| Maintenance
Assessment Guide for the New Reserve Component Commander by Sergeant First Class James I. Adams, Jr., ILARNG |
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you are the new commander of a National Guard or Reserve unit.
As you probably have learned by now, Army National Guard and
Army Reserve unit commanders face challenges different from those
faced by Active component commanders. The Reserve component commander
must plan unit training and maintenance within a limited timeframe.
Maintaining equipment while meeting training and mission requirements
can be particularly challenging. As a Reserve component commander,
you will need to keep your unit’s equipment up and running,
and you will want to improve your “percentage of on-hand
equipment” rating. To do this, you first will need to assess
where you stand. The Assessment You will need to start with Department of the Army Pamphlet (DA Pam) 750–1, Leader’s Unit Maintenance Handbook, and your hand receipt. Meet with your hand receipt holders and determine the locations of all of the equipment on the hand receipts. Then conduct an initial inspection. Walk around your equipment storage areas, and see if your unit equipment in your armory is stored properly. It would be beneficial to request a Command Maintenance Evaluation Team (COMET) inspection, review the last COMET inspection results, or use a COMET checklist to conduct your own inspection. Remember that the unit’s warfighting tools include not only transportation and combat vehicles but also tents, communications equipment, and ancillary equipment. While conducting the inspection— The maintenance management warning factors
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above will prove helpful in analyzing the inspection results. If you did not find any of the problems listed in the warning factors chart, congratulations; your unit is ready for mobilization. However, like a high percentage of commanders, you may find several problems in your motor pool. Once the problems are identified, you must develop solutions for them. PMCS Method The diagram on the next page shows a maintenance station training model that can be used to inspect and repair equipment. The model is designed primarily to teach section sergeants, platoon sergeants, and platoon leaders how to perform PMCS of their equipment properly and how to better supervise the troops responsible for completing the PMCS. The key to the success of this operation is command supervision and attendance. All parties involved in vehicle assignment, issue, and maintenance should participate. Leaders familiar with this process can conduct PMCS with minimal maintenance support (one or two mechanics) and some minor supplies such as sandpaper, wire brushes, and paint. The purpose of each station follows. Station 1: The motor sergeant or prescribed load list (PLL) clerk checks operators’ licenses and vehicle operation qualification documents. Maintenance personnel supervise operator-conducted PMCS. The motor sergeant or PLL clerk dispatches the vehicle to the operator . Station 2: Operators lube the vehicle, check fluid levels, and make operator-level repairs. Section sergeants supervise. Station 3: Mechanics perform –20- and –30-level inspections and replace parts or repair minor faults. [Vehicle and equipment maintenance is done at three levels: –10 level is conducted by the operator, –20 level by unit maintenance personnel, and –30 level by direct support maintenance personnel.] Station 4: Operators and crew remove rust, spot-paint, and install troop seats and canvas. Station 5: Section sergeants inspect for cleanliness, conduct a basic issue item inventory, and place the name of the assigned driver on the windshield. Station 6: The commander and motor sergeant review paperwork, determine repairs needed, and decide priority for vehicle repair. The commander, executive officer, or platoon leader authorizes the vehicle or equipment to be parked or stored. If you use the maintenance station training model to help plan PMCS, remember to start with your key leaders and mid-level personnel. Coordinate the stations—assign each task to specific personnel. If you do not have –30-level mechanics, request support from your direct support activity. The PMCS site should be an open area with cover, such as a maintenance tent, drive-through barn, or building. Ensure that all needed materials, such as fluids, wire brushes, and paint, are available. Last but not least, plan and dedicate time for the operation. Even if problems do not exist now, the maintenance station training model will help avert future problems. Use it with organizational and direct support technical inspections to help determine your course of action. Maintenance Resource Assessment After deciding on your course of action to correct the deficiencies you found, you need to determine if your unit personnel can handle the tasks. Begin by assessing your maintenance section’s capabilities. Conduct a maintenance resource assessment to calculate your maintenance sustainment posture. To do this, subtract anyone who will not be working on the equipment, such as the PLL clerk and the motor sergeant, from the number of authorized maintenance personnel. Then subtract those who are not military occupational specialty (MOS) qualified and those who will not be at the drill because of school or other factors. Divide the results by the number authorized. This gives you the “wrench-turner factor.” For example, assume that you are authorized