AMSA 159 Helps Units Run Smoothly

Photo By Cheryl Phillips | Bill Wathern, employee at AMSA 159, tracks parts for the thousands of work orders completed at the facility located at the Weldon Spring Local Training Area. (U.S. Army Photo by Cheryl Phillips)  

ST. CHARLES, MO, UNITED STATES

08.13.2019

Story by Cheryl Phillips 

88th Readiness Division

ST. CHARLES, Mo. - It’s said the Army runs on beans and bullets, but it also runs smoothly thanks to the work of the employees at Area Maintenance Support Activity 159 at the Weldon Spring Local Training Area here, about 30 miles west of St. Louis.

From vehicles and small arms to communication equipment, optics and more, the 32 employees at AMSA 159 ensure the 30 units they support have the well-functioning tools they need to achieve their missions. That’s no small feat, given the fact that AMSA 159 routinely handles roughly thousands of work orders annually submitted by engineer, military police, quartermaster, medical and fire fighter units, among others. In 2018, they handled 3,120 work orders.

AMSA 159 is housed in a new structure completed in 2014 for about $14 million when it moved from a residential area in St. Louis to the 1,655-acre WSLTA site. The expansive and well-lit space features radiant floor heat, described by Acting Shop Manager Darrel Eickoff as “phenomenal. It’s the best thing ever, and very economical.”

Eickoff felt the quartermaster unit Laundry Advanced System was the most difficult to repair because “it’s challenging to determine the root cause of the problem.” The LADS is like a mobile washing machine on the back of a trailer and is a highly-engineered system, with lots of boilers and pumps that need maintenance. The LADS consists of two wash/dryer drums, a thermal heater and a water recovery system mounted on a 20-foot flatrack. The LADS operates while mounted to a 40-foot flatbed trailer.

Another piece of equipment that according to Eickoff has its own “unique set of challenges” is the Dry Support Bridge owned by multirole bridge companies. The module DSB is almost entirely hydraulic and has metric parts. It gives the Army the ability to transport equipment over obstacles and small water courses. The DSB is repaired by the mechanics at the Branch Maintenance Activity in Granite City, Ill., aligned with AMSA 159.

AMSA 159 continues to support units many different ways. For example, Joseph Dimitro, small arms repair technician, developed familiarization training for the M249 light machine gun, M240B machine gun, M2 .50-calibre machine gun and MK19 grenade launcher. He then provided that training at two 648th Regional Support Group locations June 17 to 20, directly supporting unit readiness.

• Date Taken: 08.13.2019
• Date Posted: 08.19.2019 16:26
• Story ID: 336522
• Location: ST. CHARLES, MO, US