Fuel missions go digital in Afghanistan

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Phillip Valentine | Spc. Randall Renfrow, 39th Joint Movement Control Battalion, National Afghan Trucking fuel cell noncommissioned officer in charge and two NAT carrier representatives, discuss the revised fuel placard and the electronic process of the digital fuel mission sheets at the JMCB headquarters. (U.S. Army photo by 1st Lt. Chaz Deering, 39th Joint Movement Control Battalion)  

BAGRAM, AFGHANISTAN

06.18.2013

Story by Sgt. Phillip Valentine 

311th Expeditionary Sustainment Command   

BAGRAM, Afghanistan — A new electronic form is helping the 39th Joint Movement Control Battalion to combat pilferage of fuel in Afghanistan.

For years, fuel pilferage had been a problem in Afghanistan, necessitated by the reliance on host-nation truckers to augment limited U.S. transportation assets. After analysis of the problem, the 39th JMCB discovered the conventional method of issuing paper documents to local carriers was flawed.

“Within the first week that we took over, we found out that tracking down and verifying the completion of transportation movement requests [TMRs] was extremely difficult,” said Spc. Randall Renfrow, who manages fuel deliveries for the 39th. “We were the new unit, so the carriers were sending us hundreds of old TMRs, many of them being fraudulent TMRs rejected by the previous unit.”

Under the paper-based system, National Afghan Trucking contractors were paid based on submission of mission sheets. But those paper documents were often lost, duplicated or forged, Renfrow said.

TMR verification was an even more difficult process when a Material Inspection and Receiving Report (DD Form 250) was not provided by the receiving unit – which occurred about 20 percent of the time. The JMCB spent countless hours determining the legitimacy of TMRs, mission by mission. Because recordkeeping was often poor, and personnel and sites were frequently in transition, it was almost impossible to confirm whether fuel was delivered or pilfered.

In May, the JMCB implemented a digital mission sheet in all locations serviced by the NAT contract. The new electronic mission sheet ensured that the fuel documentation remained in the custody of U.S. personnel, eliminated the possibility of rejection, and guaranteed confirmation of fuel deliveries.

“The new mission sheet incorporates U.S. Government confirmation and requires Common Access Card [CAC] signatures to validate all mission information, greatly reducing pilferage and improving accountability for both the USG and NAT carriers,” said Capt. Nicholas Rehbaum, officer in charge of NAT contracts for the 39th.

The mission sheet includes a locking feature similar to an Army evaluation report, which prevents each section of the mission sheet from being altered after CAC signature. The JMCB Fuel Cell now utilizes its web portal to maintain all mission sheets. The user-friendly site allows the fuel sites to retrieve their mission sheet from the online portal when their truck arrives, and then forward the digital sheet to the destination with the upload information annotated. Once the download site receives the fueled NAT truck, the truck is downloaded and all download information is entered on the mission sheet. The completed TMR is forwarded to the JMCB Fuel Cell for close-out.

“I do not just see the digital mission sheets saving the U.S. government money in stolen fuel, I see it saving lives,” said Lt. Col. Michael S. Knapp, commander of the 39th JMCB. “Pilfered fuel is a form of income for enemy forces to obtain weapons used against coalition forces. We have taken that income away from them.”

Knapp said the digital process could prevent as much as $2 million in annual fraud and theft. The form is widely accepted as user-friendly by contracting officers, law enforcement agencies and even the carriers themselves.

The 39th JMCB arrived in Afghanistan in March in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. The battalion took charge of the National Afghan Trucking contract, Short Take-Off and Landing aircrafts and rotary wing operations, and 19 subordinate Movement Control Teams throughout the Combined Joint Operations Area-Afghanistan.

• Date Taken: 06.18.2013
• Date Posted: 06.18.2013 01:39
• Story ID: 108810
• Location: BAGRAM, AF