[Fleet Up-Armor Project]

Background: I commanded the 424th Medium Truck Detachment consisting of 154 Airmen from 34 different assigned locations - the first of it's kind in Operation Iraqi Freedom. Under my leadership our unit completed 275 combat sustainment convoy missions throughout Kuwait and Iraq, delivering over 250,000 tons of mission essential cargo to the Warfighter. My convoy teams led over 9,000 military and contract vehicles accumulating over 1.5 million miles throughout the theater of operations in a combat distribution network where direct and indirect fire and Improvised Explosive Devices (IED) attacks were the norm - all of this while driving the operational teams to deliver an 89% vehicle-utilization rate during the height of critical delivery periods, exceeding the brigade-level goal by almost 10%!

During this time I led the maintenance team to maintain a 96% mission capable rate for our 177-vehicle fleet.  Our team was able to sustain a consistently high operational rate due in large part to directing our trade-skilled unit members to perform in the functions they know and were taught - depot level maintenance work was authorized at our level in the Air Force and our Airmen knew how to do it - and, I enabled them to do it by providing strategic leadership conversations with the US Army garnering approval to allow our team to do what they know how to do. This initiative significantly reduced extended vehicle downtime to await unnecessary contract repairs, often times reducing the repair lead time by over 60 days.  

The Opportunity: When we arrived to our deployed location and took accountability from the US Army for the fleet in place, the vehicles were just like the one pictured above; very outdated and "thin-skinned" vehicles offered no protection against enemy fire. Before our team arrived, Soldiers had hammered and bolted strips of scrap metal to the vehicles to try to add a layer of protection. The Joint Staff had given us this mission with this fleet of vehicles to figure out how to take new up-armored vehicles to the Iraqi Military.

From this high-visibility issue came a project to correct the blunder. 

The Goal: On-time delivery of critical assets to the Warfighter while maintaining safety.

The Result: Our unit was told we would have to create a plan to rotate vehicles through the depot-level contractor to outfit the entire fleet with "add-on armor" kits. This initiative would significantly improve personnel safety and security while on convoys.  The vehicle-rotation plan was not the amazing feat here - it was that when our unit was allowed to do the add-on armor work ourselves because of US Air Force credentials we had, our mechanics identified 9 manufacturing deficiencies in the kits and designed and implemented corrective measures on the spot.  The designs by my team became the standard for new contractor modifications and subsequent retrofitting of 85 tractors used in theater line haul.  

The 424 MTD did not lose a single life during our 6 months doing this mission.