Fueling crews keep Army birds in the air

Photo By Sgt. Roland Hale | A CH-47 Chinook helicopter deployed to Iraq with the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division receives fuel at the Forward Arming and Refueling Point on Camp Taji, Iraq, Jan. 13. The Taji FARP has pumped nearly 2 million gallons of fuel since A Company, 601st Aviation Support Battalion took charge of it last March.  

CAMP TAJI, IRAQ

01.13.2011

Story by Spc. Roland Hale 

Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – Army helicopter fuelers on Camp Taji, Iraq, are running what is best described as a full-service gas station for military helicopters here.

Camp Taji’s Forward Arming and Refueling Point, known as the Taji FARP, is open 24 hours to service military helicopters that need to quickly refuel and rearm without shutting down their engines. In less than five minutes, ground crews can fit the birds with the fuel and munitions they need to continue their missions.

Despite the end of combat operations here, almost 10,000 aircraft have visited the Taji FARP since March. Also, its crews have pumped nearly 2 million gallons of jet fuel, an average of 5,000 gallons daily.

For the fuelers of A Company, 601st Aviation Support Battalion, gallons translate to hours.

“As long as there’s aircraft flying we’ll be busy,” said Sgt. 1st Class Anthony Fields, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the point. “Whether it’s combat or stability operations, birds need fuel.”

Fields, a native of Jackson, Miss., is serving his second deployment to Iraq with the unit. Whether its rockets or fuel, the FARP will be busy until the unit returns to Fort Riley, Kan., this spring, he said.

“They’re tired, but they’re dedicated,” said Fields. “It’s hands-on work and most of the guys here are hands-on types of guys.”

Spc. Anthony Samuel, one of the company’s fuelers, is already counting down the days until the unit returns to the states. Until then, Samuel and the other fuelers will work at least 12 hours per shift, often working several weeks without a day off. And for now, he has settled into a rhythm.

“It’s a thrill – better than it’s described at the recruiter’s desk,” said Samuel, of Victorville, Calif. “You see photos and videos of these aircraft all the time. It’s another thing to work with them.”

Another portion of the FARP’s work is done away from the hoses. Sgt. Jamie Poole, a native of Columbus, Miss., works behind the scenes to make sure the fuel meets the Army’s quality standards. The point’s personnel make daily runs to pick up fuel from a facility on the camp, and each batch has to be tested before it touches a pump, said Poole.

“We make sure the fuel will keep the birds in the air,” he said. “If there’s water build-up or any sort of contamination, they can’t fly.”

His company is part of the Enhanced Combat Aviation Brigade, 1st Infantry Division, the Army’s only aviation brigade in Iraq. As part of Operation New Dawn, he is one of the Army’s only fuelers pumping gas in Iraq.

Poole also served on the brigade’s last deployment, when the war was in full swing. Now, Poole is serving what will likely be his last tour in Iraq.

“But the mission isn’t over, it hasn’t changed for us,” he said. “We support the people flying every day.”

• Date Taken: 01.13.2011
• Date Posted: 01.13.2011 08:02
• Story ID: 63469
• Location: CAMP TAJI, IQ