KAISERSLAUTERN, Germany — Jesse James, the famed fabricator of TV’s “Monster Garage,” can’t hold an acetylene torch to the guys with the 21st Theater Support Command’s General Support Repair and Return reconstitution program.

German contractors working inside a cavernous warehouse at Maintenance Activity Kaiserslautern take U.S. military vehicles that have suffered extensive damage in Iraq or Afghanistan and completely refurbish them until they look like brand new vehicles.

And they do so within a 100-day turnaround time.

“We put the puzzle back together,” said Gerd Sprissler, quality management specialist with Maintenance Activity Kaiserslautern.

Indeed, several of the vehicles — mainly Humvees — awaiting repair from ambush and improvised explosive device damage did indeed look like jigsaw puzzles with a couple of pieces gone.

Because the Army does not have the money to buy new vehicles every time one is banged up in combat, the reconstitution program was launched in February 2004.

Since the program began, roughly 600 vehicles have been entirely refurbished at the Kaiserslautern facility.

Officials at the warehouse boast a 98 percent customer satisfaction rating.

Placards around the warehouse display comments from soldiers who can’t believe that the war-scarred vehicle they turned in is the rebuilt vehicle they got back.

Seeing such positive reinforcement, the primarily German workforce knows its job is appreciated, and the crews are aware their work is supporting the global war on terrorism, said Markus Cappel, director of General Support Center Europe, Maintenance Activity Kaiserslautern.

“That’s what they are concerned with,” he said.

“They actually save lives when they repair these pieces of equipment.”

In fact, the vehicles returned to the troops are often better than the originals, said Maj. Gen. Bennie Williams, commander of the 21st TSC.

“We guarantee reliability and sustainability so that these soldiers have confidence in their equipment when they cross the berm going into Iraq or as they travel throughout Afghanistan,” he said.

With both conflicts ongoing, Williams sees no end date in the immediate future for the reconstitution program.

“Based on some early analysis, the vision of this command is the deliberate and methodical expansion of maintenance capacity north and south of the Alps,” he said.

“So that this particular end state would guarantee faster, efficient repair of equipment and return to the customer unit at significant cost savings.”

Overall, the work speaks for itself, and the units who have relied on the service for getting their vehicle back up to speed are happy, Williams said.

“If you’ve seen the before and after, you know,” he said.