WARREN, Mich. (April 4, 2016) -- The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center is providing a new capability to the Army's Stryker Brigade Combat Teams -- the organic capability to make repairs to vehicles that previously had to be sent away.
TARDEC experts are providing this first-of-its-kind training to Army welders.
"The whole intent of the Stryker welding proposal is to provide commanders with a non-structural welding capability," said Chief Warrant Officer 4 Brendan Kallenbach, fleet readiness manager for Program Manager-Stryker. "This capability is going to give those maneuver commanders a forward welding repair capability which restores the Stryker back to the commander much more rapidly."
Welders will be able to repair non-structural parts of a Stryker such as hinges, brackets and pins.
"They are common hardware failures that we see during the rigors of combat," Kallenbach said.
"We're here to assess the new equipment that we're trying to publish out throughout the Stryker community," said Sgt. Jorken McCarter, shop supervisor assigned to 2nd Cavalry Regiment, Vilseck, Germany. "It is called gas metal arc - pulse which enables us to get great penetration along with heat manipulation so we don't have to worry about overheating the metal. When you're dealing with armor, especially in a combat situation, you do not want to take away the integrity of the metal."
The current two-week assessment is in the testing and analysis phase. Once the list of tasks is approved and certified, allied trades warrant officers (914A) and allied trade specialists (92E) will be able to focus on gaining the skills.
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The U.S. Army Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center is part of the U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command, which has the mission to ensure decisive overmatch for unified land operations to empower the Army, the joint warfighter and our nation. RDECOM is a major subordinate command of the U.S. Army Materiel Command.
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U.S. Army Research, Development and Engineering Command
Tank Automotive Research, Development and Engineering Center
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