Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brent Powell | Army Reserve Sgt. Erick Olea (left), a chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear...... read more read more
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GEORGE W. DUNAWAY ARMY RESERVE CENTER, SLOAN, NEVADA - “Readiness is our number one priority.” That message from Lt. Gen. Charles D. Luckey, Chief of Army Reserve and Commanding General, United States Army Reserve Command has echoed loud and clear across the Army Reserve ranks, setting priorities and changing the way Army Reserve Soldiers are thinking and conducting business.
To increase their units equipment readiness and follow the commander’s guidance, approximately 20 Army Reserve Soldiers from various Army Reserve chemical units across the nation, gathered here March 26-30 to participate in the first ever five-day Maintenance Sustainment Training Workshop hosted by the 76th Division (Operational Response).
“The purpose of this workshop is to take our Biological Integrated Detection System (BIDS) and Nuclear, Biological and Chemical Reconnaissance Vehicle (NBCRV) maintainers that are currently on Active Duty Operational Support (ADOS) orders back to basics on performing proper maintenance on these systems,” said Sgt. Maj. Roberto C. Olivas III, G-4 sergeant major, 76th Div. (OR). “The reason this is important is that the majority of deficiencies and problems we have encountered with these systems over the past year or so are directly related to improper startup procedures being followed, improper preventative maintenance being conducted and improper shutdown procedures.”
According to Olivas not following the proper maintenance procedures can not only result in equipment failure and a decrease in readiness, it is also very, very costly. Replacing just one part of the high-tech system the Soldiers at chemical companies use can easily be over $95,000. A cost that can be directly related to improper maintenance and improper system shutdown.
With that high cost in mind, the students participating in the workshop are a mixture of BIDS and NBCRV system maintainers and Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear (CBRN) specialists. It’s their job to ensure that these systems are maintained properly.
Their training began in the classroom where they spent the first day and a half discussing basic maintenance, reviewing regulations and refreshing knowledge and skills under the guidance and direction of civilian contractors from the Joint Project Manager NBC Containment Avoidance company located in Edgewood, Maryland.
“During those first couple of days we went over a lot of the basics,” said Sgt. Erick Olea, a CBRN specialist, assigned to the 307th Chemical Company, 453rd Chemical Battalion, 209th Regional Support Group. “The instructors wanted to ensure we knew what we were doing with these systems, and I think it was a good refresher, especially for those who haven’t been around a BIDS in a while.”
Once the classroom instruction was complete it was time for the Soldiers to get the invaluable hands-on training on the systems themselves. For the next two-days the Soldiers practiced performing every required step and procedure necessary to start-up, run, troubleshoot, maintain and shutdown the multi-million dollar systems in accordance with technical manuals, regulations and guidance.
“The overall operational readiness of these systems is horrible across the board,” said Jeff Compton, an instructor from JPM-NBC-CA. “A lot of that is directly due to a lack of properly trained operators in the field. This workshop helps enforce just how vitally important it is to run and maintain this equipment on a regular basis as well as learning how to pinpoint and correct faults. If units can get the issues properly resolved at an operator level and not spend unnecessary funds, it is definitely a win for everyone.”
According to both Compton and Olivas, reinforcing the importance of maintenance in a workshop like this can end up literally saving the Army millions. In the last year alone, approximately 2.6 million was spent on replacing Biological Agent Warning Sensors (BAWS), many of which were damaged by rain when the rain cap was accidentally left off by Soldiers not following proper shutdown procedures. Another 1.6 million was spent last year to replace a host of damaged components also believed to be directly linked to individual operator error. Just one such incident ended up costing the Army Reserve nearly $220,000.
With more than 300 BIDS and more than 40 NBCRVs in its inventory, having highly trained and skilled Soldiers to maintain those systems is crucial to the 76th Div. (OR). The unit currently has 24 Army Reserve Soldiers on active duty orders specifically to ensure the BIDS and NBCRV systems are maintained correctly, and nearly all those Soldiers attended this workshop.
“The Soldiers here have performed excellent; well beyond our expectations,” said Compton. “They have proven to be very knowledgeable on these systems and they are enthusiastic to fix their own equipment instead of relying on someone else.”
Not only did the Soldiers have the opportunity to refresh their knowledge base and maintenance skills during the workshop, they also seemed to enjoy exchanging ideas and best practices with their counterparts.
“Training like this is awesome,” said Sgt. Zachary Blocker, a Stryker maintainer and native of Orlando, Florida, assigned to the 329th Chemical Company, 92nd Chemical Battalion, 415th Chemical Brigade. “It’s definitely worthwhile just to meet all the other ADOS maintainers and be able to bounce ideas off of each other. We all have similar issues, so learning how other Soldiers deal with and correct those issues is very helpful.”
Although this was the first workshop of its kind hosted by the division, there are already plans to have more in the future. “Based on the results of this week, this workshop has been worth every penny,” said Olivas. “We definitely want to continue and expand these in the future and provide opportunities for both our full-time and our TPU (Troop Program Unit) Soldiers.”
At the conclusion of the workshop it seemed all those involved took something valuable away from it. “I think this workshop has been very helpful and will be even more helpful going forward,” said Olea. “The only way to go from here is toward an increase in overall readiness and in the long run it’s going to pay off in a big way.”
| Date Taken: | 03.29.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 04.02.2018 18:05 |
| Story ID: | 271552 |
| Location: | SLOAN, NEVADA, US |
| Web Views: | 414 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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