1st Battalion 22nd Infantry FSC E Keeps Battalion Ready

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – Sgt. Justin Fenn (left), from Coos Bay, Ore.,
and Sgt. James Carey, from Milwaukee, Wis., both M1 Abrams Tank maintainers assigned to Forward Support Company E,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
work to secure the engine block of an M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicle, July 25, upon completing services
at Combat Outpost Battle, located in the Jihad community of the Rashid district in southern Baghdad.
While the majority of the mechanics at COP Battle are specialized in servicing tanks, they take pride in being mechanics
first and foremost, said Sgt. 1st Class Barry Tumey, Combat Repair Team noncommissioned officer-in-charge,
who hails from Fort Hood, Texas, and is assigned to FSC E, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams, 1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq – The loud, whining noise emanating from under the hood of the M1155 up-armored humvee,
sends a grimace across the face of the driver and his crew. The temperature outside the vehicle has reached nearly 115 degrees,
and the once pliable steering wheel to the four-wheeled beast barely budges under the straining torque of the infantryman at the helm.

Out on mission, out in sector, is the last place that any Soldier wants his vehicle to break down, and no where is it more evident
as the Soldiers of the 1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, rush to attach the tow bar from the dead-lined truck to a more capable vehicle;
their next stop: the Combat Repair Team, located at Combat Outpost Battle in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.

“The crews break the stuff, we fix it,” said Sgt. 1st Class Barry Tumey, noncommissioned officer-in-charge
of the Forward Support Company E Combat Repair Team, assigned to the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.

It really doesn’t matter that the majority of the CRT are M1 Abrams Tank maintainers, said Tumey,
a self-proclaimed “Army Brat,” who currently hails from Fort Hood, Texas.

The mechanics of the CRT have learned and continue to learn from hands-on experience, “on-the-job training,”
and take a great deal of pride in being able to do it on their own, said Tumey.

“If we weren’t here, the crews wouldn’t be able to make their mission; they wouldn’t be able to go out in sector
and do what they do,” he said. “On the same note, we wouldn’t be able to do our job without them.”

Ingenuity plays a big role in what these mechanics accomplish as they service up to 12 vehicles per week, explained Tumey.

The 13-year veteran also acknowledged that sometimes a vehicle will go down for a week at a time waiting for a variety of the right parts to arrive.

“We do some pretty amazing stuff out here to get these vehicles up and running,” Tumey explained.
“I’ve got a pretty good group of guys, who don’t take the challenge lightly. We’ve been known to take scrap electrical wire to rewire humvees,
fixed tires with glue, and all kinds of things to get the vehicles up and running.”

“As long as we can read the technical manual, we can figure out the other vehicles,” said Sgt. Guillermo Camarillo,
an M1 Abrams Tank maintainer from Napier Valley, Calif., assigned to FSC E, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.

The combat repair team’s mission is vital, because outside of routine Preventive Maintenance, Checks and Services.
Soldiers conducting daily patrols and security operations from the various combat outposts in Baghdad,
don’t have the time to work on their vehicles, said Camarillo.

“We’ve serviced humvees, M2 Bradley Infantry Fighting Vehicles, a M88 Hercules Recovery vehicle,
a Mine-Resistant Ambush-Protected Vehicle, Palletized Load System vehicles and fuelers,” he said.
“As long as we can fix a tank and all of its technical systems, we can fix the other simple stuff.”

It is job security for the mechanics, who can take the experience gained while deployed to Baghdad for a 15-month tour
in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, and apply it to their skills as a mechanic, said Camarillo.

Vehicle recovery missions is another mission-essential task the Soldiers of the CRT accomplish, said Camarillo.

Vehicle recovery teams ensure that vehicles that break down in sector are recovered and brought back to a forward operating base
or combat outpost for repair, he explained.

An average day for the members of the FSC E CRT consists of morning physical training, followed by motor pool clean-up
and work shifts running morning, noon and night, said Spc. Geoffrey Shaneyfelt, an M1 Abrams Tank maintainer,
assigned to FSC E, 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B.

The 120-degree summer heat is the hardest part of the job, said Shaneyfelt, who calls Anderson, Ind. home.

So, the team of mechanics will work around the hottest hours and take breaks every couple hours to hydrate and cool off, he said.

“I find it a fun job,” Shaneyfelt said. “It gives me something to do out here. Sitting around would make me insane,
besides we couldn’t go on missions if our equipment is broke.”

Shaneyfelt, who is currently deployed as a “Stop-Loss,” with his date to exit the service extended
until he completes his 15-month deployment in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom, plans to take his knowledge and skills with him
into the civilian sector, where he plans to become an ACE certified mechanic.

Every Soldier plays a key part in maintaining the vehicles, but it is the mechanics who ensure that the deadlines are fixed
when simple maintenance won’t do the trick, said Staff Sgt. Charles Mills, personal security detachment noncommissioned officer-in-charge
for the 1st Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt., 1st BCT, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B

“These vehicles are our lifeline,” said Mills, who hails from Killeen, Texas. “If they get messed up, we’re out there flapping.”

Even though the Soldiers maintain and service their vehicles regularly, fuel pumps, power steering pumps and ball joints always take a beating
when the patrols go “muhallah diving,” he explained.

The Combat Repair Teams will always be mission essential in keeping the vehicles and equipment combat ready
due to the daily wear and tear created by the rugged urban environment of Baghdad, said Mills.

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq –
Sgt. Kevin Fellers, an M1 Abrams Tank maintainer
from Taft, Texas, assigned to Forward Support Company E,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment,
1st Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division,
Multi-National Division – Baghdad, uses a pneumatic drill
to tighten the lug nuts on an up-armored humvee,
July 25 at Combat Outpost Battle in the Jihad community
in the Rashid district of southern Baghdad.
A member of a combat repair team, Fellers helps ensure
that the vehicles and equipment of the "Regulars" Bn.,
22nd Inf. Regt., remain mission-capable
despite the constant wear and tear of the Iraqi environment.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams,
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)

FORWARD OPERATING BASE FALCON, Iraq –
Pfc. William Perry, an M1 Abrams maintainer
from Tampa Bay, Fla. assigned to Forward Support Company E,
1st Battalion, 22nd Infantry Regiment, 1st Brigade Combat Team,
4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad,
removes vehicle jacks after completing a service
to the up-armored humvees shocks support system,
July 25, during a technical service at Combat Outpost Battle
located in the Jihad community of the Rashid district
in southern Baghdad. The COP Battle Combat Repair Team
takes on the added responsibility of ensuring that in addition
to all the M1 Abrams Battle Tanks, all the serviceable vehicles
and equipment of the "Regulars" Bn., 22nd Inf. Regt.
remain mission capable.

(U.S. Army photo by Staff Sgt. Brent Williams,
1st BCT PAO, 4th Inf. Div., MND-B)