Photo By Staff Sgt. Kaden Pitt | A photo of the EagleWerx Applied Tactical Innovation Center at Fort Campbell, Ky. on...... read more read more
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FORT CAMPBELL, Ky. – It all starts with an idea. Innovation begins with a brief creative spark when a Soldier identifies a problem and knows there must be a solution. Warrant Officer Travis Rogers felt that spark during a forward arming and refueling point mission. He noticed the speed of the AH-64 attack helicopter repairers as they swapped the Reduced Crashworthy External Fuel Systems (RCEF) for Hellfire Missile Launchers sacrificed two of the most important components of any operation-- safety and time. Looking at this issue, he thought “I wish we could just have a cart that could lift it up for us.” Little did Rogers know that in just six months his thought would grow into a device allowing one person to complete the swap seven times faster than a trained team and they could do it on their first try.
“The first thing my team thought when we heard we needed to take the RCEF off is ‘Well that’s a rather time-consuming process,’ said Rogers, a Bravo Company, 1st Battalion, 145th Aviation Regiment student. “So we started going over the possibilities of how we could do that in a safe and quick manner. After I mentioned the cart idea, we started looking at how some of the other branches used carts. Then my lieutenant told me ‘you could probably just take this to EagleWerx.”
The EagleWerx Applied Tactical Innovation Center acts as a nexus for transformative ideas across Fort Campbell. The innovation lab offers more than just a space. It also provides the guidance and equipment to bring a Soldier’s idea into a tangible prototype.
“It’s Soldier lead innovation,” said Chief Warrant Officer Three Ricky Hicks, the innovation officer for the 101st Combat Aviation Brigade “Wings of Destiny”, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault). “A lot of times Soldiers will figure out really creative ways for improving their situation. So we provide a place where they can bring their ideas, we vet them, and if we agree that there’s a way to fix the issue then they can use the maker space resources to, within six months, have a prototype that we can send back to the units.”
Rogers’ idea was refined through the same process as any other that comes into EagleWerx. The RCEF Mobile Instillation and Removal Cart originally started as a simple mover for the fuel system.
“At first it was just a thin frame with a very long handle at the front that you would put the RCEF in and raise and lower it with manpower, basically a wheelbarrow,” Rogers laughed. “Now we’ve reinforced the frame, the handle is removable like the hitch to your car, and it has a winch system that can raise or lower using a hand crank or even an impact drill.”
The cart is currently in the testing phase with the aviation units across Fort Campbell. This has allowed the team to see just how much the device can improve the process.
“We took a team of four well-experienced maintainers using the old process and they managed to get the time down to about 7 minutes, 30 seconds for removal and install,” said Rogers, himself a former AH-64 attack helicopter repairer with 2nd Squadron, 17th Cavalry Regiment, 101 CAB, 101 ABN DIV (AA). “On the first time we did it with the cart we got it in just over a minute. So I would imagine that same crew after using the cart over and over again could probably get that down to 30 seconds with no issue.”
The testing isn’t just to see how well the cart performs in ideal circumstances. It must also perform in the field.
“We want units to beat the heck of out of these things,” said Rogers. “Do everything you can possibly do. Take an RCEF off in the field, in the dirt, in the mud. Tell us what doesn’t work so we can make this better.”
Allowing Soldier’s hands-on experience with the new product acts as a crucial way to receive feedback from the very people who will use it every day.
“The Soldiers are the closest thing to any problem so they’re the best equipped to come up with a solution,” said Hicks. “When Soldiers are able to come up with those solutions it gives them so much buy-in and pride that they’re able to give back to their unit.”
Rogers too is one of the people who feels that strong sense of pride from being able to give back to his career field.
“It felt good knowing there was something I could do to make my people’s life easier here in the Army,” said Rogers. “Taking the prototype down to the maintainers and showing them how it works was pretty dang awesome. A lot of them loved knowing that we can just do that if we have an idea.”
A project like this, that so dramatically improves a process, does not exclusively come from an idea alone but equally from the people behind it.
“Mr. Rogers, formerly Sgt. Rogers, is very very disciplined,” said Hicks. “What really made things though was how receptive he was to other peoples input on his project. He was always quick to say ‘Listen I want to make this thing as good as it can be and if that’s outside myself and my understanding then help me make it better.’ He was incredibly dedicated to the project.”
The process of birthing and fostering an idea takes a village. For Rogers that simple idea was allowed to flourish into a piece of equipment that has made massive gains to efficiency. From his perspective this could have only been accomplished at a place like EagleWerx.
“It’s surreal,” said Rogers. “It went from an idea, to a sketchbook, to a whiteboard and then suddenly it’s physically in front of me and I can manipulate it and use it. It felt really good to know it wasn’t one of those conversations you have where you wish you could have done something and leave it there. I’ve been telling everyone that if you have ideas that can help a unit or the Army in general then EagleWerx is the place to go.”
| Date Taken: | 11.13.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 11.13.2024 16:32 |
| Story ID: | 485183 |
| Location: | FORT CAMPBELL, KENTUCKY, US |
| Hometown: | CLARKSVILLE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Hometown: | NASHVILLE, TENNESSEE, US |
| Web Views: | 95 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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