Peak Operation Platinum Wrench exercise season concludes

      Operation Platinum Wrench (OPW) continued to offer hands-on training to U.S. Army reservists at Fort McCoy this summer while expanding the number of training skills available to soldiers.

Sgt. Mark Jewett (left) of the 433rd Classification and Collection Company of Lewisburg, Pa., works under the direction of Loren Greeno of the IMMA to install an engine in a M-915A4 Glider Kit.  (Photo by Rob Schuette)

      Lt. Col. Larry Waldhart, the commander of the 521st Maintenance Battalion of Milwaukee, Wis., said the 521st provided command and control at Fort McCoy during the peak OPW training time from May 8-Aug. 18.

      Waldhart said the mission included work at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., and Fort Dix, N.J.  Tobyhanna Army Depot, Pa., also provides communications, electronics, computer and signal training opportunities.

      "We're refining and growing the mission as we go along," Waldhart said. "We're moving from individual to collective training."

Spc. Steven Camacho of the 304th Maintenance Company works on a 10,000-pound, rough-terrain forklift as part of the proof-of-principle program.  (Photo by Rob Schuette)

      Maj. Cheryl Hackett, the executive officer for the 521st, said the soldiers are learning how to incorporate modifications into the program.

      For example, the M-915A4 Glider Kits delivered to the 890th Transportation Company of Green Bay, Wis., didn't have engine block heaters. Drivers quickly realized the heaters were a necessity with the Wisconsin winters for vehicles that are parked outside, so those were added to the product, as necessary.

      "One of the people in the unit took a Glider Kit to a school to show the students," said Hackett, a high school teacher in civilian life. "The students could see it and ask questions. That was a great recruiting tool. The program is excellent for retainment, too."

      A new aspect of the program is the opportunity for nearby or interested units to perform weekend work in the OPW mission, Hackett said. Many of the maintenance units don't have big maintenance bays, which makes it easier to work on equipment at Fort McCoy.

      "Soldiers want to do what they're trained to do," Hackett said. "There's also work at Army Maintenance Support Activities they can do so we can rotate them through all these activities to ensure everyone has a chance to do the work."

      Chief Warrant Officer 4 Pete Angelo, who served an active-duty for special work tour as the Installation Materiel Maintenance Activity liaison for OPW, said it was the first annual training he has served in 33 years in the maintenance field that no maintenance soldiers expressed regret about their training to him.

      "This is the training the Army needs to do for mechanics," Angelo said. "They worked on a real-world mission, which included working on equipment from specific units, meeting deadlines, and doing work to 10-20 (Army) standards."

      The soldiers started slowly, but the  pace soon picked up as they became more comfortable with what they were doing, he said. For example, it might have taken 40 hours of work to rebuild one engine, but 15 hours to rebuild the next engine.

      "The idea was to improve as you go along," Angelo said. "Manuals are good, but the 'instructors' are better. The 'instructors' - members of the civilian work force - used their experience and training to communicate the information to the soldiers. Soldiers retained the information better that way than if they learned it from a manual."

      Experience gained working under a different command and with civilians also prepared soldiers for the basic field conditions the soldiers would experience during a deployment, he said.

      Staff Sgt. Joe Kemmer of the 298th Maintenance Company of Altoona, Pa., said he was able to use his training to fix M-939 vehicles and do a lot of trouble-shooting of equipment.

      "I've learned a lot of things I didn't know," Kemmer said. "It was good training."       

      Several soldiers also worked on proof-of-principle projects in the 2500 block. Capt. Eric Wilson, the officer in charge of one of the rotations, said the work gave the troops further experience in maintenance-related work.

      The soldiers also were able to do work at the Equipment Concentration Site-67 on generators, at the Regional Training Site-Maintenance on winterizing equipment and at the Regional Training Site-Medical on repairing air-conditioning units.

      Angelo said the soldiers learned different aspects of maintenance work while providing valuable manpower support to those organizations and help them meet their training needs.

      The OPW rotation also used the Standard Army Maintenance System (SAMS) computer system to keep track of work orders and equipment orders, he said. This provided good experience in inventory control and also forwarded the information to Army headquarters.

      Spc. Myron Washington of the 304th Maintenance Company of Bartlesville, Okla., said the training was valuable for him because much of the equipment isn't available at the unit.