512th completes FARP mission at Cobra

Courtesy Photo | Spc. Jimmy Davis, a fueler with the 512th Quartermaster Company, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), and an Anderson, Ind., native, refuels a UH-60 Blackhawk helicopter while two other Soldiers with the 512th QM Co. assist.  

OPERATING BASE COBRA, IRAQ

10.03.2010

Courtesy Story

3rd Division Sustainment Brigade

FORWARD OPERATING BASE COBRA, Iraq - The 512th Quartermaster Company has hit another major milestone in this their deployment —the end of the Forward Arming and Refueling Point mission at Forward Operating Base Cobra, Iraq.

Soldiers from with the 512th Quartermaster Company, 13th Combat Sustainment Support Battalion, 3rd Sustainment Brigade, 103rd Sustainment Command (Expeditionary), out of Hunter Army Air Field, Ga., trained at Joint Base Balad, Iraq, at the’s FARP site for two weeks, and then traveled to Contingency Operating Base Speicher, Iraq, to train for an additional two weeks. They began the actual mission in mid-June, a little more than a month after their arrival in country. They are set to hand over the mission Oct. 1.

Before taking over the FARP at FOB Cobra, the team trained at Joint Base Balad’s FARP site for two weeks, and then traveled to Contingency Operating Base Speicher to train for an additional two weeks, said 1st Lt. Josh Kuster, the officer in charge of operations for 512th QM Company, and a native of Selinsgrove, Pa.

“When we were at Speicher, we were able to get more involved with the process, and eventually we were able to take over the mission for a week,” said 1st Lt. Josh Kuster, operations the officer in charge with the of operations for 512th QM Company, and a native of Selinsgrove, Pa., native.

Kuster said. “We learned a lot during our time at Speicher there.”

He added that, even though most of the soldiers’ primary military occupational specialty specialties is are as water treatment specialists, they quickly adapted to fueling operations, and were even able to grasp the ammunition aspects to effectively support all helicopters operating in the vicinity of FOB Cobra.

“We refueled three different types of birds - Blackhawks, Kiowas and Chinooks - and each bird used a different nozzle,” Said Spc. Jimmy Davis, a fueler with the 512th QM Company, and an Anderson, Ind., native.

“Other than that, the job was fairly uncomplicated.” said Spc. Jimmy Davis, a fueler at Cobrafor the FOB Cobra mission, and an a native of Anderson, Ind., native.

He added that the jump from a water treatment specialist to a fueler was easier than expected because fuelers used much less equipment.

The mission at the remote FOB Cobra consisted of quickly and safely refueling any air assets that come into FOB Cobra, said Kuster. The team refueled around approximately five helicopters a day, but without knowing the schedule, but since the schedule often varied, the team ran 24-hour operations.

“There were schedules for some of the flights, but Kiowas were always unscheduled and would often come in unexpected,” said Kuster. “Over the past five months, we refueled close to 500 helicopters, using 65,000 gallons of fuel.”

The team will return to Joint Base Balad shortly after they hand over operations to the incoming unit.

• Date Taken: 10.03.2010
• Date Posted: 10.03.2010 09:30
• Story ID: 57423
• Location: OPERATING BASE COBRA, IQ