KANDAHAR, Afghanistan — A mechanized platoon arrives back in the middle of the night from a week of operations. They are battered, beat and in dire need of rest and recuperation.
And those are just the vehicles.
Southern Afghanistan's rugged environment will put even the toughest machines–and their mechanics–to the test. Yet the National Support Element's maintenance platoon keeps Task Force (TF) ORION rolling with hard work, smarts and resourcefulness.
TF ORION has operated on a relentless tempo since it arrived in Kandahar last February. With virtually every one of the Task Force's 213 vehicles operating overseas for extended stretches, the challenge of keeping that fleet running on a high operational tempo can be immense.
What Warrant Officer Norris Carlson and his platoon of 50 to 60 mechanics and technicians have set up is a drive-through process when mechanized platoons come back from operations. Companies and platoons get a time frame to get their vehicles in when they arrive.
"The concept is that a vehicle goes in battle-broken and comes out as serviceable as we can make it in the time frame we have," says Warrant Officer Carlson.
In that span of time, vehicles will roll into the tented maintenance bays. Once inside, they get safety inspections and driver maintenance. Weapons technicians check the weapon systems and fire control systems technicians make sure the sights and targeting systems are good to go. Depending on the amount of time allotted, the maintainers will do whatever else the vehicles need to roll out in fighting form.
Considering the amount of vehicles that come in for maintenance at any one point, the maintainers have resorted to prioritization–a sort of vehicle triage–in order to get the important vehicles out first.
The biggest problem WO Carlson's crew has encountered so far among the vehicles is the strain on their suspensions. The rugged terrain and the rutty paths disguised as roads wreak havoc with suspension systems of even the formidable LAV III. WO Carlson says they have gone through a number of drive shafts, differentials in addition to the 230 tires they have replaced and more than 1000 they have fixed.
Another problem is the chalk-fine dust that seems inescapable in southern Afghanistan. Corporal Neil Davies, a vehicle technician, says they go through lots of air filters because of the dust. WO Carlson adds that, as the weather gets hotter, dust and heat will become bigger issues because dust collects in radiators and air filters.
Corporal Mike Pisio says it's also a matter of equipment usage. The fire control systems technician says that despite the fact a lot of the equipment coming in with the deployment is new, there is a lot more wear and tear than back in Canada.
"A lot of the sights get used more in one month here than they would in one year back in Canada," he says.
WO Carlson explains that it is normal practice to rob parts out of vehicles deemed beyond local repair when spare parts are scarce. The mechanics then replace the parts taken with the deficient parts before the "robbed" vehicle goes back to Canada. He adds that it is not the preferred option, but it is sometimes necessary.
With the high tempo of operations, the amount of wear and tear on vehicles and equipment, and the logistical limitations of being halfway across the world from home in a third-world country, it means a lot of long hours for the maintainers. It is not uncommon for mechanics to work well into the night when a flood of vehicles comes in for maintenance.
Corporal Davies says it is all part of the job: making sure his fellow soldiers' equipment is fit to fight.
"Sometimes we work late, but that's the way it is and I have no problem with that," he says.
Article by Captain Mark Peebles Photos by Sergeant Gerben van Es
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