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Though the weather outside is warming up, the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron is always ready for winter.
Throughout the year, the 86th VRS special purpose team repairs and maintains special purpose equipment, along with all other types of vehicles as well.
“We maintain special equipment on this base, mostly snow equipment,” said Senior Airman Alan Wilkins, 86th VRS vehicle maintainer. “We’re trained to work on most any vehicle the Air Force uses.”
The snow equipment may only seem necessary during winter months, but the 86th VRS uses the time they have the rest of the year to make sure the equipment is in optimal
condition.
“During the summer, we rebuild snow equipment,” said Airman 1st Class Dakota Kennedy, 86th VRS vehicle maintainer. “We bring them in, conduct thorough inspections, replace anything that’s worn, broken or damaged, and make sure it’s ready for winter.”
The 86th VRS is constantly improving the Air Force’s mobility, Wilkins said. Some vehicles take multiple days to fix, though we make sure we go through checklists to catch all the little things.
Because these machines aren’t typically used until winter, it’s crucial they meet standards during the warmer months in case they are needed at a moment’s notice.
“We start all the vehicles once a day to make sure they’re still running and everything’s working as it should,” Wilkins said. “It’s like keeping a car sitting for too long; eventually it will just stop running.”
The vehicle maintainer career field is versatile in the way that though they are trained to fix a particular type of vehicle, vehicle maintainers are trained to assess any automobile the Air Force has to offer.
“From construction equipment to ambulances, we can fix it all,” Wilkins said. “We learn the basics of vehicles, and though we aren’t trained to fix certain ones, we can look at the problem and figure it out.”
Whether it is a snow blower or a fuel truck, the 86th VRS is there to keep the Air Force vehicles running.
“When many people think of the Air Force, they think it’s just aircraft flying,” Kennedy said. “They don’t realize how much it takes to get those aircraft in the air. We keep the vehicles running to ensure the Air Force stays mobile.”
