Building a tank is one thing; keeping it going is another. Last week the nation's No. 1 arms manufacturer went to work on problem No. 2. General Motors Corp., holder of 10-12% of all U.S. arms contracts, set up a great maintenance school. Purpose: to keep its products—whether machine guns, tanks or aircraft engines—functioning in the field.
To repair damage by the enemy, and plain wear-&-tear on far-flung fields, where trees are often makeshift hoists for ailing airplane engines, and a jungle clearing is the only repair shop, G.M. got set to learn a lesson that the aircraft industry had already...