FORT BENNING, Ga., (March 23 2016) -- As the 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 3rd Infantry Division Soldiers go through the process of deactivating, they are making it their mission to ensure that units receiving the 3rd BCTs equipment find it mission ready.
The mechanics of the 3rd BCT have been working since last summer, making sure each piece of equipment that leaves the hill is ready.
"We received notification around August, that we would be inactivating and standing up a new Task Force," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Anthony Adams, the senior ground maintenance officer of the 3rd BCT. "It was very short notice, and so there was a lot of energy that immediately spun up, and there was a lot of planning that immediately took place."
Adams and his team of mechanics are responsible for maintaining the equipment and vehicles of the brigade, as well as reporting what is fully mission capable and what is non-mission capable, and what they are doing to fix equipment and vehicles.
"I am the link between the brigade and 3rd Infantry Division when it comes to reporting maintenance readiness," Adams said. "I provide the oversight, the resource management, mentorship and subject matter expertise when needed throughout the brigade."
Adams said prior to the notification that the 3rd BCT would be inactivating, the Sledgehammer Brigade had been working for nearly eight months to transition from an Armored Brigade Combat Team to a Light Infantry Brigade Combat Team.
For those months, the unit divested 'heavy armored' equipment, such as Bradley and Stryker vehicles, and brought in the equipment needed to outfit a lighter more maneuverable infantry Soldier in the brigade.
"With all of that going on, it was a bit of a challenge," Adams said. "Immediately, we took a look at ourselves and got on the right path."
Sgt. Patrick Belcher, the motor vehicle sergeant for 203rd Brigade Support Battalion, 3rd BCT, said vehicles that are scheduled for turn in go through a rigorous inspection and maintenance plan at multiple levels for safety and quality purposes. The paperwork that goes with it needs to be correct as well, in order to make sure that the unit receiving this equipment is setup for success.
"When the vehicles are inspected, they pretty much have to be perfect," Belcher said, "with all maintenance up to date."
Since the inactivation was announced in the summer of 2015, he and his mechanics have inspected, prepared, and pushed out more than 700 major pieces of equipment that will be used across the Army.
"They are always working," Belcher said. "Whether it is servicing a vehicle, conducting a technical inspection, filling out paperwork, or just reporting back to me; they are always working. It makes my job a lot easier to manage everything."
"At times, this place can feel like a bit of chaos," said Spc. Kendell Smalls, a vehicle mechanic with B Company, 203rd Brigade Support Battalion. "There is so much going on. We have Soldiers leaving, we have personal lives, but we also have a mission to accomplish. It was important for us, as the mechanics, to keep steady, and to keep our minds focused. And we are getting it done."
Throughout the chaos, Smalls stated that one of the biggest things the mechanics could do in order to stay focused was to stay resilient and 'hunt for good things' in their lives on a daily basis.
"One thing that American Soldiers are really good at, is that we come together and work as a team," said Adams. "With all of the resiliency training that we get, it is easy to bounce back. Despite any fallouts or meltdowns, the Soldiers and the leadership pulled together and they are making the mission happen. I take my hat off to these Soldiers in this brigade, and their families. Despite the long hours and the stress, they have all stepped up and, they've done it with zero injuries or accidents."
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