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FORWARD OPERATING BASE SALERNO, Afghanistan, June 7, 2008 - A small shop that holds a few tools, six mechanics, and a lot of good ideas are what keeps the vehicles running on Forward Operating Base Salerno. When the soldiers of Company G, 4th Battalion, 320th Field Artillery Regiment, Combined Task Force Currahee, Maintenance Department are not performing normal vehicle maintenance, or replacing mud-filled humvee motors with new ones, they may be found adding customized protection, a sort of personal touch on gunner turrets. They take the initiative. They come up with ideas and implement them. These things are evident as they go to work, plasma cutter in hand, cutting bolt holes on a turret to connect that extra piece of bullet proof glass that might save a battle buddy’s life. "We don't have free reign to do what we want with the vehicles, but we do what we have to, to make these vehicles mission capable," said SPC Joseph Keith of the 546th Military Police Company as he describes how he mounts the safety glass around a turret to help protect gunners from flying debris caused by improvised explosive devices. "So far we've done about ten, but by the time we've left this place, all of them will have it.” Adding extra security is not mandatory, and no one provided a set of directions or a step-by-step guide for installation. Adding security is something they thought might help their fellow soldiers who have the least amount of cover when attacked. The soldiers who man the machine gun or grenade launcher mounted on the roof of the vehicle. "My first sergeant and I, and our leadership, are really hands off so to speak. We give a lot of them the latitude to do what they want and to think outside the box,” said CPT Matt Falvo, commanding officer for Company G. “I really try to instill in them to always think outside of the box and to find a solution on their own. Everyone here has great ideas and when you put those ideas together a lot of good things can happen." Mounting the extra glass on the turret proved to be too much weight than the brake system was designed for, so they got together and devised a new brake that gets the job done. According to Keith, when they were coming up with the brake system for the turret, they ended up with five designs, and chose the one which worked best. "Our maintenance shop is undermanned, as well as underequipped. We have six mechanics in our shop, where the 82nd Airborne had 15. Our tools were stolen when we got into country so what we are working with we keep locked in a little trailer outside. And even with those numbers, we have an operational readiness rate of 97 percent. The Army's goal is 90 percent," said 1SG Joseph Beu, the Company First Sergeant. So how do the guys in the maintenance shop keep good attitudes about everything? Falvo says, "These guys joined the Army to be 63 Bravo mechanics, and they are in their element, and would probably be happy with just one screwdriver and a wrench." |
