Airmen from various bases are deployed here to do one of many, behind-the-scene jobs in the Air Force. It’s one that Airmen may take for granted until their cargo loader breaks or their government vehicle doesn’t start in the morning.

It’s the job of being a multipurpose vehicle mechanic.

For the 16 Airmen assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight, a point of professional pride is maintaining more than a 90-percent vehicle in-commission rate, said Staff Sgt. Andre McDonald, a multipurpose vehicle mechanic.

Seventy-five percent of broken vehicles have returned to service because of exceptional maintenance, he said.

Since their arrival here the multipurpose vehicle mechanics have restored nine mission-critical vehicles stripped down by previous rotations, said Chief Master Sgt. Craig Walker, the flight chief. They also rebuilt a wide variety of vehicle components, saving the Air Force $42,000 in replacement parts and 24,640 hours of vehicle down time.

“Keeping the vehicles on the road instead of in the shop requires team work,” Chief Walker said. “Drivers need to complete their daily functional checks of each vehicle using the applicable operator inspection guide, trouble report and notify vehicle maintenance of any discrepancies in a timely manner.”

Most Airmen deployed in this environment will admit to having to “make due” without some basic work items to get the mission accomplished, but for these Airmen, it’s a normal day-to-day challenge.

“Trying to figure out and solve many different complex problems our vehicles encounter due to overuse and diverse weather can be difficult, but we get the job done nonetheless,” said Master Sgt. Elias Khalaf, another multipurpose vehicle mechanic.

“On occasion, vehicles can be dead lined (because we don’t have such) simple parts as a starter motor, serpentine belt or brake parts,” Sergeant McDonald said. “This also applies to complicated items such as engines, electronic control module or various sensors. It would be nice to have a parts store next door, but that’s not the case. We do what we must to keep the equipment in the best, safest and most serviceable condition as possible.”

“If a part goes bad and you do not have the particular part you need you must either rebuild it out of what you have or make it work until you can get the part you need,” said Senior Airman Jerry Williams, also a multipurpose vehicle mechanic. “You really learn more about your job and how to do it more effectively while in a deployed location.

“You learn to become more creative with what you have,” he said. “It is also about learning to work as a team with people you don’t know. In order to affectively complete your mission and to keep everything going smoothly, everyone must learn to work together.

“The most difficult challenge is the fact that you have family waiting at home that worry about you,” Airman Williams said. “Many people in deployed locations are married and have kids, so it is definitely hard to be away from your wife or husband and kids. This can build up stress and you need someone to talk to, so your co-workers become like family.”