CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. — Army Reserve units across the greater San Diego area have increased maintenance capability with the opening of a new Area Maintenance Support Activity 29 facility at Camp Pendleton, replacing an undersized maintenance shop and temporary structures that supported the region for years.
The 10,853-square-foot AMSA and Vehicle Maintenance Shop in Camp Pendleton's Del Mar Area 21 became fully operational Sept. 1, providing maintainers with larger work areas, modern equipment, increased storage and infrastructure designed to accommodate the Army Reserve's current vehicle fleet.
For the employees who maintain that equipment, the difference between the old and new facilities is significant. "Going from when I first showed up to where we were living, to where we're going to be living, is a night-and-day improvement," said Steven Gomez, AMSA 29 HMER supervisor.
The previous AMSA 29 facility was a 5,374-square-foot building constructed in 1973. Three relocatable buildings totaling another 1,400 square feet provided administrative space. The facility was operating at 212% utilization and had an Infrastructure Status Report rating of F4/Q4, or black.
The limitations extended beyond available square footage. The facility lacked drive-through maintenance bays and vehicle-lift equipment, its bay doors were too small for some current Army equipment, and storage and bathroom space were inadequate. Approximately 75% of the building's electrical outlets and fluorescent lighting were also nonoperational, according to Maj. Matthew McDaniel with the 63d Readiness Division Directorate of Public Works. "The current facility was working out of a couple of trailers for their office and then, like, two bays," McDaniel said. "So, really small footprint. Not really conducive to perform work and unable to provide the throughput necessary to service the units there in the San Diego region."
The new facility is expected to increase AMSA 29's work capacity by approximately 66%, McDaniel said. At the center of that increased capability is a 32-by-96-foot drive-through work bay with six work areas. The facility also includes an overhead traveling bridge crane and bay doors with more than 20 feet of clearance, allowing maintainers to bring equipment inside that previously had to be serviced outdoors.
Gomez said larger vehicles, including route-clearance equipment, could not fit inside the old shop. Removing engines or armor could require maintainers to work outside using a forklift equipped with an attachment. "We were making it work outside in the old location," Gomez said. "Now we're able to work on that piece of equipment inside with overhead crane assistance."
The change is particularly important at Camp Pendleton, where proximity to the Pacific Ocean exposes equipment to salt, dust and other environmental conditions.
"Being able to work inside eliminates the dust and overall accumulation of salt that gets onto everything," Gomez said. "We have a real big problem with rust and things corroding at our location." The improvements extend beyond the maintenance bays.
The facility includes dedicated tool and parts rooms, controlled and flammable-waste storage, a fluid distribution room, battery room, classroom and break area, library, showers and lockers, administrative space, two vehicle wash racks, a bi-level equipment loading ramp and expanded military and privately owned vehicle parking. For Gomez, additional storage means AMSA 29 can also reduce its reliance on shipping containers that previously occupied its parking area.
"Now with the new facility, I have emptied out everything," Gomez said. "We will no longer use shipping containers." Modern network infrastructure also provides connectivity throughout the facility and surrounding work areas. Gomez said the old shop had limited Wi-Fi coverage, requiring employees working outside to return to the building when they needed to access technical manuals or look up parts.
"It adds up over the year when you take somebody who works outside, who has to come inside, sit down, open up the TM, figure out what's going on, and then go back outside and work on the truck," Gomez said.
The new facility also incorporates updated utility connections, accessibility improvements, fencing, physical security and antiterrorism/force protection features, along with sustainability and energy-efficiency measures.
Environmental improvements include systems designed to meet current requirements for controlled waste, utilities, metering, refrigerants and air quality.
The project eliminates the Army Reserve's reliance on the aging maintenance building and three relocatable administrative structures, with four buildings totaling 6,774 square feet identified for disposal or demolition. AMSA 29 supports Army Reserve units throughout the greater San Diego area, including units at Van Deman, Miramar, Fallbrook and Roark Hall. Its location adjacent to an Army Reserve training facility at Camp Pendleton also places maintenance support near training opportunities available to those units.
"We're really excited about the increased capability for maintenance in San Diego, especially given the training value that units can receive at Camp Pendleton," McDaniel said. "We believe that the investment there at AMSA 29 is going to directly result in increased readiness for our units through training and more vehicles serviced and capable of being utilized."
For the AMSA 29 workforce, the project also marks the end of years spent adapting temporary and outdated spaces to accomplish the maintenance mission.
"Everybody's extremely happy because they've been living in the dirt for the last 15 years," Gomez said. With the facility now fully operational, AMSA 29 maintainers have a workspace designed around the equipment and mission they support — increasing the 63d Readiness Division's capacity to maintain equipment and keep Army Reserve units across Southern California ready to train and deploy.