Aviation Maintenance: Military: Supporting the Military Maintainers

Helping soldiers keep battlefield tools up to date and ready for combat is the primary function of contract field service representatives.

Battlefield logistics today are seriously challenged by the fact that while combat weapons have become highly sophisticated instruments of war, the battleground has remained a hostile environment of blowing dust, clinging mud, blazing heat and bitter cold, testing the limits of the soldiers who fight and the weapons they carry into battle.

While the acquisition process for those new weapons systems tends to be long and costly, it is not nearly as long or costly as maintaining that equipment. An equipment program — whether an infantryman’s rifle or an attack helicopter — can last for decades, with maintenance becoming increasingly expensive as time passes.

According to estimates, only 30 percent of a program’s cost is spent acquiring the equipment. The remaining 70 percent is spent supporting and maintaining it, which is why the U.S. military has to ensure that the soldiers who maintain those weapons have the support they need from OEMs to keep the equipment combat-ready.

Enter the contract field service representative (CFSR). Like the military itself, support programs for military equipment can be multilayered and complex. But also similar to the military, the simplest equation ends up getting the job done, whether it’s a soldier on the ground with a rifle or a mechanic standing beside his aircraft with a wrench in one hand and a tech manual in the other — and a CFSR at his elbow to provide the needed training and technical assistance.

"It is not [the CFSR’s] job to fix the aircraft," says David Sale, senior manager for Boeing’s Field Service division and the head of support for Boeing’s AH-64 Apache program. "We are not there for hands-on maintenance. That is what the soldiers do. Our guys are all top-notch, highly qualified technicians who provide the technical assistance to better troubleshoot the aircraft and show the young soldier how to fix the aircraft."

Linking OEM With Mechanic

The CFSR is the final link between the OEM and the military mechanic. While everybody in the CFSR’s organization supports him, he provides direct technical support to the mechanic, eating, sleeping, living with and going to war with the assigned unit, eventually redeploying back to the states with the unit.

"Our quality of life is supported by the unit," says Tommy Tipton, field service manager for DRS Technologies’ Optronics division. DRS provides the mast-mounted sights (MMS) for the Army’s OH-58D Kiowa Warriors.

"Where the unit goes, we go. If they are staying in tents, we stay in tents. If they are in trailers, we’re in trailers. Right now [in Iraq], we’re right alongside the soldiers in CHUs, or containerized housing units, small trailers that are converted into living quarters," he says.

"Some are ‘Wet,’ meaning they have showers and bathrooms," Tipton continues. "Others are called ‘Dry,’ which means you have to walk a short distance to the showers and bathroom. The Army provides the CHUs. We’re with the same logistics trail that the Army has. We don’t get anything more or less than the soldiers are receiving."

CFSRs tend to be permanently assigned to the unit they support, so that even when a unit is redeployed back to the U.S., the CFSR stays with that unit.

In general, the CFSR provides two basic services: technical maintenance training on the piece of equipment their company manufacturers and backup technical assistance when a problem is beyond the scope of maintenance personnel.

The more specific details of OEM support are hammered out during acquisition contract negotiations. "Before there is a contract in place, the Army, the contracting officials and the company agree on a statement of work (SOW)," Tipton said.

That statement falls within the general framework of DoD’s concept of Performance-Based Logistics (PBL). While each of the military services seem to have their own definition of PBL, it is defined by the "Defense Acquisition Guidebook" as an "integrated, affordable, performance package designed to optimize system readiness and meet performance goals for a weapon system through long-term support arrangements with clear lines of authority and responsibility." (From the Defense AR Journal, Dec. 2004.)

"Where the unit goes, we go. If they are staying in tents, we stay in tents. If they are in trailers, we’re in trailers." — Tommy Tipton, field service manager, DRS Technologies

Guidelines

In essence, the military doesn’t really tell a manufacturer how to support a piece of equipment, only that it has to meet specific standards of readiness with support going beyond providing just spares and servicing.

"Approached from a system level, logistics support [for airplanes and weapons] is addressed as a total integration task," according to a Boeing spokesperson. "PBLs use industry as systems integrators for all support elements. Because the military pays for readiness — not parts or service — industry’s incentive is to ensure system availability." In other words, the military tells manufacturers, "Do it however you think is best, but keep the aircraft ready to fly and fight."

