PS Magazine - JANUARY 1985
PS, The Preventative Maintenance Monthly
ISSUE 386
JANUARY 1985
GOOD MAINTENANCe MEANS
g±tting inVoLV±d .
..
AT EVERY LEVEL OF COMMAND!
THE CHALLENGE:
UNITED STATeS ARMY
TH
.
E CHIEF OF StAFF
I don't know much aboUt
this ±hing cale² ³ogistics.
´l I Know is that I want soµe.
anonymous Gener±l
World W±r i
We have come a long way since the days when entering the logistical net
meant asking the supply sergeant, "Got any?± "Gonna get any?± However,
even though our forces have become more capable and our equipment more
sophisticated, today we are faced with the prospect of highly accelerated
consumption of supplies and attri²ion of equipment on the batt³eFIeld.
.
These projections challenge our logisticians to provide support to sustaM our
Army under any future warfighting scenario. Not only must our logistics system
be able to transport, supply, and maintai´ rapidly, it must operate weµl forward
and be ¶exible and responsive to our tactical commanders·
TH¸ R¸SPONS¹B¹L¹TY:
²
accomplish our missions, the naºion entrusts to our care its youth and its
resources. There can be no greater responsibil»ty. As stewards of the ¼rmy's
assets, we must be alert for ways to improve the e½ciency, e¾ectiveness, and
safety of all our operations. This is both a leadership and a management
respons¿bÀity. ¹f we faÁl in this important endeavor, we wil waste valuable
resources we may need one day to fight and win. The very seÃous responsibil»ty
for maintaining what we are given is based on the hard reality that we wiÄ never
have all the equipment, supplies, facilities, and funds we reQuire. On the
battlefield, we wil be short because of combat losses, accidents, interruptions in
1
²l³
TRAINiNG
Ma±nTa±n²nG
the supply sÅstem, or just insu¾icient resources to fiµl aµl needs. Thus, a we/1-
traineD soldier muÆt be taugÇt to maiÈtain and conserve what he has É in
peace and in war.
Êaintaining takes on several dimensions for the soldier. ¹t is his responsibiµity
to assure his performance is not hindered by eQuipment failure. ¹t is his
commanderËs responsibÁlÌty to provide the time, material, and training to aµlow
him to maintain his
Í
equipment. And, it is the ArmyËs responsibility to provide him
the best "tools of the trade± that technology can o¾er.
THE START PO¹NT:
Successful maintenance begins at the unit level. That is where a positive proÎ
gram of preventive maintenance keeps equipment operational and detects faults.
The coÏerstone of good maintenance is weÄ-trained, motivated, supervised
equipment operators who know how to perform before, during, and aÐer
operational checks. Then commanders must motivate the operators to perform
those checks and take appropriate corrective action when they find faults.
The chain of command must be the supervisors of an e¾ective maintenance
program É and they must be completely knoÑledgeable
Ò
about their equipment
and the maintenance system.
³
do so,
´hµy
must be trained. The first-line
supervisor is the key to good operator maintenance but supervision does not
stop here. AÄ members of the chain of command have a responsibÁliÓy to be
active in the field and the motor pool.
·
THÔ BOTÕÊ Ö¹NE:
The key to good maintaining is to cha×ge the way we think about
maintenance. We have grown up, by and large, in a peacetØme Army where we
have separated training from maintaining. We go to the field, train for four, five,
six days, and then we come back in, stand down, and we maintain.
Wµ c±nn¶´ sep±r±´µ ´r·¸n¸ng fom m±¸n´¹¸n¸nº»
We cannot stand down to
maintain at the National Training Center. We could not stand down in Grenada,
and we cannot stand down if we are at war. We have to maintain as we go É
integrating the maintenance mission
Ù
into our peacetime training É and train for
our wartime mission as we maintain.
We have to change our way of thinking to recognize that training and
maintaining must go hand in glove. We have to exercise in the field and at the
same time maintain our equipmentÚ
This is the only way we wiµl be able to meet the maintaining chaÄenges before
us, buiÂding on the substantial improvements already made to better support our
soldiers. ¹t wiÄ take a dedicated e¾ort from each of us to continue this progress.
LEAD³ng
(
John A. Wickham, Jr.
General, United States Army
Chief of Sta¾
CarIng
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