thedrifter
01-08-07, 06:53 AM
Vital repairs save troops' lives
Chuck Mueller and Andrew Silva, Staff Writers
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:01/08/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
Former Marine Cpl. Gary Morgan lost several buddies in Iraq when a roadside bomb ripped through their light armored vehicle.
For Morgan, the Pentagon's move to add extra armor to these LAVs "is a godsend."
Renovating and returning battle-worn equipment to troops in combat saves lives, said Morgan, 25, who served two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He now works as a mechanic "up-armoring" LAVs at the Marine Corps Maintenance Center in Yermo.
"It's vital to have military vehicles we can depend on," Morgan said. "We will see fewer combat injuries and deaths, with a lot of Marines returning home unscathed."
It's not only the roadside bombs, called improvised explosive devices, that are wreaking havoc on the tanks, armored personnel carriers and Humvees in the war.
Long hard miles in a country where fine sand grinds away at every piece of equipment has left the military scrambling to repair vehicles and helicopters that are just plain wearing out.
"For a combat vehicle, the peacetime op-tempo (operations tempo) is 800 miles a year for tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and howitzers," said James Dwyer of the Army Materiel Command in Virginia. "In Operation Iraqi Freedom, it's four times that. For wheeled vehicles, it's much more - eight to 10 times the usage. Vehicles are aging eight years in a year."
There was such a backlog of maintenance that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker told Congress in July he was not satisfied with the training and readiness of troops waiting to deploy.
Congress kicked in about $20billion for repair and replacement of worn-out and battle- damaged equipment.
Before the war in Iraq, workers in Army depots, where repairs and upgrades are done, worked 11 million hours. By 2006, that had doubled to 22 million hours.
The additional money will help tremendously in keeping up with the relentless pace of repair, said Col. Gerald Bates, chief of maintenance management for the materiel command.
The Army plans to repair about 4,000 tanks and other tracked vehicles this fiscal year, compared to about 2,500 in 2006.
At the Army's Fort Irwin north of Barstow, and at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, training is proceeding on a normal schedule and hasn't been affected by equipment shortages, officials said.
But as debate begins on a possible "surge" of 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Iraq, a key question will be whether training and maintenance would again be overwhelmed.
A congressional staffer familiar with the issue said an increase in troop levels would mean a lot more equipment wearing out that much faster, putting the Army and Marines in tough straits again.
Not to mention the impact on morale with longer deployments and shorter stays at home, the staffer said.
In addition to retrofitted vehicles, there is a new family of armored vehicles in the pipeline, called mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles.
Those range from a light six-person vehicle, up to a beefy 16-troop-capacity carrier dubbed "The Buffalo." But full-scale manufacturing and deployment won't begin immediately.
Still, the Army and Marines continue to adapt to the dangerous and hostile roads in Iraq.
Troops are a long way from the early days of the war when soldiers and Marines scrounged for scrap metal to prop inside their trucks and Humvees as makeshift armor.
The thousands of Humvees in Iraq now have factory-installed armor.
The Maintenance Center in Yermo, a tenant unit at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, routinely repairs Humvees, tanks and armored amphibious vehicles, base spokesman Rob Jackson said.
But now the center, housed in a 10-acre structure, is concentrating on up-armoring more than 100 LAVs - 11-ton all-terrain and all-weather vehicles noted for their mobility in hot or cold conditions, on or off the road. The LAVs can carry up to seven troops and hundreds of rounds of 25mm ammunition.
The center recently repaired 16 LAVs in 56 days for Marines from Camp Pendleton bound for Iraq, and now has a Feb. 3 deadline to upgrade 16 more.
It awaits the first of 98 damaged LAVs targeted for repair during the year ahead.
"We're here to support our war-fighters, and we're proud of our mission," said Dean Knutson, who heads the center's marketing and business development department. "It's our job to give the Marine Corps and other services the tools they need to take the fight to our adversaries."
There's enormous pride among the center's 1,173 mechanics, welders, painters and other workers to ensure quality workmanship.
The well-trained work force, skilled in various duties, is considered sufficient to carry on the increased workload, said LAV project manager Scott Stevens.
