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Vehicle maintenance keeps Travis rolling

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Charles Rivezzo
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Working in the background of one of Air Mobility Command's largest installations, a small team of approximately 40 men and women keep 762 vehicles reliable, serviceable and in the hands of its operators at Travis Air Force Base.

The 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle management flight oversees three different vehicle maintenance locations, where dedicated technicians maintain all civil engineering equipment, fire trucks, aircraft service and towing vehicles and general purpose vehicles.

"If it has wheels, we probably played a role in the servicing of that vehicle," said Kevin Chapman, 60th LRS vehicle management chief. "Our seasoned technicians ensure that we provide a safe and reliable fleet for the user; no matter if it's for the flightline, supply or civil engineering, our team has a direct impact on how the whole base operates."

In addition to maintaining general purpose and common vehicle-sets, the vehicle management flight provides an extensive amount of manpower and support toward servicing and maintaining heavy vehicle equipment used for cargo handling such as 60K loaders, 25K loaders and 10K A/T forklifts.

The cargo loaders are highly mobile vehicle systems that can transport pallets of cargo and quickly and efficiently interface with military and commercial cargo aircraft with loading and unloading operations.

With the vast majority of the vehicle management staff being civilian, Chapman said that most of his mechanics have 10-15 years of experience maintaining heavy equipment, which has translated to mission capable rates far greater than the Air Force standard.

According to Chapman, the 60th LRS vehicle management flight kept Travis' vehicle fleet at a 92 percent mission capable rate, exceeding the Air Force standard of 80 percent.

Furthermore, Chapman provided an even more telling statistic boasted by his mechanics, their repeat maintenance percentage, which determines how often a vehicle returns for similar maintenance issues.

The Air Force goal for repeat maintenance hovers around 15 percent. Through the continued efforts of the 60th LRS vehicle maintenance flight their repeat maintenance percentage sits below 0.1 percent, according to Chapman.

"Our team is very proficient at what they do," Chapman said. "We normally don't see much attention because people have come to expect high quality results from our mechanics."

Chapman added that it is rewarding to see the efforts of the vehicle management flight transpire into results seen around the world.

"Without our efforts cargo won't move, fuel won't get to planes, parts won't be delivered," he said. "It's rewarding to turn on the news and know that we directly contributed to that mission."