Maintainers keep Al Udeid in drive gear

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. William J. Sharp
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
AL UDEID AIR BASE, Qatar (AFPN) --  Blood, sweat and muscle power keep hundreds of mission-essential vehicles here road-ready and rolling daily, and maintainers with the 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron are the reason why.

Forklifts, bomb loaders, Humvees, passenger transporters -- you name it, they fix it. Recently, the squadron received additional tools and vehicles from Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, which closed. Additional vehicles mean additional work, but it is a challenge the maintainers said they are prepared for.

“Our mission is (to) provide safe and serviceable vehicles for the base,” said Master Sgt. Brett A. Beckler, vehicle maintenance superintendent deployed here from Spangdahlem AB, Germany. “That work includes any vehicle that directly impacts flight or base operations (such as cargo loaders and fire trucks). When one of these vehicles goes down, it’s our job to get it up and running as soon as possible.”

Aircraft generators, tow trucks, special-purpose vehicles and heavy equipment are some of the many types serviced by vehicle maintainers. While the actual count of vehicles here is in the hundreds, the estimated number, for maintenance purposes, is in the thousands. That is because total vehicle count is driven by the complexity of repairs and the total people needed to work on each vehicle type.

‘Routine’ maintenance includes tire changes, brake repair, hydraulic and electrical work, light welding and complete engine overalls.

“We’re turning out more than 100 vehicles per month, which keeps us pretty busy, and it’s getting busier,” said Tech. Sgt. Ricky L. Tootle, noncommissioned officer in charge of vehicle maintenance control and analysis. He is an Air National Guardsman deployed from Robins Air Force Base, Ga.

“We recently received a couple hundred more vehicles from closing bases in the region,” which are being inventoried and inspected, Tootle said.

“The work environment can be tough here,” Beckler said. “We may not have all the luxuries of some (of) the shops back home, but our maintainers have high standards and do excellent work. When vehicles leave here, they’re 100-percent ready.”