2nd Brigade Combat Team Soldiers mark fastest vehicle draw in the west

By Staff Sgt. Jennifer Bunn, 2nd Brigade Combat Team PAO NCOICOctober 3, 2012

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1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
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2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – The preposition equipment yard at the National Training Center in Fort Irwin, Calif., was brimming with vehicles before 2nd Brigade Combat Team broke the record during the fastest vehicle draw in the west. Soldiers signed for 717 pieces of equipment ... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

FORT IRWIN, Calif. -- As Soldiers scramble in the heat of the California desert sun to draw vehicles and equipment from the preposition equipment yard, they are unaware of the record they are about to break.

Soldiers of 2nd Brigade Combat Team hit the National Training Center on Fort Irwin, Calif., with full force Sept. 23, when they broke the record for the most vehicles drawn in a single day. The six battalions of the brigade signed for 717 pieces of equipment.

"Before we came here, the most vehicles drawn in a single day was 616," said Chief Warrant Officer 2 Robert Haseman. "That was actually done by our sister brigade, 1st Brigade Combat Team, also from Fort Drum, who just came through NTC. We beat them by 101."

Haseman, 210th Brigade Support Battalion's senior automotive technician, said it is important to get the Soldiers out to the draw yard before they start training and preparing to go out to the "box."

"We drew the vehicles on Sunday, (and) all the training and missions really kicked off on Monday," he said. "It is really important that you use that day to get as many pieces of equipment out as you can because you lose about 80 percent of your personnel the following days."

Knowing what to expect from those who run the yard makes the process easier to follow.

"When we came here, the civilians gave a really good briefing on what they expect of us, and then it was due to the leadership of the maintenance technicians to make sure the Soldiers and their leadership do the right thing by following all the steps in a certain order," Haseman explained.

Each piece of equipment that is drawn from the yard goes through a rigorous screening process before it is driven off the lot. Vehicles are first assigned to the companies that need them. A preventive maintenance inspection on each vehicle is done by a licensed driver, and the paperwork is reviewed by maintenance personnel.

Chief Warrant Officer 4 Eric Randle, senior maintenance technician for the brigade, knows it is imperative to have a plan and as many Soldiers to help out as possible.

"Having a solid plan as far as the inspection of equipment goes and having these personnel available is needed," he said. "We would not be able to do it without the operators coming down and being able to move the equipment."

As the sun started to set beyond the mountainous horizon, the last weary Soldier drove the 717th piece of equipment off the lot.

"The whole brigade helped out," said Randle. "It was because of the surge of personnel to be able to come down and go through the process that actually got the equipment out of the yard."