Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Christopher Davis | Vehicles and equipment lineup at the refueling point before work starts on sections of...... read more read more
Cincu, Romania. – An old adage says that an army cannot not march on an empty stomach; and in much the same way, an army’s vehicles will not roll without fuel.
Fuel teams are critical to operations like Resolute Castle 16, a multinational joint force operation that works to improve the infrastructure on bases in eastern European countries. During June 2016, the Alabama National Guard and Romanian Land Forces are working together at Cincu Training Range in Romania to improve interior access roads and building structures across its various ranges.
“I believe other MOSs (military occupational specialties) do not realize what is involved in fueling operations,” said Staff Sgt. Gerald Harris, 877th Engineer Battalion Forward Support Company.
Harris was the noncommissioned-officer-in-charge of the fuel team for the third rotation of Resolute Castle 16 at Cincu Training Range. He said that they had to be ready to move when command needed the fuel trucks to be relocated to a new fueling point. They always has to be close to the horizontal construction sites on Route Crimson.
Operating the fuel trucks twice a day, the fuel team averaged more than 400 gallons of fuel a day for approximately 30 vehicles. The largest single day consumption of fuel was more than 1,100 gallons. This necessity for fuel proved the how critical it was to have fuelers on hand to keep things running.
“We have one of the most important jobs,” said Pvt. 1st Class Dustin Ward, 877th Engineer Battalion Forward Support Company. “Without us, the heavy equipment and their operators would not get anything done.”
For Ward, his first annual training period with the Alabama National Guard was an overseas training mission. He maintained protocols and procedures to pump fuel into the vehicles and trucks as needed.
Harris had at times placed Ward in charge of the refueling operations, giving him the chance to develop some accountability skills. Ward directed vehicles to the fuel truck, logged in the vehicle number with mileage and gallons consumed. Harris said Ward preformed above the level where most would be at this point in their military career.
“Sometimes it is hard to maintain an exact schedule when needs change,” said Harris. “You have to be flexible to move the fuel truck where the guys need it.”
So the adage holds true for both soldiers and vehicles, without something to fill them, neither will get very far.
| Date Taken: | 06.30.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 07.05.2016 08:11 |
| Story ID: | 203101 |
| Location: | CINCU, RO |
| Web Views: | 389 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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