a 13-person maintenance section comprising an E–7 motor sergeant, an E–6 lead mechanic, an E–4 automated systems clerk, 3 E–5 mechanics, 4 E–4 mechanics, an E–3 mechanic, an E–4 communications repairer, and an E–4 generator repairer. If they are all MOS qualified and will all be at every drill, the personnel rate for the formula is: 13 – 0 = 13, and 13 ÷ 13 = 1 (or 100 percent). So you would count on 100 percent of your mechanics to be available to conduct maintenance. But that is not realistic, so you need to estimate how many personnel actually will be available. Assume that the motor sergeant and the PLL clerk’s duties will preclude their conducting any maintenance. Remove them from the equation, and you have an effective maintenance strength of 11. Look at the other personnel and determine how much time you can expect them to be at drill and working on equipment. Subtract time for mandatory training, such as the Primary Leadership Development Course, and time that they will spend on other tasks, such as completing administrative duties. Soldiers who have not completed basic or advanced training cannot be expected to perform at 100 percent, and you know they will be gone for training part of the year. For instance, if you know one of your soldiers will be gone for training for 12 of the 24 drill days, you would count him as only 0.50 person. If he were not yet MOS qualified, you might count him as half of that, or 0.25 person. So, let’s recap. After removing the PLL clerk and the motor sergeant, your maintenance strength is 11 [13 – 2 = 11]. You have two soldiers who will be attending basic or advanced training for 12 of the drill days, so you count them as 0.25 each, for a total of 0.50 [11 – (2 – 0.50) = 9.50]. You count the lead mechanic as 0.5 because he has other duties. That leaves a total of 9 personnel who will be working on vehicles during drills [9.50 – 0.50 = 9]. Divide that by 13—the number of authorized maintenance personnel—and you get a wrench-turner factor of 0.69 [9 ÷ 13 = 0.69]. The upcoming year has 24 drill periods. In maintenance, we usually assume that each full drill day is 8 hours. Therefore, each mechanic should be available for 192 hours. However, 25 percent of the training schedule is set aside for conducting PMCS on the unit’s equipment, and required training is scheduled for 2 days. That leaves 128 hours of drill time per mechanic [(192 x .75) – 16 = 128], or 1,664 total hours [128 x 13 = 1,664]. Now multiply the wrench-turner factor by the 1,664 hours to calculate the effective total maintenance time available to your maintenance section [0.69 x 1,664 = 1,148]. Repairs, especially those that affect your readiness or annual training (AT) mission, will consume an average of 35 percent of the time, leaving 65 percent of the time available for maintenance tasks. Thus, 746 hours are available for servicing rolling stock and ancillary equipment [0.65 x 1,148 = 746]. This may seem like it is not enough time to complete annual and biennial services, but you now have a realistic estimate of the time you have available for maintenance. The AT period should not be included when conducting the maintenance resource assessment because the unit could be conducting overseas deployment for training, a garrison AT period, home station training, or a rotation at the National Maintenance Training Center at Camp Dodge, Iowa. If “summer camp” allows time for additional maintenance, use the time wisely and cherish it. You will seldom get the opportunity to conduct maintenance during summer camp . You should require vehicle and equipment operators to read PS Magazine and ensure that they assist with the organizational services for the equipment that they operate, as required by DA Pam 738–750, Functional Users Manual for The Army Maintenance Management System (TAMMS). This procedure ensures that enough skilled maintenance personnel are available to meet maintenance needs. Developing the Skills of Maintenance Personnel Several options are available to help develop the skills of the maintenance personnel in your unit. You can request support from a maintenance assistance and instruction team. You can ask your higher headquarters or supporting units for help, such as sending –30-level mechanics to assist with your station training, onsite repairs, or new equipment fielding. If maintenance is backlogged enough to affect readiness, request assistance by job order and be ready to assist as much as possible. You or your maintenance officer should attend the Battalion Maintenance Officer Course. Whether he is the executive officer or platoon leader, the person who reports to you on the maintenance status, rates your motor sergeant, or controls your unit maintenance program must be able to read and understand maintenance regulations and DA Pam 738–750. The challenge is yours. Overseeing your unit’s maintenance program is as important as all other aspects of command. Remember that if the best tactically trained troops in the world cannot get to where they need to be, do not have properly functioning equipment, or cannot be supported organically, the purpose of all of their training is defeated. ALOG Sergeant First Class James I. Adams, Jr., ILARNG, is the base maintenance team leader for the 3637th Maintenance Company (Direct Support) (-), Illinois Army National Guard, in Springfield, Illinois. He has associate’s degrees in liberal arts and human resources and is a graduate of the Basic and Advanced Ordnance Noncommissioned Officer Courses. |