If you’re serving in the Army at the small unit level, there’s a good chance you’ve heard of the MAIT program. MAIT stands for Maintenance Assistance and Instruction Team. What I want to do in the paragraphs below is share 11 things you should know about the program so you have a better understanding of what it is designed to do (and not do). I also encourage you to read section 8-15, of AR 750-1 for additional details.
# 1 The purpose of the MAIT is to provide technical assistance to help unit commanders identify and solve continuing problems that contribute to less than acceptable materiel readiness.
# 2 A MAIT assistance may be asked for by anyone at any time.
# 3 The MAIT does not negate the commander’s right to conduct formal or informal evaluations; it simply provides the unit commander with a list of problem areas and recommended actions.
# 4 The MAIT will not score the unit or provide a rating. Emphasis is on assistance and instruction.
# 5 Personnel assigned to a MAIT will not participate in command inspections, annual general inspections, annual training evaluations, spot checks, roadside inspections; command logistics review teams, or any other command evaluation program.
# 6 When possible, units will be visited annually.
# 7 The MAIT will consist of a team chief and sufficient personnel to provide effective assistance and instruction to supported units.
# 8 The primary duty of MAITs during mobilization is to augment the resources of the command or installation to which they are assigned.
# 9 In order to serve on a MAIT, personnel must possess technical skills, knowledge and ability in their particular commodity or specialty areas, and have a broad general knowledge in a related secondary logistics field.
# 10 MAITs, will assist and instruct units in the following areas: operator requirements, preventive maintenance and equipment repair, equipment condition and serviceability, materiel condition status reporting, administrative storage, maintenance records and reports management, calibration management, proper use of tools and test equipment, troubleshooting, and fault diagnosis, maintenance personnel management and training, publications account management, distribution of publications, and proper use of publications, shop layout, planning, production, and quality control procedures, safety, shop operations, including SOPs, facilities, PLL procedures and PLL accountability, equipment recovery and evacuation, proper implementation of the Army Warranty Program, Army modernization training, HAZMAT, tire maintenance and much more.
# 11 The MAITs will maintain a DA Form 5480 (Maintenance Request and Assignment Register) of visits conducted. All time expended by team members, including hours for responding to telephone requests, will be shown on the register. This data will be used to support requests for additional TDA spaces or to defend existing MAIT manning levels.
Final Thoughts
The bottom line is that MAIT teams are designed to assist commanders and provide feedback on ways to improve their equipment readiness, combat readiness and maintenance operations. One of the best things you can do as a small unit leader is to leverage this valuable resource to get feedback on ways you can improve your unit.
On a side note, I would love to hear from you. If you have experience working with a MAIT, I would love to hear how it went. Tell us about what you learned, what you recommend and any tips for success that you might have. Just leave a comment below to do so.
References
AR 750-1
Chuck Holmes
Former Army Major (resigned)
Publisher, Part-Time-Commander.com
Email: mrchuckholmes@gmail.com
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I worked for a year on the MAIT Team based out of Pirmasens, Germany. It was one of my best experiences while serving in the Army.
How can I get a job on the MAIT team? I’m a retired Motor Sergeant with 22-years of experience as a 63B and 63X. When I was an E-4 stationed at Fort Devens, a retired Sergeant Major from MAIT trained me in TAMMS. He gave me 30-years of his experience in 4-years
He was the best mentor I ever had. I owe my successful career to his superior mentorship and training. I knew more about TAMMS than most senior NCO’s.
Awesome. There’s nothing like having a good mentor. I would visit your local MAIT team, get to know some of the people, and see if they have any positions available.
It is wonderful that the Army has this Maintenance Assistance and Instruction Team. When certain items are just making team members shake their heads with wonder, having a team that can point out possibilities makes maintenance and upkeep easier. Sometimes, as they say, 2 heads are better than 1. I agree that every Commander should utilize this great resource whenever the need calls for it. It takes a wise person to ask for help.
Yes, the MAIT team is a great resource for any commander.