[This article was first published in Army Sustainment Professional Bulletin, which was then called Army Logistician, volume 2, number 5 (September–October 1970), pages 24–25, 43. The text, including any biographical note, is reproduced as faithfully as possible to enable searchability. To view any images and charts in the article, refer to the issue itself, available on DVIDS and the bulletin’s archives at asu.army.mil/alog/.]
. . . Maintenance is a task of show, tell, prove, and train. What better way than the old “wild West” medicine man technique?
ANY GOOD STAFF MAN will tell you 90 percent of any task is proper identification of the problem. Once the cause of trouble has been located you can generally correct it.
As the battalion commander of the 71st Maintenance Battalion (Direct Support), stationed in Germany, I have been exposed to a mechanic's nightmare — proper identification of a faulty part or parts. In that respect, there is not so much difference between the staff man and the mechanic.
The answer to a great many of the Army’s maintenance and supply problems of today is the correct diagnosis of the equipment fault. Too often we switch parts rather than diagnose the problem. The Army has good diagnostic test equipment, so why don't we use it? Too often the answer has been, "The service schools don't properly train mechanics."
Diagnostic Know-How
I believe the problem is inadequately trained maintenance supervisors. During liaison visits to customer units of the 71st Maintenance Battalion, I often ask the unit mechanics where their low voltage circuit tester is. Their answer is generally, “Sir, the motor sergeant keeps it locked up.” When l ask the motor sergeant or motor officer why he keeps the low voltage circuit tester locked up, the answer is, “What’s that?” or, “My mechanics don't know what it’s for.” Further questioning usually reveals that the supervisors know the low voltage circuit tester is a piece of diagnostic test equipment, but they don't know what it can test or how to use it. All the way from the Department of the Army staff down through every maintenance school the question has been asked, “Why don’t our troops use the Army diagnostic test equipment?”
The answer appears to be lack of knowledge and training or key maintenance supervisors. The NCO’s and officers who control and guide the mechanics lack the “hands-on” training in the proper use of diagnostic test equipment. The supervisor needs to know how basic tests can be run and the proper procedure for hooking up the equipment.
If you have any doubts as to the general knowledge of supervisors concerning diagnostic test equipment, ask your motor officer to show you bow to check a battery on the low voltage circuit tester.
During a recent exercise in Germany, we discovered that out of 40 batteries turned in during the first seven days, only 20 were unserviceable and required further testing. The 20 that needed further testing were flushed out, refilled with electrolite, recharged, and tested again. Six batteries actually needed replacement. All of the equipment used in the tests to reclaim the batteries was organizational equipment — not direct support. When the supervisors were contacted and asked why serviceable batteries were turned in, their answer was, “We didn't know how to make the checks.”
There is a solution to this problem of supervisory knowledge. It is not a simple solution, but it can be corrected by the units that provide direct support maintenance. The answer is found in that old term “technical assistance.” Providing this assistance is not easy — it takes time, money, and effort; but it is effective and results in simplifying the direct support mission.
The 71st Maintenance Battalion with the technical advice and creativity of the U.S. Army Tank-Automotive Command technical representatives developed and built a diagnostic test van. Many unusual features have been added inside the van, but the actual diagnostic test equipment is almost all standard Army issue. The van is an M313, 6-ton “expando” which should be pulled by a 5-ton tractor; but to prove the worth of the Army 2½-ton tractor, we use it instead. Most of the equipment contained in the van is standard to organizational maintenance units and is not peculiar to either direct support or general support maintenance units. On the front of the test van, we have mounted a 45-kilowatt generator to provide the necessary power to make the van operational in any environment.
Fabricated Test Tool
An additional item in the van (see illustration, page 43) is not a standard piece of equipment. What we call a “ground hop kit” is made up of a “Little Joe” (300 amp. Detroit diesel), an instrument panel from an M60A1, six tank batteries, a radiator from a M54 5-ton truck, two slave cable receptacles, four tail wheels from Beaver aircraft, a homemade steel frame, a gas tank from a forklift, alligator clips, wiring harness from an M109 howitzer, and an M60 ground hop kit. The ground hop kit is a unique but valuable tool. The 71st Battalion is attempting to build a ground hop kit for each company and detachment to facilitate testing engines.
Currently, the diagnostic test van is staffed by a specialist-sixth-class mechanic-driver and two Tank-Automotive Command technical representatives. However, the battalion is cross-training two additional military personnel so that we can operate the van without the technical representatives.
We have made arrangements to conduct eight hours of training for key supervisory maintenance personnel. The instruction consists of four hours of classroom familiarization with diagnostic equipment and four hours of practical, “hands-on” equipment training. Near the end of the practical period we ask the personnel being trained to bring any vehicle from their unit with a malfunction they are unable to diagnose to the van for diagnosis. Usually the vehicle is a real “dog.” However, the problems all have been either fuel or electrical and most of them were very easy to correct. The one outstanding example is that of an M113 that had not been operational for three months. The problem: batteries were in backwards and the master switch (reportedly put in by the motor sergeant) was in backwards. This unit has a supervisory problem, as evidenced by the example.
Experience has shown that as the individual units receive training, the direct exchange items that come in for exchange are in fact unserviceable. The volume of materiel in the direct support shops decreases sharply and deadlined equipment decreases. The reason is that supervisors know what diagnostic test equipment they have, and they teach the mechanic to use it.
Our training program can be varied according to the needs of the unit. We instruct commanders, shop and maintenance supervisors, inspectors, fuel and electrical specialists, mechanics, and drivers. Since we have only one van, our first step has been to train maintenance supervisors. I will admit we have had to use diplomacy in getting battalion commanders to send the right people. But the “word” is spreading, and we find more requests for training than can be filled with the one van and limited personnel.
Using the test van as a tool for the direct support unit, we have saved the Government approximately $308,250 on vehicle engines. This is a conservative estimate because it is based on the engines we received as candidates for overhaul. During the period from mid-July to mid-December 1969, test van personnel were responsible for saving 118 engines (all models). Our cost to repair these engines ranged from $20 to $100 each. As a result of our findings we have instituted new procedures to check out engines for rebuild and items turned in for direct exchange.
You may well be asking what is so unusual about this problem and why should a van of this kind be used. My answer: maintenance is a task of show, tell, prove, and train. What better way than the old “wild West” medicine man technique. No task too difficult, cure all your ills, and sooth the commander’s nerves — technical assistance with a smile.
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Lieutenant Colonel B. E. Painter commands the 71st Maintenance Battalion in Europe and is the former chief of the Mechanical Engineering Branch, Directorate of Maintenance, ODCSLOG, DA. He is a graduate of the Command and General Staff College and holds a bachelor of science degree from Norwich University and a master’s degree in business administration from George Washington University.
| Date Taken: | 02.27.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 02.27.2025 09:24 |
| Story ID: | 491660 |
| Location: | US |
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