Story filed 7-10-05

By Edward Lee Pitts
Military Affairs

On each of the 278th Regimental Combat Team's three Iraq bases, soldiers sporting grease stains on their desert camouflage uniforms or tan coveralls stand out from the others.

These troops carry standard-issue M-4 machine guns slung over their shoulders or pistols strapped in holsters, but their primary weapons include wrenches and screwdrivers.

If it has wheels or tracks and can be driven in the Iraqi desert, the hundreds of mechanics with this Tennessee-based National Guard unit ensure the combat vehicle stays on the roads. The mechanics understand there are no second chances as their 278th counterparts depend on the vehicles for protection from an insurgency that can strike anywhere.

"If a guy is out there on a vehicle you've worked on, you want to make sure they make it back," said Sgt. 1st Class Larry McCollum, 57, of Lenoir City, Tenn.

Long hours spent keeping the vehicles running will not end until the regiment returns home, according to Staff Sgt. Sue Duty, 47, of Knoxville, a maintenance logistics clerk. She said the soldiers feel a greater sense of urgency here where life and death hinge on the right tweaks and changes made under the hood of a Humvee.

"If there is even the slightest chance it will break down, we won't send it out," Staff Sgt. Duty said.

This attention to detail by the 278th mechanics has paid off, officials said. The daily measurement of fully operational 278th vehicles has averaged more than 90 percent of capacity since the 278th arrived in Iraq in December.

The regiment's 1st Squadron, whose 25 mechanics work 10-hour days, six days a week, has the best maintenance record in the entire 42nd Infantry Division, which oversees the 278th, according to Sgt. 1st Class Eddie Watson, 56, of Athens, Tenn.

A ROUGH RIDE

The 1st Squadron mechanics have changed more than 400 tires, conducted more than 300 oil changes and completed more than 600 service checks on about 320 vehicles, records show.

Sgt. 1st Class Watson said 1st Squadron mechanics alone spend more than $1 million each month on parts.

"We've gone through tires like water here," said Spc. Devon Hammonds, 34, of Athens, Tenn.

The desert dust and pothole-marked roads in Iraq make every mile rough for the 278th vehicles, wreaking havoc on their suspension. Soldiers say driving on the roads is like four-wheeling back home.

"Seventy-six thousand miles here is like 200,000 miles back home." said Cpl. Chris Galyon, 32, of Harriman, Tenn., "Sometimes I think it would be cheaper to fix the roads."

Keeping engines humming is a round-the-clock task for the nearly 3,000-member regiment. But it has recently been made harder by Iraq's soaring summer temperatures, where the mercury can be measured daily in the triple digits.

The 130-degree-plus temperatures make it too hot for the mechanics even to touch their tools and force many units to switch to night hours.

Mechanic Sgt. Billy Humphrey, of Knoxville, said he's lost 21 pounds here in six months, mainly from sweat.

Meanwhile, the heat is doing more damage to the vehicles and causing more work for the mechanics. There is a shortage of air conditioning parts throughout Iraq for the military's armored Humvees, said Capt. Holly Payne, a maintenance shop officer.

"Not only are soldiers fighting the enemy, they are fighting the heat, and that's not good," said Capt. Payne, of Hendersonville, Tenn.

But Staff Sgt. Todd Thomas, 40, of Wartburg, Tenn., a motor sergeant with Support Squadron, said he expected a lot more trouble with the vehicles in Iraq.

He said daily use of the vehicles prevents some of the long-term problems the mechanics often had to deal with back home when the regiment's vehicles sat in armory parking lots most of the year. On drill weekends back home if mechanics failed to repair a broken-down Humvee in one weekend, it could be put off until next month's guard duty, according to Spc. Chris Lindsay.

STOCKING UP

In Iraq, the mechanics focus on preventive maintenance on the regiment's fleet of tanks, Humvees, trucks of all sizes and Bradley Fighting Vehicles that get driven up to 300 miles a day and need regular oil changes and replacement parts.

Capt. Payne said her unit tries to anticipate problems by stocking up on parts. Her Support Squadron unit, which has completed more than 2,000 work orders since December, keeps about 900 parts stored at Camp Caldwell, the regiment's main operating base. Metal containers stacked in rows outside her unit's building hold the biggest items -- five-ton engines for M1-A1 Abrams tanks.

The biggest battlefield beast in the 278th arsenal gets top maintenance priority, Capt. Payne said. When a tank breaks down, mechanics work without stopping until the tank is fixed, she said.

It takes about 30 minutes to pull an engine out of a tank and about four hours to get a tank back on the streets with a new engine, mechanics said.

Many mechanics bemoan the fact that they are too busy working under hoods to get off the base much on missions. Some mechanics work on recovery teams that go out and haul back broken-down vehicles, including one recent Humvee stuck in the middle of a minefield. But most mechanics admit to being the victims of teasing from 278th soldiers who leave the base on a daily basis.

"I tell them I would leave the FOB (forward operating base), too, but their Humvees might not be running next week," said Spc. Lindsay, 25, of Lake City, Tenn.

E-mail Lee Pitts at lpitts@timesfreepress.com

On the Web : Photos by U.S. Army Staff Sgt. Russell Lee Klika of the 278th Regimental Combat Team are available on the Times Free Press Web site. Visit http://www.timesfreepress.com/kp.

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