"`Semper Fidelis' (Always Faithful), the Marine Corps motto, runs through the veins of the crews at this depot," said the former Marine.
The crews repair six versions of the vehicle, stripping and overhauling each to mint condition. The process normally takes 80 days per LAV.
"Up-armoring includes very robust internal and external protection," Stevens said.
Depending on their condition, it costs from $300,000 to $800,000 to repair each of the vehicles.
"At first, the vehicles came in with wheels blown off, but now with the (explosive force) of larger improvised explosive devices, their side walls have been ripped out," said Tom Pitard, who supervises the welding shop's 65-member work force.
"The Marines are over there fighting for us, and we're fighting to make them safe," he said.
Inside the vehicles, workers install sprawl liners, 2-inch- thick shields to protect troops from shrapnel, said Bob Cardenas, a project supervisor. "Meanwhile, all the vehicle's suspension is upgraded, and turrets up-armored," he said.
Welding leader Felix Baca of Barstow, who served with the Army in Vietnam as a combat engineer in 1972 and 1973, said many in his force volunteer extra hours to make sure their work is done well.
"They know that what they're doing is saving lives of Marines in combat in Iraq," he said.
Michelle Fillingame, 35, an interior decorator before coming to work at the Maintenance Center as a mechanic's helper 18 months ago, said the rebuilding and inspecting of LAVs and the addition of guns and optics to the vehicles are crucial steps in a careful process that leads to final road-testing.
"When everything is done, we know it's safe," she said. "We don't just work a nine-hour day but long enough to know it's completely rebuilt and safe for our troops.
"I have family members in the armed services, some in Iraq. So that's a big reason to make sure these vehicles are safe."
Chris Landeros, a defense contractor at the Maintenance Center, echoes the sentiments of the work force.
"There's no doubt that the extra armor installed here will save the lives of our fighting forces," he said. "Those are our brothers over there, and it's essential to add any protection we can."
Ellie
Chuck Mueller and Andrew Silva, Staff Writers
San Bernardino County Sun
Article Launched:01/08/2007 12:00:00 AM PST
Former Marine Cpl. Gary Morgan lost several buddies in Iraq when a roadside bomb ripped through their light armored vehicle.
For Morgan, the Pentagon's move to add extra armor to these LAVs "is a godsend."
Renovating and returning battle-worn equipment to troops in combat saves lives, said Morgan, 25, who served two tours in Iraq in 2003 and 2004. He now works as a mechanic "up-armoring" LAVs at the Marine Corps Maintenance Center in Yermo.
"It's vital to have military vehicles we can depend on," Morgan said. "We will see fewer combat injuries and deaths, with a lot of Marines returning home unscathed."
It's not only the roadside bombs, called improvised explosive devices, that are wreaking havoc on the tanks, armored personnel carriers and Humvees in the war.
Long hard miles in a country where fine sand grinds away at every piece of equipment has left the military scrambling to repair vehicles and helicopters that are just plain wearing out.
"For a combat vehicle, the peacetime op-tempo (operations tempo) is 800 miles a year for tanks, Bradley fighting vehicles and howitzers," said James Dwyer of the Army Materiel Command in Virginia. "In Operation Iraqi Freedom, it's four times that. For wheeled vehicles, it's much more - eight to 10 times the usage. Vehicles are aging eight years in a year."
There was such a backlog of maintenance that Army Chief of Staff Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker told Congress in July he was not satisfied with the training and readiness of troops waiting to deploy.
Congress kicked in about $20billion for repair and replacement of worn-out and battle- damaged equipment.
Before the war in Iraq, workers in Army depots, where repairs and upgrades are done, worked 11 million hours. By 2006, that had doubled to 22 million hours.
The additional money will help tremendously in keeping up with the relentless pace of repair, said Col. Gerald Bates, chief of maintenance management for the materiel command.
The Army plans to repair about 4,000 tanks and other tracked vehicles this fiscal year, compared to about 2,500 in 2006.
At the Army's Fort Irwin north of Barstow, and at Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center at Twentynine Palms, training is proceeding on a normal schedule and hasn't been affected by equipment shortages, officials said.
