Are AC Pilots their own mechanics?

I have not read Fort Tower Song, Brave New World or the MoA novel.

That said.

Would you argue that AC pilots are their own mechanics?

The whole point of an Armored Core's in-universe appeal as opposed to MTs or other weapons is their modularity, a huge selling point of the franchise in the real world being the customization.

However, given the work that goes into actually pulling an assembly's parts and what have you, this can be achieved either via a crew dedicated to AC repair or an individual utilizing a panel in a specialized hangar/garage for AC modification with winches, pulleys and other construction-like equipment. We even see White Glint's sortie being handled by a crew, likely Line Ark engineers, ensuring the VOB launch is all systems green.

The Armored Core 1 intro sees a stylized process in choosing Anfang's parts. Ernst (if that is Ernst in the intro) is a Raven, not affiliated with either Chrome or Murakumo. It's shown via the AC1 Mail system that in addition to relaying missions, Raven's Nest mainly provide AC repair services, supply ammo, sell new AC parts, etc…

Armored Core 2 has two cutscenes featuring Zio Matrix ACs; Mission 13 shows the assembly of the head being fit onto the core, with a helmeted person on the left operating the environment to make it happen. This appears to be Klein or one of the Freighterners. Mission 35 shows a row of Zio Matrix ACs, also Frighteners. The Freighteners are introduced to the story operating on behalf of the LCC, allowing Klein and his goons to operate on Mars. The LCC, then, must be handling AC maintenance for the Freighteners not unlike Nerves Concord.

There are also several pilots that boast their sponsorships and flaunt their wealth, despite their piloting skill. Some ACs, like Nosaac with Bitter Promise, are representative of this. Nosaac's profile reads: "This does have the benefit of allowing him to buy the latest in corporate technology as soon as it hits the market; he considers the power of his AC an asset to his credit score." Taking into consideration what Bitter Promise looks like, is capable of and Nosaac's arena ranking, there is not only a lack of skill, but also a misunderstanding of why the parts are so expensive and how the parts are supposed to harmonize.

As an independent mercenary, Nosaac does not have a company backing his parts. Another independent mercenary that *does* have an understanding of their parts is AC1's Wildcat. Once a well-known Raven, Then, one time he failed to complete a mission and was never heard from again, only reappearing to eliminate other Ravens. Although he may be independent, he does not seem to have a dedicated Operator, as it is stated that "Now, no one will know the real reason for his actions." per the Mail you receive after taking him out. This seems to imply that, despite Wildcat's mind being totally gone and acting totally independent, even outside of Raven's Nest, he must have been the one taking care of his own AC and upkeeping it to have lasted as long as he has.

And there's "lab rat" characters like Genobee. Wholly owned and operated by Crest. In the Training Exercise mission, beating Genobee prompts the Crest Operator to say "It was just a simple adjustment... what happened?" and "Genobee, the corporation needs you in one piece. Don't overextend yourself." It appears that Crest adjusts everything for Genobee.

Corporate ACs like Balam and Arquebus seem to allow the pilots certain degrees of choices, in cases like Locksmith being composed of a hodgepodge of parts from both parts, and Head Bringer being a customized version of the base Melander model. As 621 is mowing down MTs, Liger Tail is being worked on by Balam to prepare its sortie, giving the impression Michigan is not conducting the sortie preparations all by himself. Meanwhile, Iguazu goes AWOL and Head Bringer shows up as it would a Balam assembly, or again via ALLMIND's enhancements.

There's many other instances of a crew and/or independents taking care of an AC, be it Formula Front's Architects or an independent mercenary in 5th Gen having a crew, including an Operator and a pilot.

Do you think an AC pilot *has* to know how to conduct an oil change?