1st Armored Division Soldiers conduct 'Refuel on the Move'

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class George Gutierrez | Soldiers assigned to 504th Quartermaster Company, 142nd Brigade Support Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Armored Division and the Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants platoon, Alpha Company, 501st Brigade Support Battalion, 1st Brigade, 1st Armored Division conduct a "refuel on the move" during Iron Focus on the Fort Bliss training area March 30, 2015.  

FORT BLISS, TX, UNITED STATES

04.01.2015

Story by Staff Sgt. George Gutierrez 

24th Theater Public Affairs Support Element

FORT BLISS, Texas - Water, food, fuel and ammunition are the primary needs of any Army.

For Soldiers trained in the military occupational specialty of 92F or petroleum supply specialist, fuel is their bread and butter.

Recently, Soldiers of the 1st Armored Division conducted a "Refuel on the Move" mission for about 200 military vehicles during Iron Focus.

“We are providing fuel for the force, for the maneuver elements and for the [soldiers] to get realistic training in an austere environment,” said Warrant Officer One Terrance Avila, a petroleum system technician with the 504th Quartermaster Company, 142nd Brigade Support Battalion, 15th Sustainment Brigade, 1st Armored Division.

According to Army doctrine, ROM for ground vehicles is synonymous with rapid or hot refueling for aircraft.

“The ROM is not a top-off point,” said Spc. Arnaldo Robles, a petroleum supply specialist assigned to the 504th QMC.

"Refuel on the Move" is accomplished as far forward on the battlefield as the situation permits prior to the tactical assembly area. The purpose of ROM is to extend the time ground forces can spend on their mission, although ROM can be made to suit other situations as well.

When military vehicles enter a ROM site for refueling, they receive a predetermined amount of fuel (usually timed) and then return to their convoy.

“We know that if we push fuel on an eight point ROM, each [fuel] point pumps 30 to 35 gallons per minute, so that means that with 30 seconds of fuel, most military vehicles are three-quarters full,” said Avila.

“What we usually do is a hasty ROM, which is pull out a couple of nozzles out of a M978 Heavy Expanded Mobility Tactical Truck, something quick and efficient,” said Avila. “‘Refuel on the Move’ is an ancient art, you don’t see this anymore.”

Avila stressed that petroleum supply specialist are effective combat multipliers as they sustain the vehicles moving from point A to point B.

“We are going back to the basics, so if we have to go into an austere environment this is the type of [training] that we need to be proficient at in order for the ground forces to be efficient on their objective,” said Avila. “This concept and doctrine is not only being taught within the 1st Armored Division, as we move forward and write the Standard Operation Procedures, but it is also going out to the Quartermaster school to train new Soldiers."

• Date Taken: 04.01.2015
• Date Posted: 04.01.2015 13:11
• Story ID: 158788
• Location: FORT BLISS, TX, US