PS Magazine - JULY 1979
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 320
JULY 1979
Dear Half-Mast,
I've
been
supporting
TOW
and
Dragon
systems
Fr
a
number
of
years,
and I
keep
running
into
the
same
k±nd
of
abuse
of
equipment .
.. esPeciaLy on TOW.
When a TOW unit conducts gunner
training, it doesn't a²ways take aL of
its
vehic²es.
But,
it
does take ad³
ditiona² components as spares´ Norµ
maLy,
the
TOW system is secure²y
stra¶ped,
but
the
"spares·
neaR²Y
a²ways are thrown on the bare meta²
frame of a 1¸ton trai²er and hau²ed to
the traininG site. Wow!
One instance: I saw
10
batteries¹
2
optica²
sights,
3
ºissi²e
guidance
sets,
2
traversing
units,
a
target
source
and
some
tripods
aL
p»ed
together .
.. maybe
$100,000
worth
of de¼cate equipment. It ²ooked ²½ke
it
was
going
to
the
sa²Vage
¾aRd
rather
than
training.
Some
of
it
probab²y did end U¿ at the sa²VaÀe
Áa rEÂ
·
Another
point:
Ãehic²e
mounting
kits
Fr system components shoU²d
be checked carefuLy and their sUpµ
port pads must be in p²ace. I have
seen
miss»es
transported
with
no
pads
between
the
missi²e
and
the
veÄic²e frame. In no way is that good
Fr the miss»e.
Anything you can do to end these
hazards wou²d be appreciated.
J.AÅ
C.
J
Be No PractiCE
l
DIdN'T YOU
iIl±
5EcuRe tH±
J
_
.
EQU²PMeNT?
±
1
,±
²
i
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²³´µ ¶
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¸
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²m1
³
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Dear]. A. C±,
Seems you did a good job of highlighting the probleM, Sir± Kind of makes
Å
Æ
¹º
you wonder why those drivers can't figure it out for themselves ²±± or at least
»
¹
4-
use a mattress or some pad³ing to cushion the shock± Also, it makes you
y²
wonder where the driver´s supervisor was± If either ha³ to buy the damaged
components, it'd stop ±². like yester³ay±
³
When limited training is called for, all necessary vehicles go± Components
Ç
of systems should stay with their vehicles an³ should not be removed to
-
serve
as spares for a training exercise±
Damage to unmounted components exceeds the "savingsµ of using fewer
vehicles±
I¶m with you± It shoul³n't happen± That ·ind of damage ³oes not have to
happen±
As for chec·ing out those ¸ounting kits, Table 3¹1, Change 5, Tº
9´
1425»470¼12½ Preventive ºaintenance Chec·s an¾ Services, s ells i
_
t out¿
À
tooÁ
the ·its are damaged or parts are mÂssÃg, the system is Not
Operationally Rea¾y± That coul³ make for a gloomy OR Report from the
CO's point of view±
Checks on the mounting
kits are important± They can prevent da¸age to
the missiles or to system components±
In short, I agree that operators and crew¸en have responsibilities to theiÄ
equÅpment± Their supervisors and ÆO's have equal responsibilities± It's our
¸Çney an¾ our firepower protectionÁ Why throw it away?
laµJfF
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