HILL AIR FORCE BASE — Ogden Air Logistics Complex Business Development and the 526th Electronics Maintenance Squadron personnel are saving the Air Force more than $12 million by overhauling and restoring the aging Munitions Handling Unit-110/M.
The MHU-110/M munitions trailer is a 10-wheeled flatbed carrier capable of transporting up to 15,000 pounds of munitions. Included with the MHU-110/M are 20 trollies and 40 chocks with tie-down straps, permitting transportation of round-shaped items that cannot be laid flat on a trailer deck.
Historically, the MHU-110/M was considered a throw-away asset, since there was no organic or contract overhaul or restoration. Acquisition of a new MHU-110/M Munitions Trailer is approximately $55,000.
A collaborative team consisting of 526th EMXS mechanics, work leads and supervisors; the Ogden ALC Business Office; 309th Electronic Maintenance Group Process Engineering; and the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center Program manager at Robins AFB, Georgia, prototyped the MHU overhaul and restoration to ensure it was feasible.
Process engineers assisted the prototype team by communicating each phase of the prototype with the AFLCMC Support Equipment and Vehicle Division cognizant engineer to validate the tasks needed for completion. These include disassembling the trailers down to the deck and axles, stripping the paint, weld inspection and repair, and a total overhaul and restoration to include new braking, improved brake lines, single standard light weight tow bar, new electrical system with waterproof junction boxes, LED lights, rebuilt rails and new tie downs.
With the prototype completed, the AFLCMC cognizant engineer was on-site for the successful first article inspection and evaluation. To ensure customer satisfaction, the 526th EMXS delivered this first MHU-110/M to the 388th Munitions Maintenance Squadron at Hill AFB for actual loading and transportation of munition stores.
The tests were monitored by Brandon Long and 1st Lt. Maxwell Hill, both of AFLCMC at Robins AFB, who declared the tests successful after the trial runs.
Success on this overhaul/restoration became quickly evident.
“This workload is an example of the Ogden ALC Business office going after a high-use piece of equipment utilized throughout the Air Force,” said Joseph Traum, 526th EMXS Director of Operations. “We capitalized on our overhaul team’s can-do attitude and knew the MHU-110 trailer was right up our alley to overhaul.”
Top enlisted members from the Air Force Munitions Product Improvement Working Group toured the workload during a recent visit to Hill AFB. A member of the group, Chief Master Sgt. Kevin Hendershot, ACC Headquarters Munitions Functional Manager and team chief said, “This crew is knocking it out of the park,” in a Combined Air Force Report article.
So what does this all mean to the warfighter?
Through these collaborative efforts, the 526th EMXS can perform a complete overhaul and restoration of the MHU-110/M for approximately $35,000, a remarkable $20,000 (36.4 percent) less than new acquisition cost per munitions trailer. The 526th is slated to overhaul more than 600 of the units, saving the Air Force more than $12 million. As evidenced here, incorporating the “The AFSC Way” concept, 526th EMXS produces customer satisfaction in the form of quality, schedule, and cost-effective warfighter readiness.
