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    Soldiers give vehicle second life

    Soldiers give vehicle second life

    Photo By Master Sgt. Shaiyla Hakeem | U.S. Army mechanics, with Delta Company, 250th Brigade Support Battalion, attached to...... read more read more

    JOINT TRAINING CENTER, Jordan (October 10, 2019) - How do Soldiers deal with busted equipment? They fix it!

    Broken is not an option for U.S. Army mechanics with Delta Company, 250th Brigade Support Battalion, attached to 1st Squadron, 102nd Cavalry Regiment, 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team of the 42nd Infantry Division, New Jersey National Guard, who transformed an eyesore into eye candy.

    U.S. Army Chief Warrant Officer 2 Frank Cocciolillo, National Guardsman and officer in charge for Delta Company, works as a federal technician supervisor and rebuilds damaged vehicles in his civilian career. He started repairing a dismembered Kawasaki MULE as a hobby to help pass time during his rotation in Jordan, but his leisure project morphed into a team-building activity that everyone participated in.

    “Once I started breathing a little bit of life into it [broken Kawasaki MULE], the team started to get excited and wanted to help,” said Cocciolillo, “Out of three bad vehicles we had here, we were able to pull enough good parts to make a very good, solid one.”

    Cocciolillo used the vehicle restoration to pass his knowledge and skill set to his Soldiers, meshing his civilian career with his Army military occupational specialty. This facilitated talent management; enhancing Army readiness by maximizing the talents of every person.

    U.S. Army Staff Sgt. James Snipe was one of the team members who helped in reconstructing the vehicle. According to him, the broke-down Kawasaki MULE was missing an engine belt, a battery, a starter and needed a new fuel tank, among other items. The team refurbished unused vehicle parts from their working garage to restore the inoperable Kawasaki MULE.

    “We’re all mechanics,” explained Snipe, “So if we can figure out how something works, we can pretty much fix it.”

    The restored Kawasaki MULE took approximately one month to restore and was enhanced with cup holders, a Bluetooth speaker, old strobe lights from a police car and a fresh coat of dessert tan paint. The hood is adorned with, “D-Block,” representative of their company, the team’s slogan, “Repair any damages,” and names of the Soldiers who helped restore it to its former glory.

    Cocciolillo said the added amenities were a huge morale booster for the troops. He explained that vehicle parts are hard to acquire, but just because something is broken, doesn’t mean it cannot be fixed; everything used for the restoration were from refurbished, broken items.

    The Army seeks to maximize the value of every dollar, operate transparently and wisely use the resources entrusted to us. The team is currently working toward more vehicle restorations from harvesting and repairing old parts. The mechanics serve as a support element for Joint Training Center-Jordan, providing vehicle maintenance, routine upkeep and of course, fixing what is broken. Nothing goes to waste with Delta Company, they are focused on keeping equipment serviceable and safe for troops, even if it involves completely rebuilding something.

    “We were able to get functioning pieces of equipment from what other people classified as junk,” said Cocciolillo, “We plan to keep working together, rebuilding and fixing what some call unfixable.”

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    NEWS INFO

    Date Taken: 10.10.2019
    Date Posted: 10.10.2019 02:29
    Story ID: 347017
    Location: JO

    Web Views: 283
    Downloads: 0

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