Dedicated airmen fix, manage base vehicles

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Bob Oldham
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  When a vehicle breaks down here, airmen do not have the luxury of calling a commercial roadside assistance team for help. Instead, a team of 48 people work behind the scenes 24 hours a day, seven days a week to keep the base’s fleet of vehicles on the road.

With almost 470 vehicles to watch over and maintain, the airmen of the 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron’s vehicle management flight keep their eyes aligned on the customer’s needs.

Rain and mud in the rainy season and heat and dust the rest of the time take a toll on vehicles here, said Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Pearman, the flight’s superintendent deployed here from Shaw Air Force Base, S.C. Mud cakes up underneath the vehicles, causing maintainers extra work to repair broken vehicles. In the summer, scorching temperatures above 120 degrees Fahrenheit and the unrelenting dust break down seals and filters.

“When it first started raining, our wrecker was on the road constantly,” Sergeant Pearman said, noting the flight pulled out 80 vehicles that were stuck around base.

Flight members respond to about 10 calls per day for assistance with vehicles that will not start, have dead batteries or have leaks.

If a vehicle needs a part, the wait can be anywhere from two weeks to months, depending on the part and its availability from a manufacturer. Small items like hoses and belts are stocked on shelves here, but bigger items are shipped in from the United States.

“This [deployment] is definitely a challenge,” said Staff Sgt. Calvin Romero, noncommissioned officer in charge of the general purpose mechanic shop. He is deployed here from Kirtland AFB, N.M. “The other (deployments) have (not been) as extreme for the amount of uses for the Humvees.”

The flight’s biggest challenge is maintaining the base’s Humvee fleet. The Humvee’s break more often than other vehicle because they are used 24 hours a day by security forces personnel, said Sergeant Romero, who is one of 28 special- or general-purpose mechanics.

“The supply system has done really well supporting us with Humvee parts,” Sergeant Pearman said.

Besides maintaining the Air Force’s fleet, maintainers often help out coalition forces who need a hand.

“If they need some help with something, we really don’t turn anybody away,” Sergeant Pearman said.

On the vehicle operations side, Staff Sgt. Scott Olson, deployed here from Nellis AFB, Nev., is one of 20 airmen operating vehicles to meet customers needs. He assigns airmen to the flight’s daily schedule, ensuring enough people and vehicles are available to support the base’s mission.

“I do all the scheduling, the daily, the monthly, on all the runs we have,” he said. “And working the time off, days on, days off, any appointments (the vehicle operators may have.)”