{"id":68888,"date":"2024-10-15T16:12:17","date_gmt":"2024-10-15T16:12:17","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/uncategorized\/2024\/10\/15\/how-the-us-army-is-helping-ukraine-with-front-line-repairs\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T01:09:40","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T01:09:40","slug":"how-the-us-army-is-helping-ukraine-with-front-line-repairs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/defensenews\/smr\/land-warfare\/2024\/10\/15\/how-the-us-army-is-helping-ukraine-with-front-line-repairs\/","title":{"rendered":"How the US Army is helping Ukraine with front line repairs"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

It starts with a message on the secure messaging app Signal.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Front line units in Ukraine see an issue with their equipment and send notes to translators, who soon share those with the U.S. military. Then, operating from one of seven stations in Poland, American forces schedule video calls with the Ukrainians to help them repair the weapons.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is the process for the Army\u2019s virtual repair mission to help keep equipment working as long and as close to the front line as possible in Ukraine.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The equipment in the shop ranges from howitzers to tanks, and repairs can take anywhere from hours to weeks. Altogether, soldiers assisting with it said, the work is helping Ukraine keep its weapons in working order, and teaching the U.S. how to repair on the fly.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThe capability is forward. They\u2019re able to fix forward just with some backup support on the telephone,\u201d said Lt. Col. Nicholas R. Gauvin, a member of the Army\u2019s 16th Sustainment Brigade, on a video call from Poland at one of the Army\u2019s seven stations where they help troubleshoot such issues.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The brigade tents look like small warehouses, filled with the same equipment that Ukrainians are handling on the front lines. Since this June, the 16th Sustainment Brigade has operated the facilities as part of the Remote Maintenance and Distribution Center-Ukraine, or RDC-U.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When the Ukrainians have an issue and share it with the translators, the team in Poland consults with their technical manuals \u2014 like a maintenance book kept in a car\u2019s glove department. They then tinker with their own equipment, trying to recreate the same issue the soldiers are having on the front lines. From there they can discern the root issue.<\/p>\n\n\n\t