Vehicle management flight keeps Barksdale moving Published Jan. 20, 2006 By Stephanie Bemrose 2nd Bomb Wing Public Affairs BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. (AFPN) -- The responsibility for all government vehicles here falls to the 2nd Logistics Readiness Squadron’s vehicle management flight. That accountability includes buying 25 vehicles a year and managing 894 vehicles, with an annual repair budget of $1.6 million. Master Sgt. Michael Boyles, vehicle management superintendent, said keeping the base running is like keeping an airport or small city running. From dump trucks and cranes for civil engineers to aircraft de-icers and vehicles that tow aircraft and equipment on the flight line, to a body shop that repairs dents -- the Vehicle Management flight does it all. “It’s like our own little world here. We have everything we need to keep all the vehicles on base working,” Sergeant Boyles said. The base contracts with off-base locations in case budget, facility capability or time constraints do not allow the flight to keep up with the demand. Repairs are not the only process that the flight is responsible for. When vehicles have reached their life expectancy and have been driven too many miles, they must eventually be replaced -- which is another responsibility for the flight. Each year the base purchases about 25 vehicles, depending on funding and how many pieces of equipment need to be replaced, said Larry Evans, the flight’s chief. Sergeant Boyles said the flight maintains 127 different makes and models of government vehicles on base. These vehicles vary from one squadron to another, but include vehicles for civil engineers, the flight line, munitions, security forces and the hospital. Flight members take care of the engines, electrical systems, hydraulic systems, cooling systems and automotive body work. However, Sergeant Boyles said technicians don’t specialize in just one area. Other than the body shop, technicians must learn to repair everything on a vehicle -- every make, model and physical design. Another aspect of the flight is the mobile maintenance team which provides immediate assistance to disabled vehicles critical to the base’s mission on a day-to-day basis and for base support during emergencies and local exercises. “If something important is happening at Barksdale, we often have an active role in it,” Mr. Evans said. These events can include the movement of weapons, mobility support, major construction work, an air and space expeditionary force rotation, open-house support or simply moving cargo or people along base or local roads. Mr. Evans said that the only vehicles the flight is not responsible for maintaining are leased through the General Services Administration. There are 109 GSA vehicles on base which the flight manages and accounts for and they are repaired by local vendors. Sergeant Boyles said their flight must keep 90 percent of vehicles in commission and they often exceed this rate. To keep the vehicles in service, the flight gives each vehicle a 110-point inspection whenever it comes to the shop for scheduled maintenance. “Quality maintenance is the key because we don’t want to have a vehicle come back to us for repairs until it comes to us for normally scheduled service,” Sergeant Boyles said. “It’s important to our customers and to the base mission that vehicles stay in the hands of the user as long as possible.” Sergeant Boyles said that the flight has put a quality goal in place to make sure this continues to happen. “Between nuclear surety inspections, logistics inspections and environmental inspections, the flight is visited by an outside team of evaluators nearly quarterly, which certainly contributes to the flight’s high operations tempo,” Sergeant Boyles said. NSIs involve the flight because of nuclear-certified vehicles the flight is responsible for maintaining. “We definitely have to meet complex and more stringent criteria with those vehicles,” Sergeant Boyles said. He said another challenge the flight faces is the base’s aging fleet. About half of the vehicles on base have exceeded their life expectancy set by the Air Force. From financial challenges to maintenance, the 2nd LRS vehicle management flight is an important part of nearly every aspect of base operations. It would be hard for anyone to find a government vehicle here not under the responsibility of this flight. Nearly every vehicle that is mobile on base -- from automobiles to flight line equipment to engineering equipment -- requires this flight to keep it moving.