The aim of a field maintenance company (FMC) is to offer field-level maintenance assistance to brigade units that do not have an advanced support company. FMCs also provide the brigade with specialized low-density field maintenance support.
Complex equipment must be expertly installed and commissioned to ensure a long lifespan. Field maintenance companies provide installation services such as gear unit setup, fastening on the base plate, and mechanical linkage with neighboring drive train components.
The field maintenance company’s (FMC) organizational design is specifically suited to the brigade’s objectives. It offers maintenance assistance for vehicles, armaments, ground support equipment, communications, and electronics.
This covers signal assemblages, the repair of electronic missile systems, radar repairs, support for associated trades, recovery support, maintenance management support, and backup assistance for FSCs across the board.
Additionally, FMCs support the brigade and act as the main point of entry and exit for all equipment that needs to be evacuated for maintenance and return.
However, it has extended capability in the armament, electronics, allied trades, and ground support equipment sections. It only has limited backup capabilities in the automotive repair and recovery support areas.
During peacetime, the low-density MOSs of the FSC field maintenance team (FMT) should be integrated into the field maintenance company. This will improve efficiency, training ease, and mentorship by senior NCOs and warrant officers.
The Two-Level Maintenance Doctrine
The US Army is structured, trained, and equipped to be the world’s most decisive ground force. Army troops are deployed in a strategic context to undertake decisive and long-term ground operations by combining offensive, defensive, and stability actions.
To support this form of warfare, a two-level maintenance doctrine was developed.
The two-level maintenance doctrine has 2 primary goals in supporting the Army. The first is to generate/regenerate combat power. The second goal is to protect the capital investment in weapons systems and equipment required for mission readiness and completion.
The commander who combines expert usage of allocated equipment with efficient maintenance management processes has a distinct advantage.
What is Field Maintenance?
Field maintenance includes operator-performed maintenance procedures as well as on-system maintenance, repair, and return to the user. Field maintenance is frequently carried out using line-replaceable units or modules and component replacement or repair on or close to the malfunctioning piece of machinery or weapon system.
It is usually performed by the unit that owns or supports the unit, using tools and test equipment available in the unit. Field maintenance is more than just removing and replacing items. Field maintenance allows for the repair of components or end items on or near the system if the maintainers have the necessary skills, tools, repair parts, references, and time.
Field maintenance also includes adjustments, alignment, servicing, the application of permitted field level modification work orders, fault/failure diagnosis, the evaluation and repair of battle damage, and recovery. Field maintenance procedures are always performed by the operator and always involve repair and return to the user.
The Importance of a Field Maintenance Company
The field maintenance company is an important part of fixing the force. To counter a potential dominance in weapon systems, the brigade must be able to maximize the effectiveness of each system it possesses.
The field maintenance company offers brigade-supported units with direct support maintenance and common repair components. The organization is influenced by the structure of the supported force.
In addition, the company handles a varying number of system support teams. Each team is designed to support a tank or motorized infantry battalion. One team is assigned to each maneuver battalion assigned to the brigade.
The company is responsible for the following tasks:
- Maintain DS for the brigade’s supported elements. It also includes the repair of communications, engineering, power generation, quartermaster, chemical, and utility equipment. Repairs are also made to artillery, missiles, small guns, tank turrets, track and wheel vehicles, and field artillery systems.
- When necessary, provide limited backup recovery help to compatible units.
- Provide technical assistance to brigade-supported units that provide unit upkeep.
- Supervise the technical supply of PLL components for supported units.
Forward Support
The overarching purpose of FSB maintenance operations is to offer forward assistance to combat systems as quickly as possible. Preparing to repair equipment reduces transportation needs and time. It improves the user’s access to equipment.
The FSB maintenance firm now has the ability to carry out the mission operations in a timely manner. When feasible, equipment is fixed locally. This isn’t always feasible or useful, though. Recovery or evacuation may be more desired depending on the tactical situation, the degree of damage, or the availability of personnel, supplies, or equipment.
Repair Timelines
The decision to repair or recover to a maintenance site must be taken on an individual basis. Timelines may be constructed as a tool to assist in making this decision.
If the time required to fix an item after all repairers, tools, and repair components are available exceeds the time limit, recovery or evacuation should be considered.
Individual mission timelines might be defined by SOP or by logistical or combat commanders. Users, maintainers, and maintenance managers must all realize that these time frames must be flexible. They must be modified if they are not fulfilling their aim of maximizing the equipment available to the user.
Increased Operational Readiness for Land, Sea, and Air Forces
The word of the day is now “resilience.” With more complicated operational situations marked by many dangers of varying speed and magnitude, complex equipment becomes inherently complex to maintain. Keeping track of fleet status and suppliers, as well as acquiring and retaining skills, can all become difficult tasks when confronted with high-intensity operations.
When applied successfully, digital transformation has the potential to significantly improve operation and maintenance. The CSMI team is structured to include all of the support services required for successful high-speed operations.
Transforming Military Services and Support Activities with Digital Continuity
CSMI has combined its knowledge, expertise, and creativity to develop a new generation of support services. Our highly qualified personnel can address the difficulties of our military clients by integrating and harnessing the power of digital inside our services.
Get everything you need for logistics, maintenance, training, and support in one secure and customizable ecosystem. You can also benefit from the possibilities for organizing, managing, and optimizing equipment maintenance and repair.
Military forces can use this set of strong, secure, and integrated apps from land, sea, or air. These strong systems can help them confidently manage their maintenance operations and intricate supply chains.
Management of Maintenance Operations
Military supply chains are sensitive and complicated. Complex due to the sheer number of people and the dispersion of individuals involved in maintenance and logistics across various organizations and all levels of services, from frontline staff to maintainers and suppliers.
Fragile because any issue with any part of the supply chain will have effects later on, lowering the degree of support offered to the armed forces.
Managing a complex and delicate maintenance and logistics environment in which what is happening at other levels is not always clear. Using prior experience with maintenance management systems.
CSMI provides customers with a secure interface that centralizes data for all parties involved. It allows users to monitor and optimize maintenance actions in real time in order to ensure optimal force availability and readiness.
Management of Fleet Performance
The structure of military forces changes when the nature of battle varies once more. Armed forces in the air, land, and sea domains have faced asymmetric threats in recent decades, necessitating a force structure distributed over multiple regions.
This paradigm enabled flexibility in terms of preparedness levels, including both skills and human resources. As high-intensity warfare reappears, bringing with them a plethora of new, faster, and more complex threats, forces must adapt to an environment that needs sustained engagement in specific regions.
Maintaining such levels of preparedness can be taxing. It is necessary to maintain a comprehensive picture of capability performance at all times. CSMI collaborates closely with its customers to enable the integration of system logistics and maintenance data across fleets in order to provide sophisticated analytics that support quick decision-making.
It supports force structure organization for a more optimized reach across all domains, territories, and missions by leveraging technology such as Artificial Intelligence (AI) and visual management dashboards.
Unleash the Power of Digital for Military Assistance
Knowledge is required for effective maintenance, yet knowledge of complex systems can be transient in large, high-turnover businesses. Training employees is not only costly in terms of training costs and lost business time, but it also needs continual adaptation to new learning methods.
Furthermore, as an organization evolves through time, it may be challenging to acquire information.
Get in touch with CSMI Today
In the field of aerospace and defense, CSMI is a Certified Veteran Enterprise (CVE) Service-Disabled Veteran-Owned Small Business (SDVOSB).
CSMI, which was created in 2002, supports the Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Cyber, Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance (C5ISR), Antiterrorism Force Protection (ATFP), Asset Protection, and associated technologies. Get in touch for more information.