Photo By Staff Sgt. Rachel M Korzeniewski | U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Mike Graves and Sgt. Brooks Jacobsen, 147th Forward Support...... read more read more
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CINCU, Romania– The South Dakota Army National Guard’s 1/147th Field Artillery Battalion require the unique skillsets of certain maintenance personnel during their annual training to ensure their M270A1 Multiple Launch Rocket Systems are mission ready to complete their training objective in Cincu, Romania, July 8.
The Soldiers needed have a rare job in the military as a 94P, Multiple Launch Rocket System Repairer, without their knowledge the unit would not have the personnel to repair any maintenance issues.
Sgt. Brooks Jacobsen and Spc. Robert McKenney of the 147th Forward Support Company are two of four MLRS repairers in the state of South Dakota.
“Our main mission as an MLRS repairer is to ensure our launchers are mission capable and ready to fire,” said Jacobsen. “If we do not complete our mission the launcher crews cannot complete theirs.”
The repairers utilize different resources to diagnose the exact issue a launcher is having – from speaking with the crews that reported the problem to the technical manual and maintenance support team.
“Making repairs and resolving issues with the launchers is challenging, but rewarding,” said Jacobsen. “A lot of the time you will think the issue is one thing but after trouble shooting and digging a little deeper, you realize it’s a completely different problem.”
Civilian contractors from Lockheed Martin, an aerospace and defense company work along side the repairers if they need additional help with the launcher. The contractors travel with the unit during annual training and fly out to the unit if they’re needed throughout year.
“They have been in our place and know what we’re going through,” said Jacobsen. “They had the same military occupation specialty and help us out a lot.”
Soldiers must complete a challenging seven month-long course to become an MLRS repairer. While at the school, they learn how to troubleshoot maintenance problems, identify issues on the launcher and to repair the discovered issues.
“I really enjoy my job,” said McKenney. “When we get called to fix a launcher, we never know what we are going to get – the issues are always unique.”
Jacobsen’s guard career has benefitted his civilian one as well. He is a robotics and electronics instructor at a technical institute in South Dakota.
“If it wasn’t for the guard, I probably wouldn’t have my civilian career,” said Jacobsen. “Being an MLRS repairer got me into my career and I get to teach kids how to do what I love, which is how to be a technician, how to troubleshoot and fix things.”
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| Date Taken: | 07.08.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.04.2017 15:19 |
| Story ID: | 254119 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Web Views: | 21 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, SD National Guard’s unique mechanics keep rocket systems mission ready, by SSG Rachel M Korzeniewski, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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