byCPT Peter J. Ramirez, Maint Co O/C, NTC, and CPTBrandon Grubbs, Bde Maint O/C, NTCFM9-43-1, MaintenanceOperations and Procedures,challengesthe maintenance manager to strive for ways to continuously improve their operations."Managers must also look for ways to be proactive (influencing events beforethey happen) rather than reactive (reacting to events as they happen)." Todo this, they must have information and be situationally aware. The linch pinfor situational awareness is communications. Maintenancemanagement at the company level is a seven-step process consisting of the following:Step1 -Leadership Step2 -Production Control Step3 -Work Simplification and Measurement Step4 -Total Quality Management Step5 -Quality Assurance Step6 -Workload Analysis Step7 -Motivation Inaddition to these seven steps, there are other factors, such as technical skills,command emphasis, and resources, that could affect the mission. However, theMaintenance Control Officer (MCO), the Maintenance Control Supervisor (MCS),and their crew are the transition point where key maintenance leaders makethe critical link between organizational and direct support maintenance. Whendeployed or in garrison, the shop office can meet the steps of maintenancemanagement through planning, training, and a rehearsed communications planwhich facilitates the building of combat power. Letus take a look at a high performance-deployed maintenance company before amission. In two days, the 1st Brigade Combat Team (BCT) attacks the enemy toprotect the left flank of the 40th Division. 0600Theshop office is receiving maintenance disks from the brigade (BDE). Over theFM net, the Maintenance Control System (MCS) is receiving updates from theMaintenance Support Teams (MSTs). The base maintenance shops are just completingstand-to procedures.0630Theshop stock clerk goes to the Technical Supply Office (TSO) to pick up repairparts, and at 0730, the Shop Officer meets with the base shop NCOICs for updates.The base shop NCOICs are required to update a minimum of twice a day becauseof the increased OPTEMPO on deployments.0900TheSupport Operations Maintenance NCO comes to the shop office to pick up theSAMS1 to SAMS2 Inop transfer for the 1300 BDE maintenance meeting. The shopofficer goes to brief the company commander on the company workload and thestatus of the MSTs. The Armor MSTtransfers a M2 (BFV) engine to the InfantryMST. However, right now in the brigade support area (BSA), the maintenancesupport battalion (MSB) is delivering Class IX parts to the transportationsupport officer (TSO), and thedelivery contains a significant number of 02priority parts to build combat power. Because of their foresight and theirability to execute a plan, the shop office has a 5-ton cargo truck and a HMMWVat the TSO.0930TheTSO transloads the parts to the awaiting truck, processes the parts, and releasesthem to the shop stock clerk.1000The1SG gives the "Renegade Express" NCO the PMCS, administrative paperwork, andmail for the MST. The shop office operates their own Renegade Express (an internalDS "redball") to expediently deliver repair parts forward.1300Theshop officer briefs at the BDE maintenance meeting.1400Thetrucks return to the BSA loaded with unserviceable Class IX repair parts.QUESTIONS:1.How did the shop office accomplish all of this while maintaining situationalawareness? 2.How can the Forward Support Maintenance Company manage to keep the MST chiefsforward where they affect maintenance with their task forces? 3.Why was the maintenance control section able to maintain accountability ofmajor assemblies and unserviceable recoverables? 4.How could the shop officer brief the company commander and be confident enoughto brief at the BDE maintenance meeting when he hadn't seen anyone from theMSTs where the preponderance of the combat power was being fixed? 5.How could the Shop Section Summary Report AHN-006 be accurate? 6.How did the shop office know that they had parts on that push from the MSB?THETECHNIQUES USED:Commandersand leaders (Step 1, Leadership) are responsible for training their soldiersto achieve the desired standard -- a maintenance principle. A battle drillfor the shop office and MSTs, no matter how close the MST establishes to theBSA, is to set up their OE-254 antenna. Their pre-combat inspections (PCIs)and rehearsals before and during reception into the theater paid dividends.As a result of the discipline to set up the antenna and monitor the net, theMSTs relayed information from MST to MST to shop office. In essence, the maintenancecompany established their own communications network on the battlefield. Thecommunications network could also be exploited by the FSB Commander with clearand rehearsed CCIRs. Furthermore, the shop office priorities of work in thedefense not only included their OE-254 Antenna but the wire to the companyCP and especially the DNVT/MSE connectivity. Productioncontrol (Step 2) entails proper routing of work and attainment of maximum productionby keeping all shop elements working. Priorto deployment to the theater, the commander and the shop office addressed worksimplification and measurement (Step 3) by looking at historical records. Thisgave them a start point from which to adjust when they arrived in theater accordingto their unit's needs and different missions. Further, it gave them a start-pointfor the numbers of parts and major assemblies they would be consuming. Internally,the shop office posted their battle rhythm, from filling up the generatorsto running the 006 Print. At any time, the shop soldiers knew what criticaltasks had to be accomplished and why and when these tasks were supposed tobe accomplished. TheShop Officer and the MCS addressed total quality management and quality assurance(Step 4 and Step 5) with the section NCOs, shop NCOICs, and the MST NCOs priorto deployment. Furthermore, they emphasized this at the daily 0800 shop meetingsand through the use of the "Renegade MST Update." The MCS and Shop Officervisits to the MSTs and interface with the TF BMOs and BMTs ensures end userinput. In addition, the NCO's PCI checklist ensures proper tools, slings, andtechnical manuals are on hand. TheShop Officer monitors the daily workload (Step 6, Workload Analysis) of eachsection using SAMS-1 Reports such as the 01 and 22 Print. This provides theShop Officer a snapshot of the backlog and he can determine if a section isoverloaded or will have to shift assets to complete the defense mission. Finally,he can get a picture of the MST workload, which allows him to make an informeddecision on where to refocus efforts using the BDE priorities of maintenance.The"Renegade Express" was a motivating factor (Step 7, Motivation) to the MSTs,not only because it brought mail and company updates, but because the distributionand communications system worked as planned and rehearsed. Furthermore, withthe Renegade Express, they achieved proper movement economies. The MSTs gainedconfidence in the training, leadership, and systems. As a result, the ShopOfficer was able to fix forward. Theability to have consistent and dependable FM communications is not the solereason behind the successes of the Maintenance Company; however, it is thecritical conduit for the shop office to run their Renegade MST Update. TheRenegade MST Update followed sound maintenance processes as described in FM9-43-1,Chapter 4-3. This is a sample format that each MST used to provide their updatesto shop office IAW their battle rhythm and BDE maintenance meeting timeline:RenegadeMST Update1.Maintenance Issues. a. Working jobs. (1) Estimated completion date/time of job. (2) New work order call-ins. b. Completed jobs. c. Suspected jobs/technical assistance provided. 2.Shop Stock, Bench Stock, and Critical Class IX update (e.g., push packet).3.Unserviceable major assemblies and grid location. 4.Team risk assessment, to include tactical and accidental (operational and environmental)hazards. 5.PMCS status of MST equipment. 6.Current threat condition. 7.Anticipated threat condition. 8.Anticipated jump: a. Time. b. Grid. c. Equipment/left behind. 9.Sensitive items update per unit TACSOP. 10.Other issues. TheirFM work order requests that could and should be called in at any time useda format that mirrored the work order screen on SAMS-1: LINE1: Job order number. LINE2: Customer UIC. LINE3: Shop section code. LINE4: Equipment NSN. LINE5: Organization WON. LINE6: Serial number. LINE7: Quantity. LINE8: Priority designator code. LINE9: Malfunction. LINE10: Mileage. LINE11: Bumper number. LINE12: Work order status. LINE13: NSN of part being ordered. LINE14: Quantity of parts required. Theability of the shop office to receive information and have tracking systemsto act on the information given allowed them to leverage the communicationsmedium to their advantage. An effective communications medium (SINCGARS) allowsthe shop office to receive information in a timely and accurate manner, resultingin the building of combat power for the BCT. When the Armor MST transferredthe M2 (BFV) engine to the Infantry MST, the shop office monitored the conversation,came on the net, acknowledged the transfer, and recorded it on the trackingchart. Furthermore, they requisitioned another engine and expectedtheRenegade Express to pick up the unserviceable one. The proactive shop officereduces maintenance downtime and utilizes transportation to the fullest. Lastly,the proactive shop office coordinates with the Support Operations MaintenanceOfficer to gain visibility of critical Class IX parts being delivered by theMSB and when. Insummary, the shop officer must use every available means to complete the missionof building combat power. In addition, the shop officer must think outsideof the box and develop innovative ways to enhance support to their customerunits. A job is either being worked or it is awaiting parts. If it is awaitingparts, be pro-active in getting the parts, tracking the parts, and moving theparts. A well-rehearsed communications plan and system will solve problemsand allow the Maintenance Company to be the combat multiplier they are designedto be. @media only screen and (min-device-width : 320px) and (max-device-width : 480px) #ga-ad display: none;
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