Downsized maintenance keeps cranking

by Staff Sgt. Robert Barnett
JBER Public Affairs

1/7/2014 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska  -- As winter came to Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, a clear layer of ice formed on the ground in multiple locations, commonly known as black ice.

It covered the streets outside Fort Greely, Alaska in November as Company G, 725th Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, performed a training mission.

Soldiers called for aid for a HEMTT M-984A54 recovery truck wrecker. Even the recovery truck, normally used for towing and recovering other vehicles, had broken down.

Another wrecker was called in, but slid on the black ice and rolled over. The wrecker it was going to recover ended up recovering it. No one was injured in the incident.

The basic shape was largely intact, but there were dents, scrapes and scratches covering the exterior. Fortunately, the Soldiers were able to use parts from the one that rolled over to fix the one that had broken down. They then used that to recover the rolled one.

There are some maintenance and repair jobs that units handle themselves. But other jobs, big projects like this one, needed more specialized repair done.

The Logistics Readiness Center supports the 4/25th IBCT by providing special equipment repair and maintenance to their tactical equipment.

In the case of the rolled wrecker, they painted the cab, manufactured lifting eyes bolted to the roof to lift the cab, and supplied the unit with special tools. The Soldiers replaced the cab using the LRC's overhead crane in two half-days.

"Those guys are very knowledgeable," said Sgt. 1st Class Fredrick Williams, maintenance control sergeant with the Company G, 725th BSB and a native of Kings Mountain, N.C. "They made sure we had the right equipment and helped us out. They helped us with lift support and slings. They are the subject matter experts. We wouldn't have been able to fix the vehicles without their facilities."

The LRC used to perform services that ranged from work on community equipment to heavy equipment.

The Army used to have four tiers, or levels, of maintenance. The LRC was a 30- and 20- level facility. The 10-level is changing oil and other smaller services. 20-level is changing out an engine. 30-level is making repairs to the engine instead of just replacing it. 40-level is completely rebuilding the vehicle at the manufacturer level.

Instead, now it's the two-tier level, which are the field level and sustainment level that can do all of the above except rebuilding the vehicle at the manufacturer level.

"We used to do maintenance for everything," said Kent Hubert, DoD civilian and shop foreman, a native of Vermillion, S.D. "We did public works, maintenance on things like lawnmowers."

Today, the shop works on communications equipment like radios, small arms, artillery, fire control instruments, heaters, vehicles and other tactical equipment. They even paint - tactical paint, of course.

"This is the only facility on post that uses this special paint," he said. "It's a chemical agent-resisting coating so it's tougher to get contaminated and easier to decontaminate. In previous paints, decontamination agents would take the paint off or retain the chemical - you couldn't get it all off."

The LRC has provided service for military units through the toughest war times when there was a steady flow of equipment needing work, he said.

"When a unit returned from deployment, the special equipment services shop, which is part of the LRC, would repair all their equipment," said Tony Houser, LRC division chief. "Scratches, torn seats or anything needing repair would get done and then returned to the units looking brand new so the unit could begin their training phase again for their next deployment. While they were deployed, we filled in the maintenance aspect of their mission, supporting the engineer brigade."

The military experienced budget cuts when the branches merged into the joint base, their staff of mechanics downsized, and their mission became specialized to tactical equipment.

"Now the units are authorized to perform their own maintenance and repairs," Houser said. "We're specialized to the point that we mainly only take projects that the unit isn't able to do."

Houser said at their busiest, they worked 1,500 rolling stock -- trucks and similar equipment -- at a time.

"Twice last year we had augmenters come from outside of JBER to help us meet our mission demands," he said. "Since the units know we don't have as many personnel, they are trying to take on more by themselves."

With the recent changes, they have roughly 100 smaller, more specialized projects, he said. They are still there to support the military.

"The most enjoyable part of this job is the satisfaction you get helping the Soldiers accomplish their mission," Hubert said. "We try to help them out any way we can."