JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- The Air Force operates a wide variety of vehicles with a huge mixture of maintenance needs. At Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, the 673d Logistics Readiness Squadron’s Heavy Equipment Repair shop are responsible for inspecting, troubleshooting and undertaking all snow-removal truck repairs.
Thirty-seven Airmen and 11 civilians, specialize in vehicular equipment maintenance at the shop, ensuring the 83 heavy-duty snow removal trucks remain in working order at all times.
Preparation for winter begins the previous January. Parts for the trucks are ordered well in advance, because Alaska is logistically so far from the manufacturers and parts sometimes have to be custom-machined. This can be problematic when the winter sets in and shipping can be delayed or hindered.
“We have several different vehicles that we maintain,” said Leon Sutton, shop supervisor for the 673d LRS. “The three main pieces we use most of the year are the Oshkosh snow blowers, snow plows, and broom trucks with attachments.”
From the time winter ends to the first week in October, the shop goes through three phases of the Summer Rebuild Program. Each vehicle’s unique checklist takes approximately two to three weeks per truck, from top to bottom and front to back. This requires distinct pre-planning.
“Phase one is a joint inspection between the vehicle operator and the customer service section of the shop,” Sutton said. “This phase is really important, because that operator just spent six months in that truck and their input is very valuable. The operator will know the ins and outs, he will know how the equipment acted under certain conditions. In phase two, they take a unique checklist we have built for each one of those three types of vehicles. They go through the checklist and put the equipment up on jacks, they then go from front to back. This is also the time when we do as much preventive maintenance as possible… we try to catch anything we can to make sure the trucks are ready for winter. Phase three is kind of the opposite of phase one; the operators come back to pick the trucks up and we turn the trucks back over to them.”
Every year, new projects come up. This year the big project was working with Oshkosh and MB on the underbelly scrapers attached to the plows.
“Over the last few years we’ve had some issues with the scrapers that get the ice off the Air Field, they kept falling off of the truck,” Sutton said. “This year we were able to make a huge change in how the two pieces mount together. Working with the two manufacturers, we were able to make a significant design change; they went from a three-bolt to a five-bolt design that will hopefully withstand this winter.”
JBER faces a unique set of issues. The extreme climate, and the installation’s sheer size, means JBER trucks are used three to four times more than trucks in the lower 48 states, in terms of hours on the road. For manufacturers and designers, it’s a rigorous crucible for testing their equipment. This partnership means manufacturers will often send the parts needed to fix them at no cost.
“Because our trucks here are used more than double the amount of hours anywhere else in the world, the manufacturers work hand-in-hand with us,” Sutton said. “They are often giving us the parts needed to fix the trucks at no cost, and incorporating those design changes based on the success of our results. So, there are a lot of times it doesn’t cost us anything.”
Beginning in October everyone in the Heavy Equipment Repair shop goes to 24-hour shifts, seven days a week, and the Flight Line Maintenance shop, which is responsible for the maintenance of the aircraft deicers, is incorporated into the section. With more than 100 total vehicles to service, the whole shop is dedicated to snow removal.
“Our overall mission here is flying and you can’t really have an F-22 Raptor taking off with two feet of snow on the ground,” said Senior Airman Zachary Ruth, a vehicular equipment maintainer from the Heavy Equipment Repair shop. “We have every single piece of equipment here that will ensure the runway gets cleared, not only for jets but for all aircraft. Bottom line, we will make sure that runway stays clean.”
An average of 270 work orders come into this shop on a monthly basis, but no matter the weather or problem, it is the Airmen's expertise that is vital to the bases success.
“Without these guys here fixing trucks, our mission would just shut down,” said Air Force Master Sgt. Eric Walosin, Heavy Equipment shop section chief. “Nothing on this base would happen”.