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Spc. Sarah Bailey, 703rd BSB, 4 IBCT, 3rd Ind. Div.
FORT STEWART, Ga. – Private First Class Jonathan Carpenter, a self-proclaimed native of the backwoods of South Carolina, said he was not exposed to recycling until he joined the Army.
The 703rd BSB highly encourages its Soldiers to “wear multiple hats,” and become fluent in skills both inside and outside of their MOS. During 4IBCT Vanguard Focus September 10-14, 2012, the 703rd BSB conducted multiple training exercises to educate its Soldiers on multiple skills. One of the major training exercises was the Vehicle Recovery Lanes taught by Bravo Company, 703rd BSB, 4IBCT. These lanes covered a wide variety of vehicle maintenance skills all operators should be aware of. “These are skills that we want to Soldiers of our unit who operate vehicles so if need be they can mend problems while on mission away from the maintenance bay,” stated Sergeant Ron Billingslea, an instructor on the recovery lanes. During this training, Soldiers received hands-on training with the Army’s newly-improved Recovery and Battle Damage Assessment and Repair (BDAR) kit which contains materials that can repair tires, plug leaks in fuel tanks, and mend broken wires. Private First Class Kenesha Howard, Alpha Company, 703rd BSB, 4IBCT, spoke highly of the training she received, “I enjoyed the hands-on part of plugging tires because it helped me better understand the steps of the process.” Soldiers also received training on both self and like vehicle recovery. The self lane teaches the Soldiers how to attached recovery materials to the vehicles for recovery purposes. The like-recovery lane teaches Soldiers how to utilize other vehicles during recovery operations. Another portion, dedicated-recovery, provides individuals with the additional skills as a H8 Recovery Operations Specialist an opportunity to recover vehicles using the M948 Hemet. The training acquired during these provides the vehicle operators with valuable knowledge of recovery skills that they can utilize both in garrison and in a deployed environment.
Spc. Sarah Bailey, 703rd BSB, 4 IBCT, 3rd Ind. Div.
FORT STEWART, Ga. – Private First Class Jonathan Carpenter, a self-proclaimed native of the backwoods of South Carolina, said he was not exposed to recycling until he joined the Army.
During the 4IBCT training exercise Vanguard Focus, the 703rd Brigade Support Battalion conducted Convoy Live Fire lanes from September 10, 2012 to September 21, 2012. This training provided the Soldiers an opportunity to receive hands-on familiarization with the MaxxPRO MRAPs, a common vehicle used in Afghanistan. These vehicles are often equipped with crew serve weapon systems such as the .50 cal and the M240B and are typically used in convoy settings when transporting supplies. The Soldiers of Distribution Platoon, Alpha Company, 703rd BSB, 4IBCT the opportunity not only to implement and develop their maneuverability skills of the MaxxPROs but more importantly they learned the importance of developing driving teams that will deploy together. Sergeant Cherryann Gibbons, a squad leader of one of the driving teams stated, “Teamwork was a major part of our training. We had to learn how to communicate [with the radios] and understand how each other operate.” This exercise was planned and coordinated largely by the Distribution Platoon Leader, Second Lieutenant Dommick Sylve, who spoke highly of his platoon and their successful completion of the exercise, “There are a lot of moving pieces involved with operating these vehicles and it was great to see the platoon take on the training challenge and fully engage their selves in learning every component to gain the most knowledge that could.” Throughout the two week convoy live fire operations 703rd Alpha Company, as well as the 703rd FSCs that are attached to other battalions were able to complete the training in preparation for 4IBCT as they prepare for JRTC at Fort Polk in November.
Sgt. Mary S. Katzenberger
4th IBCT, 3rd Inf. Div. Public Affairs
FORT STEWART, Ga. – Soldiers like Sgt. Justin Craven know wars cannot be won using broken equipment.
A two-time Operation Iraqi Freedom combat veteran, Craven said his role as a wheeled vehicle mechanic has been vital to mission accomplishment. And, he said, his job with Company E, 703rd Brigade Support Battalion, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division—a forward support company attached to the 3rd Battalion, 15th Infantry Regiment—wouldn’t have been possible to perform if he hadn’t had the M7 Forward Repair System in his corner.
The FRS, which has been fielded by the Army for almost 11 years, continues to serve mechanics who need a mobile, fully-sustainable platform from which to conduct maintenance operations in austere environments. Craven said the FRS gives mechanics all the capabilities—lifting, jacking, hydraulic, pneumatic, welding and cutting—they need to repair and maintain vehicles.
“The capabilities of it are limitless,” Craven said of the FRS. “It’s absolutely essential—in both my tours [I] used it daily.”
Because of the importance of the equipment, Craven said he and other leaders took the time, July 19, to familiarize mechanics with the FRS during sergeant’s time training on Fort Stewart, Ga.
Craven said Soldiers were taught how to operate the crane, which can lift 10,500 pounds; how to use the FRS to safely and quickly jack up a vehicle so maintenance could be performed; how to start and maintain the on-board generator and how to use the plasma cutter.
Private First Class Jason St. George, a wheeled vehicle mechanic with Company E, 703rd BSB, showed off his artistic side during the training by using the plasma cutter to cut a unique design out of an aluminum plate. St. George said he enjoyed learning about the various ways the FRS can help him accomplish a mission.
“I feel more prepared … so that if I did have to use the equipment I’d be ready,” St. George said.
Private Fedson Marra, also a wheeled vehicle mechanic with Company E, 703rd BSB, agreed.
“It was good training,” Marra said. “I think it’s going to help me a lot because the FRS can be used in any situation.”
At the end of the training Craven talked about a particular time he was able to make a major repair quickly on a combat-essential vehicle.
“We had a steering linkage on a [mine-resistant ambush-protected vehicle] break, and we actually used the FRS to lift up the front end of it so that we could repair it,” Craven said. “[We were able to get] the infantry guys rolling back out [on] their mission—it was great, they loved it.”
“Like I said … [the FRS] just saves the day.”
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