Photo By Master Sgt. Michele Hammonds | Pvt. Eric Santos, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic, squeezes himself into a tight spot to...... read more read more
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By Master Sgt. Michele R. Hammonds
1st Sustainment Command (Theater) Public Affairs Office
CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – They turned wrenches, drilled holes and banged on steel as they repaired Heavy Equipment Transporter Systems. These wheeled- vehicle mechanic Soldiers could be seen lying on the ground underneath their HETS or crouched either inside or outside of the trucks in the motor pool. They checked for leaks and malfunctions as they performed maintenance on several of the systems recently.
They are the Soldiers of the 217th Transportation Company, and they keep the heavy movers on the road.
HETS are large vehicles designed to transport, deploy and evacuate tanks and other heavy equipment up to 70 tons. The official name is M1070 Heavy Equipment Transporter consisting of the M-1070 truck tractor and M-1000 semi trailer. Developers designed the HETS to assume the increased weight of the M1 Abrams tanks. The Army uses HETS for convoy operations because of their reliability and hauling capacity.
The 217th is a company belonging to the 1st Sustainment Command (Theater), whose mission is to provide all of the sustaining goods and services to the troops involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Both missions support Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines throughout the U.S. Army Central area.
When the 217th HETS become inoperable they are sent to the mechanics where it's more work than just popping up the hood and looking inside. First a crane operator must remove the cab.
"You have to remove the cab off the HET in order to get to the engine and most of the major transmission and transportation components," said Staff Sgt. Henry M. Carreon, senior mechanic of the 217th Transportation Company. "It has to be done safely."
Carreon and several military mechanics from the 217th TC took special care to avoid injuries or damaging equipment as they helped a crane operator lower the steel cab. Inch-by-inch the mechanics maneuvered the cab until it was only a few feet above the HET. Then, without incident, the crane operator lowered the cab onto the HET.
Carreon, supervises 10 other mechanics assigned to the 217th TC. They also are members of the 238th Maintenance Company, an Army Reserve unit based in San Antonio, Texas. These days they have a lot to be happy about because they will be heading home to their families, friends and loved ones in a couple of days. Their one-year rotation has almost come to an end.
For Carreon, this is especially a happy time because he will soon be back in San Antonio, with his wife, Melissa, and two daughters, Sarah, 9, and Celeste, 8-months-old. Carreon will resume his cooking job as a culinary-meat cutter with HEB Food and Drugs Grocery Store.
"Being a cook at home in my civilian job, I do miss the barbecuing and the different types of foods we have in San Antonio," said the Texas native.
Carreon, 41, says he tries not to think about returning home too much.
"I am trying to stay in a more controlled mode and not get too excited," he said. "I am very excited about seeing my wife and two daughters. It is going to be an exciting moment for me when I do return home."
Carreon is not alone in being excited at the prospect of seeing his family. Master Sgt. Jose Picon, 217th TC motor pool sergeant is also a San Antonio resident. Picon, 51, said he was counting the days until he could see his wife, Peggy.
"Thank you honey, I will see you home in a few days," said Picon, who works in the food industry as a restaurant manager. "I want to thank you for your support honey, throughout this deployment."
"I love to cook," Picon said. "In Texas, specifically in San Antonio, we look forward to eating Mexican food. My family and I go to Mexico, and we go shopping and eat the good food down there, rest, and ... have a good time."
Picon and Carreon pushed thoughts about various Mexican dishes and seeing their families aside to focus on the mission at hand. With only a couple more days on the job in Kuwait, they supervised their mechanics and helped new mechanics in the motor pool.
"We are still working to provide assistance in training the new maintenance unit (who will take over) our actual section's maintenance," said Carreon as he stopped at several HETS and spoke with mechanics that performed maintenance on the vehicles.
Mechanics with the 217th TC worked alongside Pvt. Keith Nauer, a wheeled-vehicle mechanic assigned to the 546th Transportation Company, based at Fort Bragg, N.C. Nauer and other members of the 546th recently replaced the 217th TC at Camp Arifjan. Nauer, of Towaco, N.J., said he grew up working on cars and trucks.
"I love working on trucks. I used to work on my Jeep before I came in the Army," said the 21 year old.
Throughout their stay in Kuwait, the 217th TC mechanics provided maintenance for a line platoon which includes four squads of Soldiers which have more than 20 HET Systems assigned.
"My squad provided the combat maintenance support and kinds of main services or support whether here or in Iraq," he said.
Picon added, "My job is to make sure that the mechanics work to get the trucks ready for convoys. I make sure the mechanics get enough rest and that they get all the parts to fix the trucks."
In between making repairs on HETS, mechanics drove the vehicles when tasked to participate in convoys. Their mission was to transport equipment or anything needed into theater.
Prior to the 546th mechanics' arrival, the 217th TC logged millions of miles transporting heavy equipment ranging from M1A1 tanks, engineering equipment, cranes, tractors, steel boxes and all types of heavy armored and up-armored vehicles from Kuwait to Iraq.
Keeping the HETS up and running for convoys is something the mechanics strive to do.
"The HETS are very dependable vehicles," Carreon said. "It's important that we keep the HETS operational at all times."
"The convoys depend on the HETS for their mission due to all the types of equipment for active duty, reserve and guard equipment that needs to be moved down range (north to Iraq)," Carreon said.
| Date Taken: | 09.04.2007 |
| Date Posted: | 09.04.2007 14:30 |
| Story ID: | 12168 |
| Location: | CAMP ARIFJAN, KW |
| Web Views: | 1,467 |
| Downloads: | 1,218 |
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