Photo By Sgt. Elizabeth Clark | BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Latisha Smith, a fuel system distribution operator with...... read more read more
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BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Sergeant 1st Class Rodney Lissade, the Defense Logistics Agency representative for the 3rd Infantry Division Resolute Support Sustainment Brigade, heads out early in the morning to meet a group of local nationals who brought their fuel trucks onto post that day.
The trucks had gone through a 24 hour soaking period, where security guards check the safety of the vehicles and ensure there are no restricted items, prior to being taken to the National Afghan Trucking yard, a holding area for the drivers that come onto Bagram Airfield. That day, Lissade had 15 fuel trucks to download.
“This is an everyday job, I get no days off,” said Lissade. “No one can download or upload fuel on BAF without me.”
As the key sustainers for the CJOA-A, the 3rd Inf. Div. RSSB Soldiers are responsible for supplying fuel to any post in theater that requests it. Since arriving in country approximately a month ago, they have completed approximately 30 missions to supply fuel to forward operating bases.
Fuel comes through underground pipelines across the country. Once it reaches the city of Bagram the fuel goes through Red Star Enterprises Ltd., a subcontractor of DLA. As soon as fuel passes through the borders of Bagram Airfield, the fuel belongs to the 3rd Inf. Div. RSSB.
“Our fuel farms can hold approximately 10 million gallons of fuel,” said Lissade. “We use fuel on BAF for air conditioning, heat, light and all manner of power.”
Fuel is not only provided by the pipelines. Contractors can transport fuel onto the post via trucks. They are taken through an extensive process of checking their credentials, ensuring the safety of the vehicles and the quality of the fuel. Once all of these procedures are completed, the drivers can download the fuel, or intake fuel depending on the job that day.
Working alongside employees of Fluor, a contract company through U.S. Army’s Logistics Civil Augmentation Program IV, and security teams, Lissade escorts the line of trucks from the National Afghan Truck yard to the Ten Truck Offloading Facility at entry control point one. The drivers line up in the fueling corrals and then are inspected by Fluor employees to ensure the fuel wasn’t tampered with. The employees also draw samples of the fuel to be sent to the petroleum testing facility on post. Once all of these procedures are met, the drivers then download their fuel to pipelines that transport the fuel to the fuel farms on post.
Without the constant efforts of the petroleum supply Soldiers with the RSSB, posts wouldn’t be able to run the most basic functions. These Soldiers provide the key sustainment elements to enable U.S. and Coalition forces to continue the fight.
Story was originally published on page 4A of the Nov. 30, 2017 issue of "The Frontline."
It may also be found at http://media.morristechnology.com/upload/fortstewart/paperpdfs/199/paper_pg_004.pdf
| Date Taken: | 11.28.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.30.2017 09:24 |
| Story ID: | 256610 |
| Location: | BAGRAM AIR FIELD, AF |
| Hometown: | HINESVILLE, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 358 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
This work, RSSB: A Central Site for Fuel Operations, by SGT Elizabeth Clark, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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