by Mike Murray
Being a service member in the United States military comes with a lot of little-known benefits. Most people are familiar with the big benefits, like healthcare, dental, access to commissaries and exchanges, and legal or financial assistance. But one benefit that most service members overlook is the Auto Skills Center Programs. In the Army, the Auto Skills centers fall under Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR). According to their website, most garrisons have Auto Skills centers totaling to over 2,500 bays worldwide. These centers provide bays, tools, and support from mechanics to help you work on your own car. The Navy and Air Force run similar programs. I personally have used the Auto Skills centers at West Point, Fort Moore, Fort Bliss, Hohenfels, Vilseck, Grafenwohr, and Naval Support Activity (NAS) Annapolis. This has not only allowed me to maintain my cars for a fraction of what I would be paying a mechanic, but has also given me the ability to learn how to properly maintain a vehicle. I directly attribute my time wrenching on my cars at the Auto Skills centers to helping me be a better Army vehicle operator and for giving me a deeper appreciation for my Army mechanics. I believe that as a commander, if you can get more Soldiers into the Auto Skills center you will see a tangible increase in the readiness of your fleet.
Impact on Operational Readiness
Having started my Army career as a Tank Platoon Leader and then an Executive Officer for a Bradley troop, I know that the unit lives or dies by its Operational Readiness (OR) Rate. It felt like no one cared about anything except the status of pacer items, especially in the heavy world. Often as an XO I would find myself being informed by a Soldier that some piece of equipment they had just conducted their Periodic Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS) on was unavailable. If I had the time, I would sometimes spot check the assessment of the operator, since most of our mechanics were busy. Often, I would find something that could either be fixed easily by the operator or had broken due to the operator not identifying a problem before it got worse.
A perfect example of this was when my troop went out to gunnery and the commander’s Bradley engine died. Once we checked to see what was wrong, we found that the engine had no oil in it and had been run that way for the entire two-hour convoy. The engine was destroyed. This simple check is a part of the PMCS that the Soldiers should be doing. But Soldiers often do not have the experience or knowledge on why these checks are so important. Not only did this cost the unit the money in replacing the engine, but it had tangible man hour effects on our maintenance team who, had to pull the entire pack and replace the engine while we were in the field.
Incentives and Benefits
In my units, the Soldiers that were the best operators and mechanics in my units usually were the Soldiers who worked on cars in their off time. This would make sense as mechanical skills, like any other skill, are perishable–you need to keep practicing so that your skills don’t degrade. On top of that, most of the people who worked on cars understood the basics of how to use different tools, how engines work, and how to perform other mechanic related tasks. To help ease some of the OR woes of our units, I suggest that commanders and leaders incentivize Soldiers to utilize their local Auto Skills centers. Getting more Soldiers into the Auto Skills centers and their classes will have a tangible effect on the proficiency of operators across your force.
Some benefits for the unit that would build over time would be:
- familiarity with mechanical systems and how they operate
- diagnosing common mechanical issues in their equipment
- familiarity with different types of tools and their uses
- development of problem-solving skills and ingenuity at the operator level
- proper utilization of safety equipment and procedures
- learning the mechanic vernacular and be able to communicate problems to mechanics quickly
- Being able to work on vehicles in austere environments if mechanics aren’t readily available
Additionally, the Soldiers would benefit individually in the following ways:
- saving money by working on own vehicle
- finding community through car clubs
- building a tangible skill/hobby that can continue after service
Get Creative
So how do I, as a commander or leader, get Soldiers into the Auto Skills center? You must get creative. When I was in command, my regiment had dedicated time on Fridays to give Soldiers and leaders the opportunity to focus on some aspects of Holistic Health and Fitness (H2F) and life skills. I worked with my local Auto Skills center to set up a class for some of my Soldiers to learn how to change oil and perform other minor maintenance items on their own vehicles. Other options that are worth exploring are commander incentive memos that incentivize time spent at the Auto Skills center (just make sure to check with IG and Legal before you publish), or finding a creative way to work in time at the Auto Skills shop into the commander’s volunteer program. Lastly, a more substantial but logistically challenging option is to follow the model of some high school Auto Tech classes: find a community member to donate a car, and have a group of Soldiers work together to fix it up. This would require a lot more involvement from you or a Soldier who takes charge, but could result in a cool company car that your Soldiers can take pride in!
In closing, I have personally found joy and pride in working on cars, and the military’s Auto Skills Centers have played a huge part in that. I hope you now see that Auto Skills Center Programs offer a valuable yet often overlooked benefit for service members in the United States military. These centers not only provide the tools and space needed for vehicle maintenance, but foster essential mechanical skills that can significantly enhance operational readiness. By encouraging Soldiers to utilize these resources, commanders can improve the proficiency and self-sufficiency of their units, ultimately leading to better maintenance practices and a higher Operational Readiness Rate. Lastly, the benefits extend beyond the military, offering Soldiers a cost-effective way to maintain their vehicles, build a sense of community, and develop a lifelong skill. Commanders and leaders should explore creative ways to integrate Auto Skills center usage into their training and incentive programs, ensuring that more Soldiers take advantage of this valuable resource. Let’s get more Soldiers out of the barracks and into the Auto Skills Centers!
Michael Murray is currently a Captain in the US Army. He is pursuing his master’s in organizational psychology at Columbia to become a TAC Officer at West Point. He is married to his wife Ally and they have two beautiful toddlers.
