MARINE CORPS LOGISTICS BASE BARSTOW, Calif. -- Of the weapons used on today's battlefield, the TOW missile launcher is one of the most utilized, versatile and technologically advanced.
This tube launched, optically tracked, wire guided missile has night sights that read infrared heat signals capable of seeing objects through clouds, dust or complete darkness.
These sight systems are so technical they require precision maintenance that can only be performed by one team of civilian Marines working in the special weapons section at the maintenance center.
This precision maintenance combined with teamwork and a wealth of passed down knowledge is what earned this team a contract from the Army to modify 216 night sights to be fit for sale to four allied countries.
Originally, the contract belonged to a machinist company in Massachusetts that unsuccessfully attempted to build from scratch the newer hybrid model night sights used by the military today.
"The company's prototype could not pass the first article of testing," said Leonard T. Castro, electronic measurement equipment mechanic for the special weapons section.
The rigorous first article of testing includes shaking of the gear, similar to a paint mixer, for two straight weeks, followed by exposure to extreme cold and hot temperatures to simulate the elements that might be exposed to the gear in the field, said Castro.
"The Army was going to seize the contract last summer when they asked us if it was something we could complete, so our supervisor jumped on the opportunity," Castro explained. "A couple months later we were driving the half-assembled sights across the country in U-Haul trucks."
In order to provide the foreign countries with their night sights in a timely fashion, Bradford S. Hart, special weapons section supervisor, and his team successfully modified excess older Marine Corps night sight systems into the newer hybrid models by adding $10,000 worth of modifications.
Their six prototypes passed the Army's first article of testing and the section was awarded the contract to complete the remaining night sights.
"One of the key elements that allowed the systems to pass testing was the knowledge that has been passed down to us by our former supervisor, Ed Armstrong, who was a master of the TOW system as well as many other weapon systems used by the Marine Corps," said Castro.
According to Castro, one member of the team, James A. Sprayberry, also an electronic measurement equipment mechanic, created a modification to the lens switching assembly himself that literally rescued the project. In order to keep the assembly from binding up, which was a constant problem in the hybrid models, he replaced a portion of the switch with part of the better-working older model. The Army approved the modification, which could potentially save the military from future repair costs.
The night sight section constitutes one-third of the special weapons section, which also handles the rest of the TOW missile system, Dragon systems and Javelin systems. The section supervisor takes on the additional work requests voluntarily, while the section simultaneously accomplishes its everyday mission for the Marines.
"Our Marine Corps tasks come first and foremost," said Castro. "Our section regularly repairs and reconstructs used night sights and other electronic weapons system components from the fleet."
According to Sprayberry, his section has been performing maintenance on the hybrid night sights for the fleet Marine force since 1998. "It's fun working with this sort of high-tech equipment," he said. "I enjoy the heck out of it!"