Exceptional people keep GOVs, equipment on the road

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Government vehicles for emergency response, cargo loading, towing, picking up aircrew and much more, can be seen everywhere on base, and the RAF Mildenhall mission relies heavily upon them.

The military members and civilians working behind the scenes to keep all those vehicles in service and on the road make up the 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron Vehicle Management Flight. The flight consists of the general purpose, special purpose, fire truck vehicle maintenance, vehicle management and analysis, and material control sections, and between them they take care of a fleet of more than 570 government vehicles and equipment worth $55 million.

"There's never a typical day; it varies all the time," said Senior Master Sgt. Brian Spalinger, 100th LRS Vehicle Management flight chief. "We currently have vehicle bulkhead installations going on (in certain types of GOVs), where we've been installing protective barriers between the cargo area and front seats on 197 vehicles, 180 of which are completed."

Spalinger explained that this is a U.K.-specific, U.S. Air Forces in Europe-directed program, established in an effort to promote safety and comply with host nation laws. The bulkheads were fabricated locally and vehicle maintenance Airmen are completing the installs, saving nearly $40,000 dollars in additional labor costs.

"My (people) also work on routine scheduled maintenance, seeing between 30 and 50 vehicles per month; additionally, we see about 20 vehicles per week for unscheduled repairs."

Currently, Airmen in the special purpose section are in charge of the summer rebuild program, performing preventive maintenance and inspection on the 100th Air Refueling Wing's snow removal and deicing vehicle fleet, said Spalinger.

The vehicle maintenance facility is currently in the middle of a $1.2 million renovation project, which means the mechanics currently work in just half a building. The renovation includes completely resurfacing the floor, replacing inadequate and broken lighting, roll-up doors, and renovating the entire office block.

According to Staff Sgt. Sean Fletcher, 100th LRS Vehicle Management flight training manager, Spalinger made vast improvements to their workplace, as far as bettering the number of vehicles on the road, but Spalinger gives the credit to his troops.

"With all the different sections we have, it's definitely a team effort here. It's essential to have good NCOs running each section, and we also have an exceptional crop of young, fresh Airmen straight out of (technical) school," Spalinger said. "They are eager, driven, well-rounded and they want to learn.

"We also have exceptional (NCOs). All of them play a role and have a part in the overall operation. It's a team effort because of all of them."

Master Sgt. Daniel Ammerman, 100th LRS Vehicle Maintenance acting superintendent, agreed that their Airmen are highly skilled and have a busy schedule to deal with.

"Mechanics in the outside world usually work for a dealer, and often only work on one kind or make of car; the same is true with (commercial) aircraft mechanics," Ammerman said.

"In the military and throughout the Air Force, our leadership expects us to be able to work on up to 300 different types of vehicles and equipment, whether at our home stations or on deployments. We can't say to them, 'I've never worked on that before.' They expect us to have the fundamentals to work on everything from tractors and vans, to rock crushers," he said.

Spalinger added that he is truly impressed with the dedication of his Airmen to their job.

"Folks here always find a way to make it happen," he said. "We have Airmen here that choose to stay on their own time to fix vehicles; they give their all to get the job done."