Secrets of the Workshop

Szöveg: kormany.hu | 2012. április 28. 6:02

Combat vehicles in Afghanistan operate under heavy duty conditions, due to the special terrain and climate. Their maintenance is a primary core task, because without reliably functioning vehicles, the HDF Provincial Reconstruction Team (HUN PRT) would not be able to move around Baghlan Province, its area of responsibility and conduct its missions.

It is the vehicle maintainers working in the workshop of the CSS platoon who carry out maintenance in the contingent. The 8-man team includes an automotive electrician, a fitter, a vehicle body repairer and an armourer.

They have several-years professional experience, so the word about their expertise has spread among the allied nations – the Germans and Croatians – who are frequent visitors at Camp Pannonia, taking their cars for repair. In addition, the staff of the workshop is responsible for repairing the vehicles of the Hungarian Operational Mentoring and Liaison Team (OMLT) and the EUPOL. One of them softly remarks that two out of three cars choose them.

The workshop tent is open to all malfunctioning vehicles. When I ask the soldiers working here about the kind of work going on under the tent-flaps, they answer “We’re doing some repairs". Of course, theirs is a much more complex mission. Everybody starts listing the specific tasks in his professional field, such as maintenance of running gears, which must be done due to the poor condition of the roads and the armor weight. They also mention the task of inspecting the brake systems. The brakes require thorough checking every time before the vehicles roll out, as there are lots of uphill passages due to the terrain conditions.

The machine is running smoothly again…