Photo By Lt. Col. Matthew Nowak | The 368th Engineer Battalion provided command and control for a team of engineers and...... read more read more
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FORT BARFOOT, Virginia – The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers motto is “Essayons”, a French phrase that means “let us try.” This spirit was embodied by U.S. Army Active and Reserve Soldiers led by the New Hampshire based 368th Engineer Battalion, 302nd Combat Support Brigade, 412th Theater Engineer Command as they assembled a petroleum pipeline April 5-19, 2025, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia.
“There is no specific military job to execute this mission,” said Commander of the 368th Engineer Battalion, Lt. Col. Trevor Hopper. “We were assigned to this mission as part of a rotating set of units under the 412 (Theater Engineer Command). We approached this mission as a challenge to show our adaptability for any mission, as Army engineers typically do.”
The training is conducted annually at Fort Barfoot as part of the FORSCOM Petroleum Training Module. The Inland Petroleum Distribution System is a deployable bulk fuel storage and pipeline system. It is made up of tactical petroleum terminals (fuel units and pipeline connection assemblies), pipeline pump stations, pipeline sets, and special-purpose equipment. The system is modular in design and can be tailored for specific locations and operations.
The 368th provided command and control for its organic Rutland, Vermont based 424th Engineer Construction Company and for active-duty surveyors from Fort Knox’s 19th Engineer Battalion, active-duty Soldiers from Fort Cavazos’, 53rd Quartermaster Company, and U.S. Army Reserve Soldiers from the Fremont, Nebraska based 728th Quartermaster Company.
In total, the team constructed almost 20 miles of pipe with four pump stations and one refinery through the tough woodland terrain that includes streams and draws at Fort Barfoot.
“The training is intense, but necessary for today’s operational environment,” said the Sgt. Dennis Kay, a human resource specialist from the 368th. “The knowledge and experience we gained from this training is invaluable for our core mission. It has taught us to work efficiently and tested our ability to adapt to changes and work as one team with unfamiliar units.”
The construction process involves drawing the pipe and equipment from the depot, transporting the parts to its general location. From there, crews will align the pipe and connect them using collars. Once assembly is completed, water (in place of petroleum) flows through the pipeline and tests are conducted by the installation team to confirm the integrity of the system.
“It went well. We came together quickly as a team and integrated seamlessly,” said Hopper. “The size of the force was scaled back due to some last-minute changes, but the units that made it here, more than made-up for time it typically takes for a full force to assemble a pipeline of this size.”
In preparation for this training, the 368th conducted several training meetings and coordinated logistics with FORSCOM personnel to prepare themselves and to understand exactly what they would be doing.
Once the pipeline is completed multiple rotational units will travel to Fort Barfoot to perform maintenance and be tested on pipeline contingencies as part of their regular training cycle.
The system will be recovered by another engineer unit from the 412th later in the training year.
The IPDS was deployed to support U.S. and Coalition Forces in the liberation of Kuwait during Operation Desert Shield and Desert Storm, where more than 200 miles of IPDS were laid out. More than 220 miles of pipeline and 20 pump stations were in operation in 2003 during the beginning of Operation Iraqi Freedom. By the end of the operation, mostly in southern Iraq, more than 80 million gallons of JP-8 fuel was delivered by pipeline. This also helped to take fuel trucks off main support routes, allowing other classes of supply to move forward.
Fort Barfoot has been the Army’s home for oversight and execution of the Petroleum Operations Sustainment Training program since 1989. It is located near Blackstone, Virginia and features almost 41,000 acres of training area.
The 412th Theater Engineer Command is headquartered in Vicksburg, Mississippi. It provides command and control over approximately 10,000 U.S. Army Reserve Engineers from the Mississippi River to the Atlantic Ocean, ensuring our nation is ready to meet challenges at home and abroad.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2025 22:32 |
| Story ID: | 498540 |
| Location: | VIRGINIA, US |
| Web Views: | 27 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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