But as debate begins on a possible "surge" of 20,000 to 30,000 troops in Iraq, a key question will be whether training and maintenance would again be overwhelmed.
A congressional staffer familiar with the issue said an increase in troop levels would mean a lot more equipment wearing out that much faster, putting the Army and Marines in tough straits again.
Not to mention the impact on morale with longer deployments and shorter stays at home, the staffer said.
In addition to retrofitted vehicles, there is a new family of armored vehicles in the pipeline, called mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles.
Those range from a light six-person vehicle, up to a beefy 16-troop-capacity carrier dubbed "The Buffalo." But full-scale manufacturing and deployment won't begin immediately.
Still, the Army and Marines continue to adapt to the dangerous and hostile roads in Iraq.
Troops are a long way from the early days of the war when soldiers and Marines scrounged for scrap metal to prop inside their trucks and Humvees as makeshift armor.
The thousands of Humvees in Iraq now have factory-installed armor.
The Maintenance Center in Yermo, a tenant unit at the Marine Corps Logistics Base, routinely repairs Humvees, tanks and armored amphibious vehicles, base spokesman Rob Jackson said.
But now the center, housed in a 10-acre structure, is concentrating on up-armoring more than 100 LAVs - 11-ton all-terrain and all-weather vehicles noted for their mobility in hot or cold conditions, on or off the road. The LAVs can carry up to seven troops and hundreds of rounds of 25mm ammunition.
The center recently repaired 16 LAVs in 56 days for Marines from Camp Pendleton bound for Iraq, and now has a Feb. 3 deadline to upgrade 16 more.
It awaits the first of 98 damaged LAVs targeted for repair during the year ahead.
"We're here to support our war-fighters, and we're proud of our mission," said Dean Knutson, who heads the center's marketing and business development department. "It's our job to give the Marine Corps and other services the tools they need to take the fight to our adversaries."
There's enormous pride among the center's 1,173 mechanics, welders, painters and other workers to ensure quality workmanship.
The well-trained work force, skilled in various duties, is considered sufficient to carry on the increased workload, said LAV project manager Scott Stevens.
"`Semper Fidelis' (Always Faithful), the Marine Corps motto, runs through the veins of the crews at this depot," said the former Marine.
The crews repair six versions of the vehicle, stripping and overhauling each to mint condition. The process normally takes 80 days per LAV.
"Up-armoring includes very robust internal and external protection," Stevens said.
Depending on their condition, it costs from $300,000 to $800,000 to repair each of the vehicles.
"At first, the vehicles came in with wheels blown off, but now with the (explosive force) of larger improvised explosive devices, their side walls have been ripped out," said Tom Pitard, who supervises the welding shop's 65-member work force.
"The Marines are over there fighting for us, and we're fighting to make them safe," he said.
Inside the vehicles, workers install sprawl liners, 2-inch- thick shields to protect troops from shrapnel, said Bob Cardenas, a project supervisor. "Meanwhile, all the vehicle's suspension is upgraded, and turrets up-armored," he said.
Welding leader Felix Baca of Barstow, who served with the Army in Vietnam as a combat engineer in 1972 and 1973, said many in his force volunteer extra hours to make sure their work is done well.
"They know that what they're doing is saving lives of Marines in combat in Iraq," he said.
Michelle Fillingame, 35, an interior decorator before coming to work at the Maintenance Center as a mechanic's helper 18 months ago, said the rebuilding and inspecting of LAVs and the addition of guns and optics to the vehicles are crucial steps in a careful process that leads to final road-testing.
"When everything is done, we know it's safe," she said. "We don't just work a nine-hour day but long enough to know it's completely rebuilt and safe for our troops.
"I have family members in the armed services, some in Iraq. So that's a big reason to make sure these vehicles are safe."
Chris Landeros, a defense contractor at the Maintenance Center, echoes the sentiments of the work force.
"There's no doubt that the extra armor installed here will save the lives of our fighting forces," he said. "Those are our brothers over there, and it's essential to add any protection we can."
Ellie