Systems Management (Maintenance, Supply, and the Arms Room):

The first weeks back from a deployment or rotation can be stressful. You and your team need to rebuild all the systems you had in place before departing. This is especially true if you did not command at your garrison post and are not familiar with all the “isms” that come with your assigned duty station. My team had developed great systems during our time in Korea, but as we returned back to Fort Hood, we quickly learned that we needed to implement those systems at Fort Hood, TX. I am going to use this post to focus on the specific areas that have caused me the most trouble since returning. These areas are maintenance, supply, and the arms room. My 1SG is incredibly competent and his trackers for handling medical readiness, administrative paperwork, and enlisted advancement have all transitioned seamlessly upon redeployment from Korea.

Maintenance is a beast, especially in an ABCT. I grew up as a Lieutenant in a Cavalry Squadron in an IBCT where as a Platoon Leader I was rarely asked any maintenance related question and as a Troop XO my Troop did not own any pacing items so no one dug too deep into my maintenance program. My daily struggles as a Troop XO revolved around getting the staff to conduct maintenance, but beyond that there was not a whole lot of pressure. As a Troop Commander, I am constantly talking to the Squadron Commander about my Bradley Fighting Vehicles, Mortar Tracks, and BFiST.

We came home from Korea and most of our vehicles had issues. My Squadron Commander had a great attitude when approaching this problem. He did not get mad or scream, instead told us this is what happens and the best thing we can do is move forward and take ownership of our stables. That is what I have been doing. The best system I have put in place to get on top of maintenance is a Troop Maintenance meeting. We hold this on Mondays at 1300. This is prior to the Squadron maintenance meeting where I brief the Squadron Commander. I have the PLs and PSGs brief the Troop XO and myself on the status of their vehicles. The Troop’s Maintenance Team Chief also attends and provides invaluable insight. I use this meeting to level the bubble between the operators, maintainers, and myself. Before I started using this meeting I would get a different answer from everyone involved. No one was being dishonest, they just all information that was at different ages. The LTIOV on what a PL had was different than the XO. The Platoon knew what they found, but the maintainers may have seen something else. This meeting allows everyone to get on the same page. This meeting also allows leaders to ask each other honest and open questions. This meeting also prepares me for the Squadron maintenance meeting. I used to go into meetings with no more than the notes my Troop XO prepared. His notes were usually spot on, but only provided surface level knowledge. The Troop maintenance meeting allowed me to dig deeper, which was great because the SCO always digs deeper.

The next maintenance system I implemented was having a weekly maintenance closeout with the Troop XO and maintenance team chief. This is conducted at the end of the week and they explain to me all the progress we have made. This is the don’t expect what you do not inspect mindset. This is an informal meeting, but a very good one because it keeps me up to date without taking over their jobs. Maintenance never really ends and problems love to arise with a track as you work on it, so keeping abreast of the current status is incredibly helpful. My current slant is not where I want it, but we have made steady progress since returning from Korea and these two systems have helped keep the Troop on track.

The final maintenance system is the command maintenance focus of the week. The Squadron implemented this program in Korea and we carried it forward coming back to the States. Basically, every week we have an additional area of focus besides the vehicles. Some weeks it is weapons focused and some weeks it is generator focused. I spot check my Soldiers to ensure they know what the focus is every Monday and it is a great way to get after maintenance on all of your equipment. Additionally, having the whole Squadron focus on the same areas allows Squadron to add some weight to help solving issues in those areas. I would recommend every unit adopt this.

I had to conduct a 100% inventory of all my equipment and merge the rear and forward books upon redeployment. This allowed for the creation of new systems related to Command Supply Discipline Program. The first thing I did that seems to work is making cyclic and SI a calendar item. We do our inventories at the beginning of the month and since we generally know which LINs will be covered each month we schedule it in. This helps avoid inventories from becoming a training distraction. We do not have to cancel training because we forgot about cyclic that month. We plan around those inventories. It also helps establish a culture where everyone knows this stuff is important.

Next, I am having my Platoon Leaders to build their property binders. This is something we did in Korea and it ended up helping the Troop during our relief-in-place inventories. Each LIN gets its own section in the binder and includes the TM, shortage annex, the PL’s sub-hand receipt, and a picture of the item when it is laid out properly. Once, complete it will aid with inventories and allow the Platoon Leaders to properly own their equipment. I received a new Platoon Leader upon redeployment and I had forgotten how much new officers do not know about property. This homework project is a great way to teach your subordinates about their hand receipts and helps them create a system of proper supply discipline within their formations.

Finally, the arms room, which has been my biggest headache since redeploying. This also covers key control, since the two typically get inspected at the same time. I learned during a staff assisted visit from S2 that our Arms Room and key control programs were in disrepair. I assigned one of my Lieutenant’s to oversee the fixing of it. He developed a tracker for all the issues and reports progress to me every day. Most problems can be solved with relative ease because it just involves memos. The biggest headaches revolve around records being kept and inspections being completed. Our rear detachment did a great job, while we were gone, but they did not have the benefit of a fully functional Squadron Staff and something things were missed. There is no worse feeling then getting a major deficiency for something outside your control. So, to ensure this does not happen going forward I added all the requirements to my calendar and ensure that I inspect them either monthly or quarterly. I ensure the arms room officer does the same. This allowed me to notice that Staff Duty was not inspecting and initialing the SF 702s. Upon further digging I realized they were not doing this because the Staff Duty book did not cover it. My Soldiers had Squadron Staff Duty that week and were able to quickly update the SOP. It was that simple. I also ensure that I get into the arms room on a weekly basis just to see how it looks. It can quickly devolve and ensuring the armorers keep it tidy and organized is incredibly important.

There are probably a lot more ways about reestablishing systems and those listed above are just a few of the ones that can work. The best advice I can give any commander is who is facing down the problem set of establishing systems is have an honest self-assessment about where you are at. Basically, look in the mirror and admit what is working and what is not working. If it is not working and you cannot think of a solution then reach out to your peers and superiors. Someone has probably figured this out and is doing it in a way you did not notice. There is nothing wrong with reaching out for help whether from the Commander next door or Squadron Executive Officer.

~Crazy 6