This paper outlines observations and describes best practices of Field Maintenance Company (FMCs) while deployed as rotational training units (RTUs) to the National Training Center (NTC) during FY19. Identifying lessons learned and best practices allows FMC commanders and Leaders to better assess, plan, and prepare units for Large Scale Combat Operations (LSCO). Successful FMCs come to the NTC prepared and proficient in several key areas, which include but not limited to utilization of the commodity shops, synchronization with BN staff, and battalion maintenance meeting. The Army’s two-level maintenance system (field and sustainment levels) generates and regenerates combat power, which is critical for fight and win during LSCO. The Brigade Support Battalion (BSB) can maximize its FMCs potentials to enhance the Forward Support Company (FSC) capabilities to sustain supported unit’s combat operations.
Observations
a. Underutilization of the FMC’s commodity shops by the BSB to enhance FSC capabilities to generate combat power. The Communications and Electronics Maintenance (C&E), Armament, and Ground Support Equipment (GSE) sections, generally, generate minimal work-orders within the BSA. The BSB commodity shops are capable of producing and generating more timely and efficient repairs in support of the BDE.
The greatest assets the FMC has that FSC deficient are subject matter expert or knowledge and experiences in GSE and Armament shop. Based on Modification Table of Organization and Equipment (MTOE), FMC’s GSE and Armament Section are authorized one WO2 and one E7 for each section along with 10-30 level maintainers. A typical FSC only authorized one E5 and two 10 level Soldiers for each section. The knowledge and experience disparity between FMC and FSC in GSE and Armament Shop is huge. Another key deficiency with FSC is that it does not have organic ELM shop. The FSCs rely entirely on FMC for missile, electronic, and radar maintenance. BSB can dispatch a team of knowledgeable and experienced personnel that circulates to each FSC location to share their knowledge and skills to close the knowledge gap. This action will enhance the FSC’s capabilities to support combat operations.
b. The Logistics Synchronization (LOGSYNC) meeting is not clearly generating the requirements for the FMC and is focused more on distribution synchronization. The FMC’s involvement in the LOGSYNC can set planning horizons for the FMC and all units requiring FMC assistance with recovery support or maintenance support. In numerous missions, the company was not aware of its mission until a few hours prior to Start Point (SP). Convoy did not have an assigned convoy commander; convoy briefs to Soldiers were substandard with no clear routes, actions on objective, or accountability of personnel and sensitive items. Lack of sync meeting disrupts information flow from the SPO and BN S3 to the company, which caused lack of preparation from the company level for PCC/PCI, equipment preparation, and troops to task.
c. The FMC often does not provide their resident expertise to enhance the Brigade Maintenance Meeting. The Brigade Maintenance Meeting is crucial to maintaining and tracking equipment to ensure equipment is mission support capable. Leaders and Soldiers at every level need to know sustainment operations will cease if equipment is not fully mission capable.
Best Practices
a. The long distance from the Brigade Support Area (BSA) poses a challenge for the FSC to retrograde to BSB for back-up support such as armament, C&E, and occasionally GSE support while focusing on supporting combat operations. The BSB concept of sustainment (COS) briefings and rehearsals should include the FMC’s capabilities to inform the supported units of its capabilities for back-up and limited pass-back support. The BSB needs to advertise its capabilities and ability to conduct maintenance at numerous locations within the BDE AO with a mobile team of commodity shops. This advertisement can be accomplished by simply conducting battlefield circulation to the unit maintenance collection points.
A basic mobile commodity shop from each section could consist of a maintenance technician, driver, shop or truck with repair tool kit or modified to meet mission requirement. Each person on the team should be the expert on his/her related military occupational specialties (MOS) and equipment his/her section is responsible to maintain. The mobile maintenance team could conduct battlefield circulation to each FSC location to provide maintenance assistance and subject matter expert assessment of equipment. The maintenance technician can provide subject matter expert opinion and the driver can be the experience repair of his/her section, together this team can troubleshoot, assess, and if conditions allow, fix the equipment on site. The mobile team could generate additional work-orders and enhance the FSC’s maintenance capabilities. Using this method, this team allows the BSB to be flexible, agile, responsive, concentrates resources at crucial moment and location in the battlefield in order to support the FSC to enable the maneuver unit’s combat operation.
The availability of the mobile maintenance team enables the FSC commander to establish the maintenance priorities based on the mobile maintenance team’s BFC schedule and to prepare equipment based on operational requirements. The FSC coordinates for maintenance support through the BSB maintenance control section and Support Operations Officer to request work-orders on equipment that the FSC needs to return to mission capable to support combat operation. The SPO can surge capabilities to meet operational requirement. The mobile maintenance team and FSC can combine their efforts to repair NMC equipment and quickly return it to the fight.
b. BSB SPO and with the support of the BSB CDR needs to enforce subordinate unit’s Leaders attend the COS briefs and rehearsals in order to understand sustainment operations. This action allows Leaders at every echelon to reduce friction and increase shared understanding. BSB SPO and S3 need to build sustainment synchronization matrix. The BSB tracks the common operation picture of logistics support for each battalion in the BDE to ensure a timely delivery of required support at the decisive place and time. Synchronizing between the SPO team, BSB S3, and BSB subordinate units is crucial in anticipating sustainment or maintenance requirement for timely support and to create a sync matrix that every unit at each echelon could understood and be able to execute. The sync matrix allows SPO to track commodity on a LOGPAC, the BSB S3 can battle track and task unit for the mission, and subordinate units can anticipate requirement and build their troops to task. The main purpose of internal synchronization is information sharing to reduce ambiguities and anticipate requirement.
c. The unit’s Equipment Status Report (ESR) should include in the daily Commander’s Update Brief (CUB) as a forcing function for daily maintenance meeting. The company commanders need to be ready to brief their equipment status. The BN XO, maintenance technician, and Maintenance Control Officer (MCO) are vital to the BN and BCT maintenance programs and will better inform the commanders. The BN/BCT XOs need to be aggressive in executing the maintenance meeting and ensure that it happens based on the unit’s battle rhythm.
POC: CPT Tuan M. Dang, tuan.m.dang4.mil@mail.mil
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