a. The purpose of Army maintenance is to generate and regenerate combat power and preserve the capital investment of combat systems and equipment to enable training and mission accomplishment.
b. Army maintenance is founded on the principle that the useful service life of Army equipment is achieved when the item is operated within its intended purpose and parameters and is maintained in accordance with its designed or engineered specifications. When an equipment item achieves its useful service life, the Army will use acquisition, recapitalization, or overhaul to replace or renew service life of the equipment. The Army relies on four core maintenance processes to manage equipment during the course of its useful service life to achieve a high state of readiness. They are performance observation, equipment services, fault repair, and single-standard repair.
(1) Performance observation is the foundation of the Army maintenance program and is the basis of the preventive maintenance checks and services known as PMCS that are required by all equipment TMs in the before, during, and after operation checks.
(a) Through observation, the operator documents observed performance against established standards and reports problems that degrade equipment before they become catastrophic.
(b) The TM XX"10 and XX"20 series designate the standards for all equipment. This allows leaders the ability to designate the time and location of repair that save precious manpower and materiel resources. It is also the most effective method of managing a large fleet of equipment when time and manpower are limited and distances between support and the supported equipment are great.
(c) The Army will automate the recording and transmitting of PMCS data, which are appropriately captured by operator observation and embedded sensors to conduct diagnostics or prognostics enabling condition based maintenance plus (CBM+).
(2) Equipment services are specified maintenance actions performed when required where equipment, components, and systems are routinely checked, adjusted, changed, analyzed, lubed, and so forth, in accordance with designer and engineer specifications.
(a) The Army uses services to focus manpower resources on equipment to maintain operational and useful service life.
(b) Services on equipment include more than the application of a lubrication order or performance of service tasks. They include repair of faults and deficiencies as determined by performance observations, system and component checks, and analysis and updates. Maintenance personnel should use services to replace faulty items or avoid projected
component failures based on analysis, engineering documentation, and so forth. This will result in a higher level of reliability in combat and is more cost effective.
(c) The Army leverages service time to maintain equipment service life and increase readiness. This supports wartime readiness and training.
(d) MATDEVs will develop strategies to conduct services based on the condition of the equipment or evidence of need. These strategies will eliminate current time-based intervals where possible and enable CBM+.
(3) Fault repair is the process used by operators and maintenance personnel to restore an equipment item to full functionality as originally designed or engineered. Faults include deficiencies and shortcomings.
(a) The Army uses trained personnel, TMDE, technical information, and tools to accomplish this process.
(b) Fault repair requires a mechanic/technician to diagnose all equipment, component, assembly and subassembly
malfunctions accurately the first time, order the correct repair parts, and apply them immediately.
(c) Commanders and leaders prioritize repair of deficiencies based upon criticality.
(d) The goal of the Army is to correct all deficiencies and shortcomings as they occur. The correction of all faults (deficiencies, and shortcomings) as established by Army TMs is the basis for the Army standard.
(4) Single-standard repair is a process that seeks to ensure a single repair standard is applied to all end items, secondary items, and components repaired and returned to supply. This process assures high quality and establishes a predictable service life using the best technical standard. This ensures that users do not waste manpower resources troubleshooting failures and replacing components needlessly. For specific guidance on single standard repair, see
c. The Army allocates resources to commanders to maintain its equipment at prescribed readiness levels. Commanders apply manpower, tools, test equipment, repair parts, maintenance kits, equipment, facilities, other resources, allocated dollars, and The Army Maintenance Management System (TAMMS) to perform maintenance on Army equipment. When resources are allocated and applied correctly, unit commanders will realize the useful service life of their equipment and achieve prescribed readiness levels.