The Army’s New Maintenance Skills Test Program in the

A s the Army continues to pre pare for large scale combat operations (LSCO) along with the imperative for mo bile, protective combat platforms like the M1 Abrams and M2 Bradley, the Armor community understands the need for established maintenance training standards to maintain our fleet readiness. Therefore, the Armor com munity has developed doctrine for the Maintenance Skills Test (MST) pro gram. This program enables maneuver companies to better train and demon strate proficiency and competence to operate more effectively in garrison, field training, and real combat environ ments. The Russo-Ukraine conflict shows us that we can no longer only rely on our dedicated maintainers to be brought forward or even evacuate damaged/in operable vehicles to the rear area to be repaired in a LSCO environment. In addition, due to manning challenges amongst maintainer military occupa tional specialties (MOSs) across armor brigade combat team (ABCT) formations, a greater significance on a more skilled and self-sufficient force of operators is needed now more than ever. Having served as a platoon lead er and troop executive officer in a cav alry squadron within an ABCT for a combined 27 months, I witnessed first hand constraints imposed by a lack of available maintainers to sufficiently man company/troop maintenance teams, operators with bare-minimum knowledge necessary to understand and repair their platforms, and a ten dency for overreliance on civilian high er-level maintenance. Therefore, it is necessary that we deliberately implement a standardized approach to train and gauge our technical skills and un derstanding at the operator and junior leader levels across all ABCT forma tions. The MST implements the pre-existing structure and format of the Gunnery Skills Test (GST), with which com bat platform operators are already familiar. MST prioritizes crew level understanding of common maintenance tasks and are subsequentially tested on their execution and understanding of their assigned platform. Like the troop leading procedures (TLPs), leaders are certified and validated by subject matter experts (SMEs) and then impart that knowledge to their respec tive echelons, teaching and testing their operators until their crews are certified. This contributes to the establishment of a crew-ownership culture within company/platoon formations, fostering a sense of pride and confi dence with their assigned platforms. This will significantly enhance readi ness and lethality while simultaneous ly decreasing the strain on mainte nance systems across the Army. Even as a pre-command Armor Captain, I believe a few must-haves should be done at the company level to prop erly implement this program within ABCTs as the Army continues its Army Structure (ARSTRUC) plan and continued transformations to prepare for fu ture LSCO environments. Upon taking command of a company/troop, I be lieve it is necessary to coordinate with your First Sergeant (1SG) and executive officer (XO) to assess the level of tech nical knowledge and skillsets of the maintainers, noncommissioned officers (NCOs), and operators within your formation, while identifying which company internal SMEs you can most rely on. Then empower those junior leaders to lead the implementation of the MST in your company. With the help from your company/troop’s SMEs, by CPT Gabriel Liranzo 42 determine what specific maintenance-related issues in your formation need the most attention and publish your maintenance priorities. Some of these priorities may be operator competen cy, platform specific maintenance issues, or resource requirements from the battalion/brigade level. Be sure to protect the time needed for your ju nior leaders during your company/ troop training and maintenance meetings to drive action and assess the progress of crews. The commander must prioritize the planning and execu tion of MST as much as GST in the reg ular battle rhythm. Advocating and protecting this time contributes to greater lethality and will always be time well spent. Lastly, re-evaluating the results of this new program with feedback from all pertinent parties; operators, NCOs, maintainers, company, and battalion leadership helps en sure a more seamless implementation of the MST for your company. In conclusion, line companies are over due for greater standardization, and the MST will empower battalions, companies, and platoons to build greater ownership and mastery of their plat forms and equipment. This renewed ownership will make the difference when we are in a real LSCO environ ment against our next adversary. In preparation for when crews must re pair their own equipment in combat, empowering our formations to train with a standardized maintenance process makes all the difference in main taining operational tempo after first contact. Thus, it’sup to company commanders to drive this program to the forefront of their priorities and estab lish a culture of ownership and mas tery to set the tone for future genera tions of crews and leaders that take pride in their equipment that will en able them to close with and destroy the enemy. Captain Gabriel Liranzo is a post-MCCC CPT on orders to serve in 1st Brigade, 3rd Infantry Division, Fort Stewart, GA. He commissioned with a bachelor’s of arts in psychology from the University of North Georgia in. CPT Liranzo served as a Cavalry Scout Platoon Leader and Executive Officer for Black foot Troop, 2-13th Cavalry Squadron, 3rd Brigade Combat Team at Fort Bliss, TX. Figure 1. U. S. Soldiers assigned to 2nd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 1st Armored Division conduct preventative maintenance checks and services on a Bradley fighting vehicle. (U. S. Army photo by SPC Malakai Corley)