Desert Maintenance For XOs and BMOs

Because many future battlefields may lie in deserts, our armored forces must be ready to sustain the fight in a desert environment. The purpose of this article is to provide the maintenance leader, at battalion level and below, with comments on what FM 90-3, "Desert Operations," says or doesn't say ahout maintenance in the desert. FM YO-3 says some things that 1 feel are not emphasized enough or that are untrue. Some quirks of maintenance in the desert are omitted. Four environmental extremes make the desert different: low humidity, extreme temperatures, lots of grit, and winds to stir up the grit. Each extreme makes desert maintenance different from European?'tanker country" maintenance. The hints I'll give are gleaned from 20 months as a cavalry troop executive officer at Fort Bliss. The desert there closely resembles the Sinai and Ethiopia in climate, land lorms, and soil composition. Let's examine each extreme and how we can counteract it in maintenance operations. Low Humidity Fh4 90-3 contains good advice on water use in the desert. It is correct in stating that batteries are strained in the desert. But the biggest threat to vehicle batteries may be crew maintenance. Batteries filled with otherwise drinkable water can lose power. Local water often contains a zoo of dissolved minerals. The process of filling, evaporation, and refilling of batteries can weaken the acid solution. The specific gravity will rcad true, hut batteries will not hold a charge. Push distilled water down to crew level, and liberally stock it at the support platoon. Heat Extremes The temperature in the Ft. Bliss desert normally swings 40- to SO degrees Fahrenheit each day. The problems in maintenance come with ARMOR - 23 high temperature. There are ways to regular electrical tape. It softens wheeled vehicle should carry a mini-negate the electrical and physical and unravels. If you don't want tape mum of two spares. Unit PLL must strcsses associated with high heat. flapping around in an engine com-increase the number of tires, partment, use high-temperature patches, and especially inner tubes. tapes or plastic ties and spirals. A pool of fresh spares allows quick Heat causes great strain on vehicle solid-state electronics. Carry extra exchanges. solid-state regulators for the M(i0- and M IlIseries vehicles. The DS maintenance company will often not be able to keep up with exchange and repair demands for M113 regulators. Overcharging is a very real danger in tanks and personnel carriers due to hydrogen buildup. Set voltage levels properly, and carry extra batteries. Our current radios are also prone to fail in the desert. You have to stop both radiant heat from the sun and accumulated heat inside vehicles from killing radios. A

"doghouse" is always desired for an externally-mountcd radio. It gives ventilated shade to the radio, whether or not the radio is secure. Oddly, the newer, solid-state generation VINSON devices, if on top, never Fail in direct sunlight. The solution to accumulated heat is simple; we use fans. Twelve volt fans, hot-wired to a single battery, keep a TOC working all day. You can use damp towels, but they dry out quickly and require air circulation. Physical stress due to temperature is negligible for metal, but it kills synthetic materials. For metals, have h 4 c 4 4 b 4.4 4? c 4 mechanics carry glove shells. Tools, decks, and parts left in the sun for more than five minutes become too hot to handle. Synthetic niatcrials not only get too hot, they begin to break down quickly. FM 90-3 advises us to tape wires before they are worn. This doesn't work with Engine swaps and other major maintenance tasks are complicated in the desert by the grit problem and aggravated further by constant winds. Sheltering the working area to keep things clean is a challenge. Grit Probably the one extreme thitt makes people think of a desert is the sand (big grit), and dust (small grit). It lies everywhere and it gets everywhere through the air. Your biggest prohlem is grit in the running gear of tanks. Wheel bearings become gritty and then literally explode as they overheat. Prevention consists of frequent checking and frequent lubrication. Frequent lubrication pushes out fine dust, much as in an overpressure NBC system. Track will suffer track bushing wearout before the track pads will wear out. The heat and cyclical stretching allows dust to enter and destroy bushings. FM 90-3 states that T97 track is inferior to TI42 track. We found the opposite to be true. T97 track usually lasts at least 18 months, while T142 track lasts a year. I feel the Army should seriously study this disparity. The way to counteract bushing wear is to stock extra track, and to watch track tension closely. Loose track quickly throws in soft sand. Tight track causes rapid bushing wear. Tight track also seems to cause too Tires soften incredibly in the heat. The worst enemy of tires is a stretch of hot, dry weather. This not only Again, contrary to FM 90-3, softens the tires, it hardens the thor-vehicle recovery is not the same. ny, spiny desert plants. Shrapnel You can't tow tanks without tracks will work its way into tires. Cross-through the dunes. You will plow country movements can become im-the desert hip deep. While doing possible in wheeled vehicles. Each this, you subject roadwheels to many number one hubs to burn out. 24 ARMOR - March-April1988 undue lateral stresses, cause hubs to bend out of true, and dust to enter seals. Try to fix mobility problems in place, even if it violates doctrinal evacuation and repair times. HETT recovery is possible only on paved or scraped roads. Dust ingestion by engines is the second biggest problem. Air filters will fill up in one field problem. Don't band air boxes, but be dead sure crews don't destroy seals when cleaning air filters. Be liberal when stocking air filters, and replace them freely. One field prohlem a week is all it takes to completely fill tank bellies enough to cause overheating. Cleaning of air boxes and hulls must be apart of field recovery. Whenever you remove engines, shovel out the engine compartment. Mineral dust is not a problem in fluids like oil and fuel. But organic dust, from pollcn, wood, and leaves usually clogs filters. It enters dry, then swells into a gelatinous mass at the filter. Carry extra fluid lilters. Grit will only fog optics if they are touched. Blow, rinse or brush dust off glass optics. A Gngcr or "drive-Heat, humidity, grit, and wind create unique maintenance problems in a desert environment. Here, tanks are rolled out at the equipment issue point at the National Training Center in the California desert. on" rag scratches. One fatal problem is stomge of PVS-5 gogles without cleaning. Always clean glasses before storage, right then and there. Plastics normally decay before they fog. This problem occurs frequently in vehicle periscopes. Heat and light break down adhesive layers, causing early replacement of the periscope. FM 90-3 contains good advice on kceping weapons free of dust. Lubricate only moving parts. I'd lake this one step furthcr and say only lubricate moving parts where they touch other parts. Solvents, like dry cleaning solvent, are best for cleaning weapons. Break Free, unfortunately, leaves a sticky, oily residue. * Winds Flat deserts have high winds, often in three dimensions. The speed of the winds allows them to carry enough grit to shut down a normal maintenance operation. The trick is to keep only what you need clean out of the wind. Position engine compartments down wind. Portable sheltcrs work well. All your extra track will hold shelters down. Carry lots of garbage bags. They keep grit off greasy parts, off spindles, and out of holcs. You must do some operations, like engine removal, outside. All the soft aluminum, plastic, and brass adapters we routinely strip from engines will wear out. Carry a spare set for each type of engine, and equip every mechanic with Teflon tape. Don't let a 20-cent adapter, worn by sand, deadline anew engine. Accept the fact you must work in gritty winds. Windstorms can last for weeks. 1 have outlined countermeasures to use against desert climate extremes. At least, think of how the extremes can disrupt your support. Plan what you will do to counteract the climate. If you're not sure, con-Pact a unit that has spent time in the desert; they do have expertise. Just don't waste energy in fighting the desert that is better spent keeping tanks rolling. Captain Kevin P. O'Dwyer is a 1982 West Point graduate who sewed as platoon leader, XO, acting S3, and S3 Air at the 3d ACR, Fort Bliss. He wrote this article while a student at the Armor Officer Advanced Course, Fort Knox. ARMOR - March-April1988 I 25