By ANN ZANIEWSKI, TACOM Public Affairs

FORT LEONARD WOOD, MO. (January 22, 2025) — On a recent morning, a hydraulic excavator, bulldozers, forklifts and other heavy equipment occupied all 17 service bays in a cavernous, sunlight-filled maintenance facility.

A team of technicians worked on them as country music played in the background.

“Our turnaround times have to be quick,” said Caleb Cantrell, a heavy equipment repair supervisor for construction equipment at the U.S. Army Tank-automotive and Armaments Command (TACOM) Fleet Management Expansion (FMX) team site at Fort Leonard Wood, Mo., explaining that the vehicles would be back in the field within a day or so. “If we don’t maintain this equipment, the Army can’t teach it.”

Efficiency, skill, organization and a deep sense of mission fuel the workers who repair and maintain heavy equipment at Fort Leonard Wood, a U.S. Army training installation in the Ozark Mountains. Nearly 80,000 Soldiers and Civilians train at the installation every year.

Though not often in the spotlight, the FMX team has cultivated a reputation for excellence. It recently received two major Army-wide awards: Chief of Staff, Army Award for Maintenance Excellence in the Army Active All Others category for fiscal year 2024, and the Chief of Ordnance Best of the Best Maintenance Award for 2024.

Maj. Gen. Michael B. Lalor, TACOM commanding general, congratulated the workforce in-person during a Dec. 6 ceremony.

“We couldn’t be prouder,” he said.

The 224 people who make up the TACOM FMX team at Fort Leonard Wood maintain about 37,000 pieces of U.S. Army Training and Doctrine Command (TRADOC) equipment used in instruction at the Engineer, Military Police and Chemical schools, as well as the 58th Transportation Battalion and the Maneuver Support Center of Excellence.

“Our main mission is to keep that equipment up and running, so the Soldiers can train and do their mission,” said James Thomas, a heavy mobile equipment repair supervisor in the Engineer Support Division.

TACOM’s Integrated Logistics Support Center oversees the FMX team at Fort Leonard Wood and teams at three other U.S. Army training sites: Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and Fort Benning, Georgia. Collectively, the teams service 61 critical fleets.

The Fort Leonard Wood FMX team supports a vast network of 35 ranges, 52 arms rooms and 89 training sites across the installation’s 63,000 wooded, rolling acres. It performs both scheduled maintenance and unexpected repairs.

“We have a wrecker crew, so that if something goes down in the field or motor pool and they need to bring it in, they can,” said Selina West, an equipment records parts specialist and supply technician in the Military Maintenance Support Division, as a mechanic rolled on the ground underneath a nearby High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle. “The crew will go out and get it, and we will get it fixed up and back to them as fast as we can.”

Joshua Clark, a heavy mobile equipment repair supervisor in the Engineer Support Division, said the workforce is driven by a sense of pride. An Army veteran with a lifelong passion for mechanics, Clark said he’s glad to play a role in helping prepare the next generation of America’s Soldiers.

“For me, there’s honor in it,” he said.

The Chief of Staff, Army Award for Maintenance Excellence (AAME) program recognizes Army units and activities that demonstrate excellence in maintenance operations. In addition to 2024, the Fort Leonard Wood FMX team has received an AAME award four other times – in 2012, 2014, 2018 and 2021.

The team competed against 67 other organizations to win the Chief of Ordnance Best of the Best Maintenance Award for 2024, said Danyelle Kirkorian, a maintenance systems specialist. It was the fourth time the team has won a Best of the Best Award since 2012.

“We don’t win that without every employee’s contribution,” said Clayton Nagel, TACOM FMX Fort Leonard Wood branch chief. “When you get an organizational award, it’s saying that the entire workforce is committed to excellence in what they do every day. I’m extremely proud of our team.”

While visiting Fort Leonard Wood with members of his command staff, Lalor gave out achievement medals, commendation medals, two-star notes and other honors to individual employees as he toured the FMX sites.

Then, more than 100 workers gathered that afternoon in the Weapons and Specialty Support maintenance facility for a presentation of the AAME and Best of the Best awards.

“This is like being with the Yankees right here,” Lalor said during the ceremony, “and I’m a Yankee fan, so I can appreciate excellence.”

Lalor thanked the workforce and expressed gratitude for its hard work, support, ingenuity and knowledge. Noting the team’s multiple previous awards, he said it is building a dynasty.

“The reason a dynasty does well is because it’s well-organized and has great leadership,” he said.

Cantrell, the heavy equipment repair supervisor for construction equipment, said he was thrilled when he heard about the team winning its latest AAME and Best of the Best awards.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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About Fort Leonard Wood

Fort Leonard Wood is a thriving and prosperous installation that has evolved from a small basic training post more than 80 years ago to a premier Army Center of Excellence that trains nearly 80,000 military and civilians each year.

Fort Leonard Wood is home to the U.S Army Maneuver Support Center of Excellence and three U.S. Army schools: the U.S. Army Engineer School; U.S. Army Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear School; and the U.S. Army Military Police School. In addition to training engineer, CBRN and military police specialties for the Army, Fort Leonard Wood also provides gender-integrated in-processing and Basic Combat Training for new Soldiers.

Fort Leonard Wood also hosts and trains with the largest Marine Corps Detachment and Air Force Squadron on any Army installation as well as a large Navy construction detachment.

More information about Fort Leonard Wood is at: https://home.army.mil/wood/index.php/about/mission

About TACOM

TACOM, a major subordinate command of Army Materiel Command, manages the U.S. Army’s ground equipment supply chain. If a Soldier wears it, drives it or shoots it, TACOM develops it, provides it or sustains it throughout its life cycles.

As part of the Army’s industrial base enterprise, TACOM consists of two government-owned and operated arsenals, three government-owned and operated depots, and one government-owned and contractor-operated manufacturing center. TACOM’s Integrated Logistics Support Center oversees the FMX team at Fort Leonard Wood and FMX teams at three other U.S. Army training sites: Fort Gregg-Adams, Virginia; Fort Jackson, South Carolina; and Fort Benning, Georgia. The TACOM global workforce is made up of more than 15,000 skilled professionals, including engineers, industrial artisans, senior logisticians, business analysts and more. For more information, visit tacom.army.mil.

 

“It felt really good,” he said. “It felt like people were noticing that we’re trying to do the best for the Soldiers that we can. That’s why we’re here.”