Photo By Sgt. Edwin Gray | Spc. Dayln Jenkins, a wheel vehicle mechanic and Indianapolis native, with the 310th...... read more read more
JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq - Surrounding a dark, gloomy, oily garage are several power generators and vehicles that need minor adjustments or that are deemed unserviceable. The vehicles range from non-tactical cars, vans and trucks to Mine Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles and forklifts. Every day, a small group of six soldiers respond to the call for servicing this troubled equipment.
Inside the dark shop are many smiles lighting up the room, laughter from jokes and sweat from continuous hard work. Averaging at times between one to three items an hour being brought in for repair, these soldiers find time to enjoy the day and accomplish their operations.
The 310th Expeditionary Sustainment Command’s mission, at times, lie on the shoulders of these mechanics and their capability to accomplish their mission. One example of that is a forklift with an unbalanced alignment between the two forks, which was brought into the shop to be repaired. It was deemed unserviceable, but is needed to palletize and move equipment for the 310th ESC. It is the only one owned by the 310th ESC and is essential to the reposturing of forces mission.
With just a wrench and the leadership of Staff Sgt. Brian Fialek, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and a Twin Lake, Mich., native, the five mechanics successfully performed the needed maintenance to the forklift to redeem it as serviceable.
Spc. Dayln Jenkins, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and Indianapolis, Ind., native; Spc. Paul Mercer, a truck driver and fueler from Chillicoche, Ohio; Cpl. Nicholas Wills, a power generation equipment repairer and Airport, Ohio, native; Pfc. Caleb Chapman, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic and Brownsburg, Ind., native; and Spc. Nicholis Boyer, a fueler and a truck driver and a Sisera, Ind., native, all work in the shop with Fialek.
As Reservists, the jobs these soldiers are performing aren’t the everyday jobs they normally would do when home. Boyer and Mercer were both truck drivers prior to some recent classes, qualifying them to deploy with the maintenance shop.
Boyer said he had never seen most of the equipment he’s currently using prior to June of last year, because he was originally a truck driver. He also said his transition to being tasked to fix the vehicles he used to drive was a great opportunity, and he’s grateful to be a part of such a busy but relaxed atmosphere.
They have had a smooth transition and have successfully accomplished their missions. They arrived with several vehicles already needing repair, broken equipment being brought in for service at least once every hour and with a short deadline.
“We started out with nine MRAPs, two Light-Medium Tactical Vehicles, two Humvees and one forklift,” said Fialek. “Once you get the vehicle and you determine it’s non-mission-capable, you need to figure out why in 24 hours and have a plan of action or solution to fix the problem within 24 hours.”
After approximately four months of deployment, the crew serviced several vehicles and generators, providing a more secure line of travel for the 310th ESC. They have maintained a lot of the unit vehicles’ annual maintenance and provided their expertise on minor and major vehicular problems.
“[I’ve seen] some problems, but they weren’t from human error, but most of the errors were just because of the types of vehicles they are,” said Jenkins. “I mainly provided annual and basic services to keep the vehicles well maintained to prevent something from going wrong.”
Five of the six soldiers are qualified for multiple military jobs. Many of them are enjoying the opportunity to actually do their jobs. Prior to their deployment, they rarely were able to get their hands dirty due to being Reservists, and those rare experiences came during their once-a-month weekend battle assemblies.
“Finally getting to exercise my military discipline is purposeful, educational and deserving after four years of drilling,” said Wills. “The priority of finished product is the biggest change from drilling to deployment. If something is broken it needs to be finished and the status of it needs to be reported and recorded.”
When asked how they accomplish so much in so little time and how they feel after finishing a task, they are mostly straightforward, but modest.
“We are just five soldiers and a wrench,” said Boyer.
| Date Taken: | 07.06.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.17.2011 02:23 |
| Story ID: | 73853 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 147 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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