CAMP ARIFJAN, Kuwait – Lights, sidewalk repair, moving barriers, and maintaining the grounds of Zone 6 is only part of what the Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team’s small maintenance section is in charge of.
In addition to being the Zone 6 “maintainers”, the team of ten also do their primary military specialty of vehicle maintenance. They had no idea what was ahead upon arrival to Camp Arifjan, Kuwait in July 2011.
Since that time they have all used their civilian and military experience and applied it to the upkeep of Camp Arifjan, Zone 6 that house thousands tenants.
Safety is the battalion commander, Lt. Col. Gary Mundfrom’s priority and the maintenance section has exceeded his expectations.
Daily operations of the maintenance section include turning on over 100 generator light sets before dusk and turning them off at dawn, maintain, order and stock the water points, and respond to all grounds issues and requests made by over 60 tenant units in Zone 6.
“It may be a thankless job, but someone has to do it and it keeps the Soldiers safe” said Sgt. Paulino Rodriguez from Hastings, Minn.
The section is also the main point of contact for ordering military vehicle parts for all the battalions of the entire brigade. Between that - maintaining the forklifts, Gators, ATV’s, Rangers, and Bobcats, fixing thousands of meters of sidewalks, painting new signs and safety stairs- the heavy demands of the section are nothing short of a daily challenge.
The Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 1st Brigade Combat Team’s maintenance section has recently lended a hand to fellow soldiers at Camp Buehring, Kuwait, by transporting 30 generator light sets to accommodate their sudden overflow of troops assisting the drawdown in Iraq.
“It’s good to learn how to do many different things, we can bring those back with us upon returning from deployment to our civilian jobs. We moved an entire generator farm from one location to another with forklifts!” said Staff Sgt. Joseph Schwartz of Ramsey, Minn.
These are just some of the many projects the maintenance section has completed with many more to come including condensing the size of Camp Arifjan, Zone 6 before departure in the spring of 2012.
