RED RIVER ARMY DEPOT, Texas -- "We must meet delivery."
This is the motto of the Red River Army Depot team responsible for rebuilding the MaxxPro Dash Variant of the Mine Resistant Ambush Protected Vehicle. Since the induction of the Maxx Pro program in March 2015, the team has produced over 1,000 vehicles with each one on schedule and not exceeding the cost variables.
"What really makes the Maxx Pro facility function like it does is the core team," said CW3 Kerry Murray, MRAP Division Chief. "The core team has been together since the initial stage working as an integral part of the success of the program."
Core team members for the program are: Murray; Steve Starrett, Program Manager; Payton Clark, Parts Manager; Johnnie Johnson, Maintenance Supervisor; Kyle Lennon, Quality Assurance; Robert Crouch, Capacity Planner; Shawn Coleman, Maintenance Branch Chief; Andy Graves, Equipment Specialist; Rick Revels, Methods and Standards; CW2 Ben Smith, Fabrication Specialist; Brian Frachiseur, Weld Supervisor; Zach Hilton, 2nd Parts Manager; Luciana Henry, 3rd Parts Manager; Shemeia Campbell, Expeditor Supervisor; Jeff Lee, Expeditor Leader; Barry Gravely, Integrated Logistics Support Center Equipment Specialist; Rachel Sliger - ILSC Engineer; Val Knight, Process Improvement Specialist.
"If there is a problem on any portion of the production line, we call the core team together, regardless of their function, to discuss the problem," said Murray. "Together we figure out a way ahead and execute the plan agreed on by all. No one person was the sole voice of the process."
Red River has played a major part in the lifespan of the MRAP. In May 2007, the vehicle became the highest priority of the Department of Defense. The depot met the initiative full force by providing expedient field support and sustainment in various theater locations in 2007.
Following the field support, DoD recognized Red River was well capable of taking care of the remanufacture needs of the MRAP family of vehicles. As the war in Iraq and Afghanistan continued, MRAP vehicles began being shipped back to the depot for reset and overhaul.
Fast forward ten years and the depot is now the TACOM Life Cycle Management Command Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence for the MRAP family of vehicles.
"We talk team concept all the time, but the Maxx Pro program truly exemplifies the true meaning of a team," said Val Knight, Process Improvement Specialist. "Not only does every person take full responsibility of their own duties, but we all believe in going the extra mile and jumping in wherever we're needed in the process."
The depot's responsibility for the MRAP program is second to none. With seven original equipment manufacturers and many variants of the vehicle, it has been an extensive task to ensure each variant is being rebuilt to specific standards. The depot is also currently remanufacturing two variants of the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle (M-ATV) and three variants of the MRAP Cougar.
"Communication is also a driving factor for the success of the Maxx Pro program," said Murray. "What we have tried to do is create a 'bottom-up' line of communication. Each team member knows that we will listen if they have a suggestion that will make the program better. Every team member does their job and they do it well."
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