“… Army leaders decided the work needed to be performed here so that the brigade could continue its high tempo once it hit the ground in Germany.”
— Bob Gravelle
By Scott Prater
Mountaineer staff
In an unprecedented event, Fort Carson Logistics Readiness Center (LRC) staff teamed with 4th Sustainment Brigade Soldiers last month to complete the final stage of a project that could prove vital to the success of an ongoing deployment mission.
The project began in March 2016, months before the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, was due to deploy to eastern Europe as part of Atlantic Resolve. Army leaders knew then that they faced a heavy logistical challenge.
In order for its ammunition- and fuel-hauling trucks to travel legally throughout Europe, 3rd ABCT needed to meet that continent’s strict safety standards, known as the European Agreement Concerning the International Carriage of Dangerous Goods by Road (ADR).
Jennifer Goinea, a contract automotive worker at the Fort Carson Logistics Readiness Center (LRC), works on wiring for a battery system Feb. 6, 2017. Goinea and fellow contractors teamed with Soldiers and LRC mechanics to complete a modification project for the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and 32nd Transportation Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Inf. Div., prior to the units’ deployment to Europe. (Photo by Bob Gravelle)
Meeting the standards required some lengthy and exhaustive modifications to more than 140 of the brigade’s vehicles.
“We had to work closely with the 4th Infantry Division G4 and the 21st Theater Logistics Support Command in Germany,” said Bob Gravelle, LRC logistics management specialist, ground maintenance. “Ultimately, Army leaders decided the work needed to be performed here so that the brigade could continue its high tempo once it hit the ground in Germany.”
Fort Carson Logistics Readiness Center staff, along with 3rd ABCT mechanics and LRC contractors performed the work for the project that took roughly five months to complete.
“We’re not talking about simple modifications,” Gravelle said.
As a means for preventing spark, crews had to install tubing and sealers around every inch of wiring on every truck and trailer. Placards that provided information about specific vehicles also needed to be applied and some vehicles required the installation of battery shutoff switches inside the cab.
“When you’re hauling ammunition and petroleum products, any type of spark (stemming from the vehicle wiring) can present serious problems,” Gravelle said. “The modifications go a long way to preventing that type of scenario.”
Crews began receiving modification kits, including plastic looming (tubing), placards, switches and other materials, in May. The 4th Inf. Div. sent a couple of warrant officers to Germany to learn how to install the kits and those Soldiers returned to train the LRC staff and Soldiers.
Between May and October 2016, crews fitted M1075 Palletized Load System (PLS) haulers and M1076 PLS trailers with the wire looming, placards and switches — work that proved painstaking and arduous — at least at the beginning.
“When we started, it took us about 48 hours to complete an install on a truck and about 60 hours for the trailers,” Gravelle said. “As the work progressed, however, we managed to shrink that time down to 42 hours for the trucks and 36 hours for the trailers.”
Following the installs, project leaders brought in German inspectors to look over the vehicles, then they were certified and prepared for deployment.
Once the brigade deployed, the LRC staff then teamed with 4th Sustainment Brigade, 4th Inf. Div., Soldiers to install kits on some 60 vehicles for the 32nd Transportation Company, 68th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 4th SB, which will deploy to support the 3rd ABCT mission in Europe in the near future.
That work was completed late last month and Gravelle indicated that Army leaders were encouraged by the project’s results.
“Army Materiel Command continues to use innovation to provide support to the warfighter,” said Lt. Col. Gerard Acosta, commander Army Field Support Battalion-Carson.
And, the project’s success has provided a model for other Army units to emulate.
“To my knowledge, this is the first time the Army has done this type of project in the continental United States (CONUS) prior to a European deployment,” Gravelle said. “But, it’s my understanding that this is the way the Army wants to move forward in the future.”
Gravelle indicated that the Fort Riley, Kansas, unit which will eventually replace 3rd ABCT in the enduring Atlantic Resolve mission, will conduct its modifying installs in CONUS as well.