Photo By Staff Sgt. Mikaley Kline | Airman 1st Class Jordan Spann, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels mobile...... read more read more
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NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. - Members of Air Combat Command’s busiest Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants flight demonstrate their dedication to mission success daily through their work including issuing more than 55 million gallons of fuel a year to keep the mission running strong.
POL has the distinct mission of issuing fuel to every government run machine on Nellis Air Force Base, but there’s a lot more to the fuels flight than meets the eye. Fuels also has a section in charge of flight training and deployments to care for the Airmen in the flight. They have a preventive maintenance section that repairs and maintains their equipment. The flight has an administration section that oversees the workflow, and an environmental office.
“When Airmen first arrive, they spend time getting to understand and know the distribution portion,” said Master Sgt. Brian Schule, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight chief. “After Airmen get time and experience in the distribution section, they’ll move to another section, such as the Fuels Service Center or the Fuels Laboratory.”
No matter which section fuels Airmen find themselves in at Nellis, two things are certain, they’ll be busy and still be part of the family, Schule said.
“We have some of the hardest working Airmen I’ve seen,” Schule said. “This is the seventh flight I’ve been to, and these Airmen are the hardest workers I’ve ever seen. It’s just impressive to watch them accomplishing the mission.”
Airman 1st Class Elijah Redus, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels mobile distribution operator, said morale is high in their flight because everyone is treated like family.
“It’s extremely busy here,” Redus said. “During exercises, we have to pull in people TDY from everywhere to come help out. The flight here feels a lot like one big family, even the people who come in TDY. At first, it’s a little awkward like, ‘Where are you from? Oh you’re from this base. I was there too. Do you know so and so?’ It’s a lot like a family, adjusting to different personalities when you haven’t seen your relatives in a while.”
Family matters aside, the fuels flight‘s workload ensures the Airmen are always on their toes, particularly during large-scale exercises like Red Flag or Green Flag.
“We have a 24-hour operations seven days a week,” Schule said. “It’s a tough job and these guys stay busy. At any given time during exercises, we’ll have over 300 aircraft here; they’re all different styles, and sometimes from different countries.”
Different airframes require different amounts of fuel and many require different types.
“Our Fuels Service Center is the focal point of the fuels flight,” Schule said. “It’s the central nervous system. They deal directly with the (maintenance operations center). When the aircraft are landing and parking, each maintenance unit is calling in to our control center, and they’ll log in aircraft, and then dispatch our operators. They might get 60 phone calls in a matter of 20 minutes when aircraft are coming in.”
From the time an aircraft gets called in, to dispatching a driver, and to arrive at the aircraft, the Fuels Flight averages a 23 minute response time. This puts the airframes back in the sky faster to continue their missions.
To meet the need of Nellis’ nine Aircraft Maintenance Units, the fuels flight has to keep track of all fuel received and transferred to ensure they always have enough to meet the demand. The fuel is received via pipeline from California and stored locally until the call for fuel comes.
“Once trucks are filled, it’s back to the flightline. The demand for fuel is constant,” Redus said.
“We always have a need to fill aircraft and occasionally they’ll need maintenance done on them and the fuels flight is called in to perform a defuel,” Redus said.
Redus said the fuels mission is a dynamic one, issuing diesel and unleaded on the ground to fueling aircraft and providing maintenance units with cryogenic support.
“Fuels is amazing,” said 2nd Lt. Keith Van Dyck, 99th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight commander. “I became an officer to work with people, and as a logistics officer you get that opportunity by cycling through a series of very different flights. Currently, I’m lucky enough to be assigned with these guys.”
| Date Taken: | 03.26.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 03.26.2015 19:56 |
| Story ID: | 158291 |
| Location: | NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, NV, US |
| Web Views: | 138 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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