle inspections and maintenance at various sites in Kosovo. (U.S. Army photo by Ardian Nrecaj, Multinational Battle Group-East)  

CAMP BONDSTEEL, KOSOVO

08.28.2015

Story by Ardian Nrecaj 

KFOR Regional Command East

CAMP BONDSTEEL, Kosovo - Every day, U.S. Army Soldiers, civilians and contractors drive on Kosovo’s roads, working hard to build community relationships and ensure security in the region. Often unseen in the background, one team is working just as hard to make sure that these vehicles are maintained and repaired in order for them to be safe on the road.

Edmond Rexhepi, a quality assurance engineer for the Department of Logistics, assigned to the Area Support Team-Balkans, is the person responsible for monitoring and coordinating equipment and vehicle maintenance.

“We have a maintenance program that consists of scheduled maintenance services and preventive maintenance for non-tactical vehicles,” Rexhepi said.

That means that all non-tactical vehicles have to go to service every 90 days or 5,000 kilometers for a scheduled maintenance service, explains Rexhepi.

“During this service they change the oil, brake pads and other routine inspections,” he said. “The other part of the program is the weekly checks or the preventive maintenance schedule, where the contractor is obliged to check the vehicle and make sure it is good for the next seven days.”

The maintenance program was set up based on the road conditions in Kosovo and the age of vehicles.

Rexhepi added that the maintenance of tactical vehicles here is the same as it is anywhere in the world where U.S. troops are deployed.

“The Humvee has to undergo service every six months, and every two years,” he said. “So there are different things that are serviced at different times and we have to maintain those schedules.”

If a vehicle has to stay longer for repair, they provide a loaner vehicle so it does not interfere with the Soldiers’ mission. Depending on mission requirements, drivers can request for a vehicle to be serviced earlier than scheduled, explained Rexhepi.

“The vehicles that are used by U.S. Soldiers in [Camp Marchal de Lattre de Tassigny] and Film City are serviced twice a week,” he said. “We send a team there that does all the interventions needed for the weekly preventive maintenance service so that they don’t have to drive all the way down to Bondsteel.”

Co-located with AST-Balkans at Camp Bondsteel is the Multinational Battle Group-East headquarters, a U.S.-led, brigade-size element under NATO’s peace support mission known as Kosovo Force, or KFOR. U.S. Soldiers also serve out of the KFOR headquarters at Camp Film City in Pristina, Kosovo’s capital city, as well as those assigned to MNBG-E’s battalion-size Forward Command Post based out of CMLT in northern Kosovo.

Rexhepi added that there are approximately 800-900 preventive checks and 60-70 scheduled services performed each month on non-tactical and tactical vehicles supporting MNBG-E and AST-Balkans.

“Scheduled maintenance services are important for all vehicles driven on Bondsteel,” he said, emphasizing the variety of vehicles used by U.S. forces in Kosovo. For example, one of the most common damages on John Deere gator vehicles is that their glass doors are prone to shattering if they are slammed shut. All such repairs come through Rexhepi and AST-Balkans for servicing.

Della Hodges, the director of Area Support Team-Balkans said that Rexhepi plays a very important role in the management and oversight of the U.S. Army Europe support contract for vehicle maintenance.

“His oversight ensures that the contractor is providing the services required in the contract. This allows AST-Balkans and MNBG-E personnel to have serviceable vehicles to perform their missions,” Hodges said.

• Date Taken: 08.28.2015
• Date Posted: 08.28.2015 06:15
• Story ID: 174520
• Location: CAMP BONDSTEEL, ZZ