Mechanics talk about their work in the desert

BALAD, IRAQ

05.25.2008

Story by Spc. Thomas Keeler 

316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary)

By Thomas Keeler
316th Expeditionary Sustainment Command

LOGISTIC SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq – A group of Army mechanics are meeting in the front of an open maintenance bay when a young enlisted Soldier walks in, looking for a cordless drill. A sergeant points him to the back wall where the tool kits are staged. A few minutes later, the young Soldier comes halfway back to the front, holding the fairly new drill out with his right hand, palm up, as if to ask what's wrong with it.

"You've gotta play with it," says one mechanic.

Gripping the handle around the battery case with one hand, the Soldier beats the bottom of the handle with his other hand.

"Like it owes you money," jokes another mechanic as the Soldier bangs the drill harder. The intent is to knock free the dust that might have settled inside, blocking the wiring contacts. The Soldier grips the drill and pulls the trigger again. No luck.

"There's another battery over in the corner if you want to swap them out," says the first mechanic.

"I just tried the battery," says the Soldier with the drill.

"Then I don't know what to tell you."

An everyday scenario has just played itself out here – to put it plainly, in the severe working environment of Iraq, tools often do not operate as they are designed to.

Though the General Mechanic's Tool Kit issued to automotive mechanics is certainly adequate to meet the Army maintenance standard, mechanics will also tell you tools take much more abuse in the desert than they do in the United States. There are several reasons for this: the high operations tempo of the war fighting mission, the regular movement of Soldiers and units coming in and out of theater, and not least of all, the pervasive sand that hangs in the air, even on the clearest days.

Maintaining the tools in this environment becomes critical.

Oiling a socket wrench, for example, is out of the question for many mechanics. Because oil draws dust, a sort of mud is created which must be continually wiped away and which acts almost as a valve-grinding compound.

Many mechanics prefer to use graphite if it's available.

"It's good for lubrication, and it won't attract the sand," said Sgt. Steven Harrop, a mechanic with the 182nd Engineer (Sappers) Company of the Massachusetts National Guard. But graphite, Harrop says, will not keep the tools in top condition for as long.

Another challenge to maintaining a socket wrench is the absence of a snap ring pliers in the standard Army toolkit, meaning that the mechanic must improvise in order to take the tool apart. With the high op tempo, a socket wrench is more likely to wear and slip faster than in the states, especially the 12-point sockets.

"I've had a ratchet skip on me and smash my knuckles," said Harrop. "I was doing a basic service on a Buffalo and replacing a fan belt tensioner, which is in pretty close quarters," he said.

Tool extensions are in short supply, and mechanics will frequently make their own tools to complete certain tasks, such as when Harrop created a steel rod template in order to bend metal plates to be used as fenders on a military vehicle. Without a degree wheel or brake, Harrop took the small rod and bent it around the vehicle's wheel wells to measure the angle. He then heated the plates a little at a time and bent them to within two or three degrees of the correct angle.

Sgt. Trevor Hayes, a 21-year-old mechanic with the 316th Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), also created a tool for a maintenance job at his unit.

"For the break calipers, you've got to compress the piston by spinning it in, and at home there's probably a tool specific for that," said Hayes, who plans to go to school for aviation maintenance after his deployment.

"We didn't have that tool here, so we just made it out of a piece of metal, and cut it to the size of the caliper," he said. "It's worked out pretty good."

The disc brake compression tool is in fact available in the states. Maj. Timothy Horton, a transportation officer here who also served in Operation Desert Storm, sells them in his auto parts store back in Illinois.

"As a matter of fact, they're relatively cheap – 12 or 13 bucks," said Horton.

The time saved using the proper tools is lost when trying to find the individuals who know where the best tools are, not to mention the required exchange of paperwork – in this case, hand receipts – when specialized tools change hands.

None of this is to be critical of the Army's standard tool kit, however.

"As far as our mechanics tool kit, I don't have any complaints," said Spc. Jason Bailey, another mechanic with the 182nd Sappers.

Bailey's main concern is the CO2 gas that dilutes the oxyacetylene, the gas used to bend and weld metal here. The less pure oxyacetylene is used in place of propylene, which is not easily acquired in theater, and this limits the range of welding jobs that can be done properly.

"You can use oxyacetylene with a propylene tip, but you'll burn [the tip] real quick," said Bailey, holding an unused propylene welding tip that comes with the standard welder's kit.

"I mean, this right here will disintegrate," he said.

Oxyacetylene does not deliver the short burst of intense heat at very small targets that propylene does.

"You don't have the accuracy with acetylene," said Horton. "You just don't."

Even the maintenance bay itself can be considered a luxury.

When Sgt. Robert Hyatt of the 316th ESC was deployed in 2003 for the push to Baghdad, his unit often performed the maintenance on the spot, without the benefit of a tow back to a motor pool.

"Laying underneath a Humvee and changing a starter, and having a dust storm kick up, even with that protective eyewear, you're still going to get sand in your eyes," said Hyatt, emphasizing that there is often no way to protect yourself from the fine, blowing sand here in the desert.

"If you let that starter go, it's dropping on you," he said.

Additionally, Hyatt and his unit by necessity staged their tools in the open. The Army wrenches he had, which were without rubber grips, absorbed heat after just a few minutes and could not be handled.

Hyatt now works in a closed, concrete bay that can be secured at night and protects the work and tools from the elements. For Hyatt and his colleague Hayes, the high op tempo and the long hours are the biggest differences between working in theater and the United States.

Harrop, a Class A technician, also recommends having electronic diagnostic equipment that could be shared at the company level. With his laptop, "I can go into those vehicles and pull up the codes," he said.

Truck operators have approached him about engine lights that have flashed on and off, and with electronic diagnostics, the problem could be more easily identified.

"This is the code you have, how many times has it flashed, is it active or locked," said Harrop, describing the diagnostic work he does back home.

Harrop recognizes, however, the costs and risks entailed in issuing laptops down to the company level here.

In the end, it comes back to the extra care the tools require here in the extreme conditions of the desert, keeping them away from the sand and out of the sun as much as possible. As a mechanic in any climate will tell you: take care of your tools, and they'll take care of you.

• Date Taken: 05.25.2008
• Date Posted: 06.30.2008 00:28
• Story ID: 20994
• Location: BALAD, IQ