Stories

According to Steve Anderson, Army M-ATV Integrated Logistics Support Manager (ILSM), the maintenance improvements played a key role in saving countless lives.

"Since the inception of the MRAP vehicle, the top priority of the Department of Defense was to ensure the safety to our troops during our country's war on terrorism," said Anderson. 

"KBRwyle's support played a key role in significantly reducing casualties to the warfighter during these volatile times."

Today, KBRwyle's role in supporting the MRAP has grown. As RCM becomes a sustainment effort, the company's analysts continue to support the warfighter by providing services for Care of Supplies in Storage (COSIS). The KBRwyle team identifies emerging failure modes discovered from data received from Fort Bliss Texas, Space and Naval Warfare Systems Command (SPAWAR) in Charleston, South Carolina and in Red River Army Depot (RRAD), Texas. With the foundation of experience, KBRwyle's teams across the country lend their engineering and logistic expertise to ensure the Army's armored vehicles are safe and easy to maintain in support of the nation's fight against terrorism.

Pictured left to right: KBRwyle employees Dale Paul, Blake McIntosh, Steven Weaver, based in New Boston, Texas, Red River Army Depot (RRAD), provide COSIS support to MRAP vehicles, including the MaxxPro (pictured).​

KBRwyle's Teams

The KBRwyle COSIS team based in Sterling Heights, Michigan, and RRAD Texas support the M-ATV and MaxxPro ILSM. This team reports COSIS vehicle status, readiness, parts status, trends, and action items through quad charts, bar graphs and monthly reports.

KBRwyle's engineers and analysts in Jacksonville, Florida, provide Reliability, Availability and Maintainability (RAM) analyses for track and suspension, hull, frame, body and cab, and armor. This team develops Design Failure Modes and Effects Analysis and preliminary design review artifacts, and constructs reliability prediction approaches and timelines for combat vehicle prototypes.

Technical writers, teamed with MRAP APO, are developing instructions for removing and replacing the floor of the M-ATV and camo painting the M-ATV and MaxxPro. The team is also developing instructions on how to repair the Remote Weapons Systems and Objective Gunners Protection Kit seals to prevent water intrusion within the vehicles' cabs.

The team in Sterling Heights, Michigan, provides logistics and engineering support to several programs. Highly-qualified engineers work with the U.S. Army's Tank Automotive Research Development and Engineering Center (TARDEC). These engineers perform tasks focused on Ground Vehicle Power and Mobility technologies research and development. These tasks include integrated systems engineering and testing in TARDEC's Propulsion Laboratory; evaluation of system level performance; analysis to identify corrective action and re-engineering for problems identified in the field or during testing; and research into novel design initiatives to increase efficiency and gain capability for vehicle power systems.

KBRwyle analyst, Devin Anderson, based in Charleston, South Carolina, provides Care of Supplies in Storage (COSIS) support to the MRAP All-Terrain Vehicle.

KBRwyle engineers also pursue new solutions and initiatives for fielded systems, such as applying Condition Based Overhaul methodologies in Army depots to provide life cycle cost reduction and design changes to improve durability. These engineers provide technical expertise regarding powertrain performance to Scientific and Technology (S&T) and other introductory programs. Additionally, the team provides direct logistics support to the M-ATV and MaxxPro programs and has assisted the ILS Center in the validation of the MaxxPro technical manuals developed by Navistar.

With new tasking on the horizon, KBRwyle will continue to deliver the highest degree of service supporting the warfighter. According to the Army, "MRAPs have saved the lives of thousands of U.S. soldiers and coalition partners. The MRAP fleet is an invaluable legacy—and as it is brought home for modernization, acquisition professionals become stewards of that legacy."

KBRwyle will continue to be a part of this legacy as the company supports MRAPs throughout their life cycles, ensuring America's men and women on the frontlines are equipped with the most capable and safest vehicles.

Photos by: Robin Putrycus