Courtesy Photo | Cpl. Brandon Hocking, a small arms and artillery repair specialist with the 632nd...... read more read more
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Story by: Sgt. Kimberly Johnson
CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, Iraq — The armament repair shop at Contingency Operating Base Adder, Iraq, supports all units here requiring maintenance and repair of weapons systems.
Soon, there will be a mobile repair team to perform maintenance on crew-served weapons at unit locations. Currently, the shop at COB Adder is too small to service several weapons systems at
once.
“We are putting together a mobile team,” said Cpl. Brandon Hocking, a small arms and artillery repairer with the 632nd Maintenance Company, 110th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 224th Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary) and a Seattle native. “Three Soldiers will carry a toolbox to the outlying units and fix the weapons on site, because we are not physically capable of storing weapons in the shop.”
The operation should run smoothly; it is not a foreign concept to the team. When the 632nd Maint. Company is in the United States, mobile teams go to the different units to fix their weapons, said Warrant Officer Larry Cunningham, an armament technician with the 632nd Maint. Company and a Columbia, S.C., native.
The reason it is important to utilize a mobile team is because it is easier for armament Soldiers to take their gauges and tools with them to do inspections than it is for units to bring hundreds of weapons to them, he said.
“We are here to fix all the weapons that are brought in to us,” Hocking said. “We are open for business to anyone with a Unit Identification Code. We fix anything and ensure all weapons are mission capable.”
Some of the most common weapons serviced are the M2 .50-caliber Browning machine gun and the M249 squad automatic weapon, he said.
“Most the fixes on the ‘.50-cal.’ are from normal wear and tear from the weapons being transferred on and off the trucks, in addition to the heat during [convoy] missions,” Cunningham said.
Hocking said currently, the armament repair team is preparing to conduct annual gauging of weapons and the present facility cannot support the amount of weapons that will be brought in for servicing.
“We have to test the weapon for different specifications and see [that they are properly calibrated],” Hocking said. “It’s very time-consuming; we do hundreds of weapons a day and we do not have the capacity here for that.”
The repair shop is open seven days a week to serve the needs of the surrounding units. The Soldiers on the repair crew are there because they want to be, Cunningham said.
“My favorite part about this job is learning different weapons systems,” Hocking said. There’s always something new to learn so I can be better at my job.”
Cunningham said he appreciated the work of the Soldiers that work with him.
“The caliber of Soldiers is outstanding because we have a quick turnover … getting weapons in, technically inspected and back out so they can get right back into the fight,” he said. “The Soldiers pride themselves in fast turnaround times for weapons maintenance.”
If they go out on a mission and they need to use the weapon and it malfunctions because it was not properly taken care of, then it puts Soldiers at risk. Without a functioning weapon, Soldiers can lose their lives, Cunningham said.
| Date Taken: | 06.24.2010 |
| Date Posted: | 07.09.2010 07:18 |
| Story ID: | 52583 |
| Location: | CONTINGENCY OPERATING BASE ADDER, IQ |
| Web Views: | 353 |
| Downloads: | 94 |
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