Sgt. Brandon Henning wasn't sure why the oil was backing up into the fuel line of a Stryker's engine, but he was bound and determined to find out.

"We're not sure if it's the heat or what," he said as he worked on the engine in the motor pool at Forward Operating Base Falcon south of Baghdad.  "But we will figure it out," added the native of Florida.

Henning is a wheeled mechanic who works on anything that is not on tracks.  His military occupational specialty, or MOS, is 63B.

"I'm mechanically inclined; I've always liked working on things ever since I was a little kid," explained Henning as he continued to work on the engine.  He also said that he still likes to work on his own vehicles and that his favorite car to work on is a 2005 Corvette.

Henning is currently serving in Iraq with 2nd Battalion, 23rd Infantry Regiment.   This is his third deployment.

"I like the work," said Henning as he came in from the sun, sat down and had a drink of water.  "I get to work on a lot of new vehicles, and I also get to help upgrade - or think outside of the box - vehicles when we work on them," he added.

He joined the Army right out of high school because there were not many prospects for him. 

"I also wanted to be able (to say) that I had completed basic training," he added.

After basic training, Henning spent four months at the wheeled mechanics school at the Aberdeen Proving Grounds in Maryland.  "I learned a great deal while there; the instruction was great," he said.

Henning said that the Humvee is the easiest vehicle to work on while the heavy equipment transport, or HET, is the most difficult.

"Yeah, the HETs can be a bit tough to work on, but what can really be even tougher is the monotony of the job in fixing the same breakdowns day after day," he added with a grin.

For soldiers thinking of cross training to this military occupational specialty, Henning has some words of advice.

"You have to be a person who pays attention to detail," said Henning.  "Detail is everything," he added.