Photo By Staff Sgt. Preston Webb | Senior Airman Courtney, 380th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels...... read more read more
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Whether refueling aircraft, equipment or testing fuel samples, the 380th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight does it all at an undisclosed location in southwest Asia.
The fuels services flight, also known as POL for petroleum, oils and lubricants, provides fuel support to the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. POL Airmen supply fuel to aircraft, all government-operated vehicles, generators and refueling stations around base.
“It's our job to distribute clean, dry fuel to the mission as quickly and efficiently as possible,” said Staff Sgt. Roxanne, 380 LRS noncommissioned officer in charge of fuels services.
To ensure the highest quality possible, lab specialists repeatedly test samples from the fuel tanks for contaminants with a variety of high-tech equipment. Flash point testers, density meters and oxidation stability analyzers all provide crucial quality-control information to the lab specialists.
“In some cases, a visual inspection of a fuel sample would be enough,” said Senior Airman Courtney, 380th ELRS fuels lab technician. "Since it's so critical to the mission, we run multiple tests on each sample to make sure the quality meets standards.”
If the sample is free of contaminants, the fuel is stored or pumped into refueling trucks and sent to fuel equipment around base. In addition to verifying and maintaining the quality of the fuel the unit also maintains the fleet of trucks that deliver it.
“One of our biggest challenges is actually the fact that we're geographically separated and can't get the parts quickly to maintain the trucks,” said Staff Sgt. Colin, 380 LRS fuels operations supervisor. “Even if it means cannibalizing parts from other trucks from time to time, we always keep the mission going.”
Colin and Roxanne agreed that POL personnel have a mission-focused mentality and constantly ensure the priorities of their mission partners are met day and night, regardless of weather or demands of the flying schedule.
"Whether working through lunch to complete back-to-back jobs or pulling longer shifts when needed our Airmen make sure the mission gets taken care of,” said Colin. “This isn't a training base; this is what we train for. Our Airmen understand that and our Airmen are here to work.”
| Date Taken: | 04.28.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 05.01.2017 00:20 |
| Story ID: | 232084 |
| Location: | (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION) |
| Web Views: | 63 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Fueling the fight: POL Airmen prove critical to Airpower employment, by SSgt Preston Webb, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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