Photo By Jennifer Bacchus | Stevie Harris preps the interior of an OSV prior to installation of components in...... read more read more
ANNISTON ARMY DEPOT, Ala. -- The depot is currently rebuilding Opposing Forces Surrogate Vehicles, better known as OSVs, and Main Battle Tanks to enable realistic training for Soldiers.
In January, the mechanics, machinists, welders, painters and various other employees in the depot’s Nichols Industrial Complex completed the conversion of 14 M113 vehicles to OSVs. Another 12 M113s were converted to Main Battle Tanks.
Conversions give ANAD employees the opportunity to not only repair and replace parts, but also construct new.
“The turret and all weld-on items were fabricated and applied to the turret at Rock Island Arsenal,” said Ronnie Webb, from the Directorate of Production Management. “Any items designed to hang on the vehicle were fabricated and installed at ANAD.”
Items which hang on include the nose piece of the OSV, the rear extension and the doors.
“The OSV has personnel doors, where a M113 has a ramp,” explained Colt Turner, maintenance management specialist for the program.
In total, the program had approximately 300 fabrication orders for each vehicle, including about 160 bolt-on items, which were machined and threaded specifically for the OSV.
“A lot of that isn’t available in the supply system, so it has to be fabricated,” said Turner.
The installation’s artisans are currently working on two reclaim and repair programs – one for more than 50 OSVs and another smaller program for MBTs.
Much like the depot would repair a standard combat vehicle, the OSVs and MBTs are inspected and disassembled to their bare hulls.
The components then rotate through several shops on the installation – being cleaned, repaired and painted.
When all the components are ready for assembly, they go to Greg Johnson’s assembly team.
“It comes in as a bare hull, nothing in there,” said Johnson, a heavy mobile equipment supervisor. “By the time it hits the sixth bay, it’s running under its own power.
Johnson said it takes a lot of expertise throughout the depot to create the components.
“There are a lot of hands in the pie,” he said, detailing the shops – components, cables, the kitting shops, and welders who have a part in each reconstruction.
“There is a lot of welding that has to be done to these vehicles; a lot of work that goes into each one,” said Johnson.
Because so many different shops are involved, communication is a key component to ensuring parts are done on time and correctly.
“If I need something machined a little differently, I have to let them know,” said Johnson.
On the OSVs, since they are created from vehicles often more than 50 years old, parts often must be tailored to a specific vehicle to account for variations.
“We’re going to have to make some things work. That’s where the true journeyman mechanics come into play,” said Johnson. “You have to take new stuff and make it fit on and with the old stuff, ensuring nothing hits the moving parts.”
Twenty-four mechanics work on Johnson’s assembly line and he said each of them understands they are ensuring the readiness of Soldiers.
“Our Army is only as important as its training. So, to me, that makes this vehicle the most important,” said Johnson. “The quality of these vehicles has to be the best, so it gives them the best training possible.”
| Date Taken: | 04.02.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2020 09:03 |
| Story ID: | 366407 |
| Location: | AL, US |
| Web Views: | 159 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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