For U.S. Army aircraft, the roles of industry personnel who actually provide technical support to ensure system availability are outlined in AR 700-4, Chapter 5. This clarifies the position of three basic types of contractor engineering and technical services, including the contractor plant service, or generally work done at the contractor’s plants to support the equipment; contractor field services, which primarily provide the technical assistance at equipment delivery; and lastly — and quite possibly the key to the success of the entire program — the CFSR, who’s out there with the troops regardless of the combat environment, ready to provide whatever technical support is required to get the aircraft and its mission equipment package back into action.

Neither the PBL nor AR 700-4 specifically outline how a manufacturer is required to support the equipment sold to the military, with AR 700-4 considered more of a government guide than a contractor guide. However, contractors use it in developing their statement of work, according to Tipton.

"Portions of Chapter 5 are word-for-word a part of our SOW," he says, which "tells us exactly what is expected of us and how we’ll go about providing that support. The government will tell us that we have a certain operational readiness rate that we have to meet within our contract. That’s our guideline. Then we come in with our processes and procedures and say, ‘This is how we will accomplish that goal’." Tipton notes that the DRS Technologies CFSRs have an MMS readiness rate "generally in the 98 – 99 percent for all of the 350 or so systems around the world."

AH-64 Apache Support

Although the PBL concept has been around for a while, particularly with the U.S. Air Force, the Army just entered into its first aviation PBL last October with a $170-million Boeing Support Systems contract to support and sustain the AH-64 program.

Lt. Col. Christopher Walach, commander of the 1st Attack Battalion of the 227th Aviation Regiment, 1st Air Cavalry Brigade, commended both the Boeing Apache support program and its CFSR, Rocky Peterson.

"It really gave me a great sense of teamwork that the defense industry as a whole has mobilized to truly support the war in terms of expertise and parts, from the Boeing engineering repair decisions to the work done by Rocky," Walach says. "This gives me a great feeling of true commitment by Boeing to support the Apache battalions and the maintenance troopers working 24/7 no matter the requirement. Rocky truly represented Boeing in the greatest manner of expertise and professionalism possible I have ever seen!"

Walach continues, "The thing that sticks out in my mind is that every time we had battle damage, I would often see Rocky as the ‘first responder’ once my aircraft made it back, working immediate solutions to get our aircraft back in the fight. This was amazing and, in many cases, our aircraft were back up in hours versus days."

In selecting individuals to serve as CFSRs, OEMs look for highly skilled personnel who have already proven themselves on the equipment they will be supporting. Normally, but not always, these individuals come from the military.

"We have a few people who are not prior military, and we look at the resumes to see what they bring to the table," Tipton says, adding that the majority do have previous military experience.

"The Kiowa Warrior community is a very close-knit community. We know who is getting out and when they are getting out, what opportunities are available within our program, and we do actively recruit them. But we don’t center on a specific individual," Tipton explains. "As people get out of the military, they generally contact us and let us know that they would still like to support the program and the military."

Key requirements for a CFSR include being self-motivated, a self-starter and the ability to work professionally under stressful situations, he notes. One advantage of being prior military, aside from the experience provided, "is the ability to deal with the highest ranking officers or the newest privates they come in contact with, and you really don’t get that anywhere except working in the military," he says.

Needless to say, CFSRs are highly skilled technicians on their particular piece of equipment. Boeing’s Sale notes that his CFSRs are very specific to the Apache. "That’s all they’ve done," he says. "I’ve got one guy who has over 30 years on the Apache and several others with 27-plus years. The experience ranges from about eight to over 30 years on the aircraft."

The Apache Field Service organization consists of 73 people, according to Sale. Of those, 20 are logistics management specialists, of whom 16 are working with DoD’s PBL program. Another 38 are currently deployed out of Boeing’s Mesa, Ariz. facility to Apache units worldwide, including with foreign military. Overall, Boeing has some 600 CFSRs in 153 locations worldwide supporting 43 different military programs.

