Photo By Staff Sgt. Coltin Heller | Staff Sgt. Chad Crawford, an allied tradesman with the 3622nd Maintenance Company,...... read more read more
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MAHANOY CITY, Pa. – Several Soldiers from the 3622nd Maintenance Company, 728th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, worked to restore an M60 tank staged in a static display here June 9, 2017.
Staff Sgt. Chad Crawford, an allied trade specialist with 3622nd Maintenance Company, and his team travel around the state repainting various pieces of equipment used in memorial displays on a 10 year rotational cycle.
Crawford and his team coordinate with organizations such as the American Legion, Veterans of Foreign Wars and various municipalities to strip and repaint each piece of this equipment in the state.
“It’s a very unique process we do. I know for a fact we’re the only ones in Pennsylvania that do it,” said Crawford. “The agreement with the entity that gets the piece of equipment is that they have to maintain it, and painting it is part of that agreement.”
Crawford became involved with restoring the displays in the early 90’s during annual training when he and several others restored the displays at the 28th Division Museum.
While the restoration of the equipment is not directly tied to these Soldiers’ duty, it does fall within the scope of their military occupational specialty.
“This crew that’s out here today have never painted, never prepped an M60 tank like this,” he said. “But they have the knowledge of metal fabrication, grinding and welding, basically what we’re doing here today.”
Spc. Michael Fisher, a wheeled mechanic with the 3622nd Maintenance Company, volunteered for the assignment as a way to broaden his skills.
The Soldiers also said they gain a sense of pride from their work and the local communities they visit.
“I’ve been out one mission and had a little four-year old girl come running and she’s like ‘thank you for what you do,’” says Fisher. “That made my day. She sees us as important.”
Crawford said he also finds pride in restoring the equipment.
“It’s amazing. You get to see these little towns are very patriotic. The support we get from people walking by, people honking as they drive past, it’s great,” he said.
Although Crawford is nearing retirement, he is not worried about the future of the duty and the equipment now under his care.
“Once they find out what we do and they see the support that we get, they keep coming back,” says Crawford, speaking on Soldiers joining his team. “It makes them feel the pride of wearing the uniform.”
| Date Taken: | 06.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2017 11:07 |
| Story ID: | 237123 |
| Location: | PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 80 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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