Dust, mud don’t stall vehicle upkeep

Dust, mud don’t stall vehicle upkeep
By Tom Roeder - The Associated Press
Posted : Saturday Jan 26, 2008 17:01:45 EST

BAGHDAD — The mechanics work day and night to keep Fort Carson’s 3rd Brigade Combat Team on the road.

Facing tight deadlines, heavy demand and rigs worn by months or years of service here, the wrench crew with the 64th Brigade Support Battalion on Friday looked like they’d been dipped in 30-weight oil and rolled in the gooey mud that covers the roads of Camp Taji, where the brigade is based, about 20 miles north of downtown Baghdad.

“There’s not a lot you can do about the mud, so you just live with it,” said Sgt. Jeremy Sanders of Victoria, Texas, as he and another mechanic pulled maintenance hatches off a heavy truck loaded with concrete barriers used to wall off roads. “There’s not a day goes by that I’m not covered in dirt and oil.”

Scores of mechanics like Sanders had to hit the ground running at Camp Taji to deal with the brigade’s new fleet, which includes hundreds of armored Humvees and trucks.

Earlier in the war, Fort Carson units shipped their own vehicles to Iraq and took them home when the tour ended.


Rest of article at: http://www.armytimes.com/news/2008/01/ap_iraqmechanics_080126/