MARINE CORPS BASE CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. -- These days WD-40 isn't enough to keep rust from eating away at a Marine's equipment.
However, rust inhibitor is enough, and the civilian Corrosion Service Team here uses it to bust the rust off guns and hummers.
They spritz, spray and spurt the corrosion preventative liquid so Marines don’t go nuts trying to unscrew bolts in Iraq.
Equipped with six 100-foot hoses attached to a 100-gallon tank full of rust inhibitor, they take to a rusty project.
“(The tank) is also is filled with air so there is no overspray,” said Mike W. Ward, a team lead.
Robert F. Hanke, a I Marine Expeditionary Force coordinator, makes sure these greasers look slick in their slacks and matching CST T-shirts while they’re doing it.
“I do it for uniformity,” said Hanke.
After they snug their gloves, strap their masks, and toggle their goggles -- they begin spraying.
Paying attention to detail, the ten-man team sprays every crevice with grease lightning speed ensuring proper lubrication.
Hanke said a well-greased machine is not only important to the Marine Corps, but also to the individual devil dog.
“The money that we save on (repairing) vehicles can be spent on the war fighter for things needed in Iraq,” Hanke said.
And with more and more deployments longevity couldn’t be more of an issue.
“It (rust inhibitor) extends the life of gear and vehicles for 6-8 months,” Hanke added.
However, before the civilians came along, Marines spent countless hours busting rust themselves.
“Artillery had to always bust the rust off of the Howitzer’s, now they don’t have to for six months,” Steve R. Kempf remembered.
“11th Marines love us, they appreciate what we’ve done for their Howitzer’s,” said David A. Estrada, a corrosion technician.
Hanke said Marines aren’t the only one’s who benefit from their work his team does also.
“They (civilians) never knew what the military was like until they started working (with Marines),” Hanke said.