Sale is a former Army aviator himself who initially flew Huey gunships on his first tour in Vietnam (1966 – 67), transitioned into Cobras for a second tour, then transitioned into the Apache when it entered the Army’s inventory.

Logistics Reps

One of the secondary roles of the CFSR is to work with the Army’s logistics assistance representative (LAR), who also works alongside a unit’s maintenance personnel. Assigned to the Army’s Aviation and Missile Command (AMCOM) based at Redstone Arsenal in Huntsville, Ala., the LAR’s role includes providing technical assistance on the aircraft, validating the work of the CFSR, participating in contract negotiations dealing with the OEM’s statement of work and helping ensure that any equipment changes made by the OEM meets the contract requirements, according to Alan Ruzicka, an AMCOM logistics management specialist.

"The Army is in the process of expanding the training and involvement of their LARs, which will result in better qualifications on the Apache maintenance issues," Sale says. "Our CFSRs are there to complement the LARs, so when we have a good LAR/CFSR team, we hit a home run for our Apache units and their maintainers."

Within an Army aviation attack squadron, there will be an LAR for the airframe and one for the electronics, plus a Boeing CFSR and a Lockheed Martin CFSR. "The Boeing guy is there for the airframe and electronics while the Lockheed Martin guy is there for all the sights and sensors," Sale explains.

With this kind of technical experience within an aviation unit, the CFSR/LAR team resolves roughly 80 percent of the technical issues that arise. For the remaining 20 percent, Boeing’s home office in Mesa maintains "several highly qualified and experienced CFSRs to respond to the field CFSR’s issue," he notes.

Turnaround Times

Around 75 percent of the problems are resolved within 24 hours, and usually within a couple of hours, according to Sale. Those that can’t be resolved by the Mesa-based crew are forwarded to a field support engineer for resolution. "Our current response time by Field Engineering is 4.5 days, unless it involves an Apache involved in Operation Iraqi Freedom or Operation Enduring Freedom, which have a higher priority," he says.

Boeing also maintains a 24-hour hotline and a Defense Switched Network (DSN) military line at its home office. Those are manned around the clock every day of the year. "Any time the CFSR needs assistance, even on Christmas Day, if he calls, he will talk to another tech rep here at Boeing," Sale says. "That is a pretty big plus, but that’s what we are being paid for."

While pay scales for CFSRs in combat zones obviously differ depending on the company they work for, CFSRs are well compensated, although none are going to become millionaires from it, Tipton points out. And unlike military personnel, who are not required to pay taxes while in a combat zone, CFSRs have to pay taxes just as though they were back in the United States.

However, they do get certain tax breaks if they are overseas for at least a full year, which is now a regular practice. U.S. tax law provides tax relief for anyone having a "physical presence" in a foreign country "during any period of 12 consecutive months for at least 330 full days during that period," according to IRS Spokesman Bruce Friedland. For 2007, any CFSR meeting that 12-month/330-day requirement can exclude gross income up to $85,700 of foreign-earned income, paying taxes only on the amount of gross earnings over that figure.

How long a CFSR is required to serve in a combat zone differs from company to company. Tipton says that his people are required to serve only half of the deployment time of the unit, for example six months of a 12-month deployment, or now 7.5 months since the government’s troop surge increased the deployment time to 15 months. However, Tipton also notes that virtually all of his CFSRs voluntarily extend their assignments to cover the entire deployment period of their unit.

Boeing CFSRs are required to serve the entire deployment period, but receive a vacation break in the middle.

One of the biggest challenges for the CFSR is the time spent away from home and family, just as it is for soldiers. However, as with soldiers, the Army takes care of their civilian counterparts, setting up morale, welfare and recreation (MWR) facilities in the military compounds, which CFSRs are authorized to use.

"Many of the larger posts, and even some of the smaller ones, have an MWR with a computer set up for instant messaging to contact their families," Tipton says. "Many of the soldiers have gone out and bought satellite Internet systems that they use to contact their families."

Another major challenge for the CFSR is remaining current on the specific equipment while working 24-hour days in the middle of nowhere. Sale notes that his CFSRs are updated regularly by data sent from the plant, "usually electronically." They are also brought back to Mesa once a year for a weeklong "Tech Update" session.