Photo By Jeremy Coburn | Chris Lanik, 2023 Robertson J. Short LAR of the Year, receives a Department of the...... read more read more
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About a month after 9/11, Chris Lanik joined the Army, a decision he said was equally rooted in service and opportunity.
Growing up in the tiny town of Galesville, Wisconsin, Lanik had always considered following in the footsteps of his older cousins and joining the military. However, it wasn’t until after graduating with a degree in computer science right when the dot-com bubble burst, coupled with witnessing the terrorist attacks on his country, that he thought to himself, “This feels like the right time to serve.”
Less than two years later, Lanik participated in the initial invasion of Iraq in March 2003, followed by the troop surge in 2007. Between those two deployments, he also completed a tour in Afghanistan. After getting out of the Army in 2009, Lanik served his country in a different capacity, working as a defense contractor. About seven years later, he ran into an old Army buddy who was working as a civilian with the Aviation and Missile Command.
Lanik said, “We caught up with each other a little bit. He was a [Logistics Assistance Representative], and he told me about the program. He said, ‘We need people like you.’ So he was really the catalyst that got me seriously interested in being a LAR.”
Lanik joined the LAR program in December 2019 — right when the world learned about a new threat called the coronavirus. His first duty station was with the 1106th Theater Aviation Sustainment Maintenance Group, an Army National Guard unit stationed in Fresno, California.
The 1106th TASMG is one of four TASMGs in the U.S. It is responsible for repairing helicopters for 14 units across nine states on the West Coast; Lanik was the lone LAR supporting the entire area.
“I was initially very concerned about a new LAR on his own supporting nine states worth of aviation and ground support equipment,” said Dana Kammeyer, an AMCOM Lead-System Tech Representative at the National Training Center in California and Lanik’s supervisor.
Kammeyer said those concerns were soon put to rest because Lanik surpassed every expectation, and he quickly became a sought-out source of information from his peers, supervisors and customers.
During his time with the 1106th TASMG, Lanik said he primarily helped with logistical and maintenance issues.
“I was teaching and advising,” he said. “We’ve got technical manuals for repairs, and those are what we use to perform maintenance on the aircraft. If the Soldiers encounter a situation not in the TM, I help them resolve it.”
He explained that it can take upwards of a year for new issues identified in the field to be added to the technical manuals — that is where the LARs contribute the most. They share trends and solutions in their network to bridge the gap between when the problem is recognized and when the manual is updated.
“It doesn't sound that glamorous, and it can be kind of technical,” he said. “But we used to do a lot of UH-60M blade inspections. There is section toward the end of the blade where it comes together, and there are a lot of different materials overlapping each other, and the TM just doesn't express that well. So a lot of our Soldiers in the field were mistaking that for problems with the blade and condemning it. Whereas I can go out there and show them how to perform the inspection correctly.”
Lanik created a training aid from a demilitarized helicopter blade and used it to train Soldiers on the blade's composition and how to perform the inspections correctly.
“It was a time-saver,” he said. “New blades were sometimes hard to come by, and they were about a quarter-million dollars each. So you'd save maybe a month of flyable time and a quarter million by not having to replace the blade unnecessarily.”
Lanik stayed with the 1106th TASMG for nearly five years, traveling frequently to provide on-site support and always eager to assist his Soldiers or peers.
“Chris quickly integrated into that team,” said Mike Straub, senior command representative with AMCOM G-33 Current Operations. “He was at a distinct disadvantage as a lone member at a remote site; he overcame this disadvantage quickly by reaching out for advice and, as he matured into the position, never hesitating to assist other LARs in any way possible. The accolades I have received from within our organization and his supported units across the western United States speak volumes to his technical expertise and professionalism.”
In June, Lanik was named the 2023 Robertson J. Short LAR of the Year, an award created in 1985 by the Army Materiel Command to recognize excellence in the field. In 1988, AMC named the award in honor of former LAR Robertson J. Short, for his meritorious contributions to the program. Short embodied the characteristics of dedication, commitment, selfless service and honor.
Lanik, who recently accepted a new duty assignment at Fort Cavazos, Texas, said he is grateful to his leadership for the opportunities afforded to him and the confidence they have in him. However, he said his role is more than just saving the Army time and money.
“For me personally, I get a sense of accomplishment from not only showing Soldiers how to do the work but how to do it safely because aviation is such a dangerous job,” he said. “Soldiers are always mission-first and want to get the job done, and we're there to help them get that job done, but we’re going to do it correctly, so the aircraft is safe to fly, and they can continue their mission.”
| Date Taken: | 08.30.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 08.30.2024 15:51 |
| Story ID: | 479885 |
| Location: | REDSTONE ARSENAL, ALABAMA, US |
| Hometown: | GALESVILLE, WISCONSIN, US |
| Web Views: | 35 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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