Support battalion mechanics keep Fires Brigade rolling

By Spc. James J. Bunn
18th Fires Bde. Pao

	Photos by Spc. James J. Bunn/18th Fires Bde. PAO Private First Class Austin Lipari of East Isilp, N.Y. removes a tire from a truck, July 15. Lipari, a mechanic assigned to the 188th Brigade Support Battalion, 18th Fires Brigade, and his co-workers are solely responsible for maintaining the brigade’s vehicles and keeping them operational.

Waking up every morning for physical training, putting on a uniform and performing personal hygiene is a regular part of most Soldiers’ daily routine. After PT they go to work and train, fight or provide support. Regardless of the Soldier’s job, it is important to the success of the Army mission.

One job that is crucial to the success of the Army is that of the mechanic and as with all Soldiers, mechanics come from many different backgrounds and have different goals in life.
Sergeant Alan R. Robinson, a mechanic with the 188th Brigade Support Battalion, 18th Fires Brigade has been in the Army for 15 years and has been deployed more than once.

“I’ve deployed three times,” said Robinson, a native of Round Rock, Texas. “I’ve spent 38 months in Iraq total.”

Before joining the Army, Robinson worked in a grocery store in the produce department and as a construction worker.

“I worked in the grocery store for five years and I worked construction for about six months,” he said.

“The most rewarding part of his job is working outside and training young Soldiers,” said Robinson.

“You get to be outside around the Soldiers and you get to work on trucks,” he said. “You get to teach the new guys what you know.”

Sergeant Kelly W. Childers a mechanic from Clarksville Tenn. said mechanics work on all types of wheeled vehicles. He said they work on engines, transmissions and every other mechanical thing in vehicles ranging from humvee’s to five-ton trucks.

“Anything that has to do with a wheeled vehicle we fix,” said Childers.

Childers said when a mechanical problem arises, they go through and try to figure out what is causing the problem. He said the problems that arise differ from truck to truck.

“The truck I got in the bay now has water in the fuel system,” said Childers. “So now we have to try to get all that water out of the system and hope the engine’s not messed up. If we can’t, then we have to replace the engine,” he said. “But there’s a lot more to it than just replacing the engine. We have to try to figure out why and how water is getting in there.”

As is the case with many Soldiers, in addition to being in the Army, Childers has a Family and said he likes to spend his free time with them.

“In my free time I stay at home with my Family,” he said.

Childers has deployed three times in the nine years that he has been in the Army.

He said the most rewarding part of his job is knowing there is always something to do.

“It keeps me busy,” said Childers. “There’s always something broken.”

Whether fixing the engine of a humvee or repairing the transmission of a five-ton truck, Army mechanics are making sure the vehicles that Soldiers rely on run properly. They are Soldiers who have ordinary lives like any other Soldier and like any other Soldier, their job is a vital part of the Army mission.

Share