SPOTLIGHT: MR. JARED HIGGS


making sure they have firing capabilities and that all the parts are functional.”


Although Higgs’ tenure is short by


comparison to those of his father and grandfather, he’s seen his share of changes in the past decade. “I


think


more than anything, the protective armor has progressed the most. When I first started on the HMMWVs, they were not outfitted with any armor at all,


and as our involvement in Iraq


continued, I saw things shift, first to up-armored vehicles and from there to the MRAPs.”


DETAILS, DETAILS


Higgs closes the day sight lens on the M117 in preparation for an optical test. His job is to make sure that vehicles’ weapon systems have firing capabilities and that all the parts are functional.


In 2008, Higgs volunteered for overseas deployment and was deployed to Camp Liberty in Baghdad, Iraq. Over the next three years, he would also see deploy- ments to Forward Operating Base Speicher in Tikrit and Camp Stryker in Baghdad. “I saw it as an opportunity to help where it was needed, and to serve the warfighter. It was also a chance to serve along with my brothers, who were in the Air Force at the time.”


Since 2001, RRAD has deployed more than 3,000 personnel to various areas in Southwest Asia in direct support of war- fighters in the field. Te facility, with a government civilian workforce of about 4,500, has deployed more employees than any other civilian organization in the world since the beginning of overseas contingency operations, staffing roughly half of all U.S. Army Materiel Command civilian deployments. It has spearheaded numerous depot-level logistics and main- tenance missions


in Southwest Asia,


including Heavy Equipment Transporter, Stored Teater Provided Equipment – Iraq, Forward Repair Activity and Mobile Maintenance Team.


“Being away from home is always a chal- lenge. I missed my family and friends, and


156 Army AL&T Magazine January–March 2014 Te work itself was a challenge, he said.


“Every day, we’d have vehicles coming into us in all kinds of condition—con- voys, blown-up trucks, you name it—and the challenge was to get them fixed and back out so the Soldiers could continue on their mission. During my time overseas, I really valued the ability to work directly with Soldiers—to meet them and talk with them, and to know that we were helping get them back out in the field,” he added.


HARD OR EASY, ALWAYS GOOD


“My dad and grandfather didn’t have too much advice when I started work- ing here,” Higgs said. “Tey said that sometimes the work would be hard and sometimes it would be easy, but it was always a good place to work. Looking back over the past 10 years, I can defi- nitely say they were right.”


His own advice for anyone interested in becoming a heavy equipment mechanic is simple. “Stick with it and be knowl- edgeable about what you’re working on. Always go the extra mile to learn some- thing more about the vehicle.”


MS. SUSAN L. FOLLETT provides contracting support to the U.S. Army Acquisition Support Center for SAIC. She holds a B.A. in English literature from St. Lawrence University. She has more than two decades of experience as a journalist and has written on a variety of public and private sector topics, including modeling and simulation, military training technol- ogy and federal environmental regulations.


I realized that it was important to make friends quickly and find people there you can trust. Overseas, we’re around our co- workers day in and day out, 24 hours a day, so finding people you can rely on is vital,” he said.


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