Posted on Mar 19, 2014

PMCS: should the mechanics have to do them for the Grunts in theater?

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Pmcs should the mechanics have to do them for the grunts in theater

Also, if a operator puts fluid in the wrong place in a vehicle, (I.E: 15/40 in a transmission) what should happen? Yes, pertaining to operators that know better and not 2nd LTs or Privates.

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Mechanics

Vehicle

Posted >1 y ago

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CSM Michael J. Uhlig

Posted >1 y ago

Hell no, the maintainers are not normally on patrol with the Infantryman, they are responsible for their operator maintenance.

If someone puts the wrong fluids in, they should be responsible for the damages and repairs. If the Soldier does this without training on the vehicle, then I believe it is a shared responsibility between the Soldier and his supervisor that is there with him.

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SSG (Join to see)

>1 y

cant agree with you more CSM I am a mech and the operator need to know their job and vehicle in and out. they also have a PMCS check sheet in their 10 manual that show what types of fluids are used, and were they are use at along with how to read if it is low. We have better things to do then hold the same operators hand every day. also because when they are down rang we may not be available to HOLD THEIR HANDS

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SSG (Join to see)

10 y

91BH8 Mech here, I couldn't have said it better CSM..

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SSG Jason Hoadley

Posted >1 y ago

Do the "grunts" pass off their weapon to someone else to maintain?

It is the cornerstone of the Army Maintenance model to have the operators do their level of work..

They use the vehicle, they know what right or wrong with it.

That is of course if they care, or at the least have some sort of "Pride in Ownership" of that vehicle..

If there is a problem with the operator putting the wrong fluid in to a sub-system, I would go and look at the operator training plan..

It has been long said the "Maintenance is Training" and I agree.

Everything we do as a Soldier is a form maintenance...

We as trainees were taught to PMCS ourselves and our gear

PRT is maintenance on the body

Battle Drills, IWQ, and Warrior Tasks are all a form of PMCS that inspect our skill set.

NCOES and CBT are PMCS and Maintenance on our minds..

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SSG (Join to see)

>1 y

Realistically, I have seen Grunts hand off their weapons for someone else to maintain their weapon. But that is besides the point.

To add on to my question. Do you think that the leadership should be held accountable for the actions of their soldiers.

What if the mistake was made by a soldier that was left alone to fill fluids, but it WAS in fact a brand new operator/soldier. Should the soldier have to pay? Should the leader have to pay? Should we use the tax-payer dollar and sweep it under the rug?

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SSG Jason Hoadley

>1 y

What should and what does happen are vastly different things...

As for the situation you have laid out.

Mistakes Happen!!!

A new troop I don't think I would push for a statement of charges, but he/she would get a decent lesson from their mistake.

The Commander, XO, and 1SG would be involved in adressing the short coming of that soldier's leaders..

I have had something like this happen a couple of times during my time in the service...

Case #1 Total Cost of Repair $78,000

A seasoned operator during a deployment destroyed the cooling system of an MRAP by adding the wrong coolant to it.

The PSG and PL hid the mistake until the vehicle failed during a mission..

the PSG and PL were relieved and charged..

Case #2 Total Cost of Repair $900

New operator, E-2 less than 1 year TIS, mistook the oil fill for the tranmission on an LMTV for the radiator fill.

That soldier added 2 gallons of water to the transmission.

The soldier was given a bit of corrective training, The squad leader was counseled, and the issue was fixed before damage could happen.

The E-2 in this story reclassed to become a Mechanic.

Being an Inspector, I have many of these stories..

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SPC Lyle Montgomery

>1 y

Most of us old guys knew a lot about mechanics. and as far as the weapon goes, we cleaned it but when on standdown we turned them to the armorer to be inspected. Anyway that was the way that it was in Nam in 1970.

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SFC (Join to see)

Posted >1 y ago

Basic maintenance of a vehicle should be performed by the individual responsible for it and his/her team/driver. Having said that, I can't tell you how many times I saw a SPC or newly promoted SGT "performing maintenance" without having any idea what they were doing and they didn't have a copy of the TM with them. The TM spells out exactly what needs to be done, how to do it, and how frequently to do it. Only when you get to the point that something cannot be corrected using the steps in the TM should you get a mechanic to take charge. From what I saw, our mechanics stayed busy consistently.

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SSG (Join to see)

>1 y

Preach

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PO1 (Join to see)

10 y

Funny...the TM's ARE available online - downloadable even! Shoot even an ol' Salt like myself can do PMCS with a TM on Army, Marine and Air Force ground equipment! BTDT people! PMCS ain't brain surgery!

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SPC (Join to see)

10 y

Would your mechanics have stayed busy if the operators had done their PMCS correctly? Personally I think the operator should be with the vehicle at both 10 and 20 level maintenance. You never know when a piece of information about your vehicle may come in handy, and as an operator I want to know jst what has been done to my vehicle and by whom. As a former mechanic I made it a point to go over everything that had been done to a crews vehicle with them. But...It was a different Army back then.

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PMCS: should the mechanics have to do them for the Grunts in theater?

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