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380AEW Article

380th shop maintains health of fleet

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mike Andriacco
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTWEST ASIA --  A 380th Air Expeditionary Wing unit oversees the maintenance and repair of approximately 500 fleet vehicles as well as tackling some more obscure work they normally don't accomplish in their normal duties.

The mission of the 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Maintenance flight is to provide a safe and serviceable vehicle fleet to accomplish the air tasking order every day.

Not only do they do this in spite of extreme temperature and weather conditions and the occasional difficulties with available parts, but they have increased the mission capable rate of the fleet by 5.4 percent in January alone.

"We have a great team here in vehicle maintenance," said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Watson, 380th ELRS vehicle maintenance vehicle fleet manager. "Everybody gives 110 percent each day."

In addition to the normal duties of a vehicle maintenance flight, the 380th team takes on some tasks that are a little outside the norm for them.

"Normally, when a vehicle has been determined to be unserviceable or has reached or exceeded its (service) life expectancy and is approved to be salvaged by headquarters, we would make arrangements with the closest Defense Reutilization and Marketing Service facility," said Tech. Sgt. Todd Rogers, 380th ELRS vehicle maintenance superintendent. "The the asset would be sent to DRMS to be resold or turned in for scrap."

Here, the vehicle maintenance shop receives the approval from headquarters, removes all markings and process the vehicle for local disposal as scrap metal, Sergeant Rogers said. This usually involves smashing the cab, cutting the frame in half and holes in the engine and transmission, and cutting the axles in half. This process renders the vehicle totally useless and ready for disposal, he added.

Chopping up and disposing of unserviceable vehicles is not the only task that falls outside regular duties for vehicle maintenance. The flight also manages close to 300 government leased vehicles, a task managed by the Government Services Administration at most bases.

As vehicle fleet manager, Sergeant Watson is the liaison between the vehicle lease company and the Air Force for all preventative maintenance such as oil changes, registration renewals, accident repairs, special inspections, and service bulletins and waivers.

Maintaining the health and capabilities of the vehicle fleet is not an easy task with weather, parts procurement problems, and additional work not normally in the skill-set of a vehicle maintenance technician. The 380th ELRS vehicle maintenance team does it well.

"I am extremely proud of my vehicle maintenance team," said Sergeant Watson. "They are all highly trained and motivated to accomplish the wing mission. Everyone brings a unique skill set to the table and shares that knowledge with each other to help keep our vehicle fleet running in top condition."