Tyler Gutstein

Background

About Tyler Gutstein

I was in the military from January 2011 to May 2017, I spent the first 3 years as a Fire Support Specialist (artillery) on paper in Ft Bliss, Texas, but in reality I was bouncing between whatever job and unit needed a set of hands. I spent the last 3 as a Light Wheeled Vehicle Mechanic in Ft Wainwright, Alaska. For my first year right out of mechanic training I was made the head maintenance manager of a small unit of about 50 people and 32 pieces of equipment that hadn't had any maintenance personnel assigned in 2 years. When I arrived about 50% of the equipment was "deadlined"(deemed too unsafe or damaged to operate) and less than 6 months later this was down to a single vehicle that blew its transmission and a generator that needed a new engine. Unfortunately after that year, the unit personnel requirement required that the maintenance manager be ranked Sergeant or higher, which I was not nor was I eligible at the time, so they were forced to trade me to another unit for one where I was downgraded to just a team member. For what it's worth, my friends at the old unit told me when the new sergeant arrived he tossed my maintenance plan for is own and ended up right back at 50% deadlined equipment within months.