Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services (PMCS). Do We Check Too Much and Maintain Too Little

Our current system of Preventive Maintenance Checks and Services PMCS has proven to be inefficient Is this because the soldiers dont understand the requirement The leaders dont enforce it Or is the system itself to blame The basic Army philosophy is that maintenance is a command responsibility, beginning at the unit level, and should be performed at the lowest level possible. This task was relatively easy when the Army traveled by horses and wagon. Broken wagons were relatively simple to repair and neglect of the animals was very easy to identify. The mechanization of the Army placed new demands on the soldiers to maintain sophisticated and diverse equipment. The most critical link in the organizational maintenance chain is the operatorcrew performing mandatory checks under the supervision of their first-line supervisor according to the applicable TM 10 and 20 series manuals. This also is probably the weakest link in the chain since they will have very little training on how to perform maintenance. In November 1943, Lt. Gen. McNair realized the importance of maintaining the new equipment being introduced into the Army. He was concerned about the requirement to maintain this equipment in a combat-ready condition at all times. sdw