TRANSIT CENTER AT MANAS, Kyrgyzstan: Each day, more than 320,000 gallons of fuel are pumped in and out of the largest fuel farm in the Air Force, running through the most intricate maze of pipes and hoses of the filtration and storage systems.
Petroleum, Oils and Lubricants specialists in the 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron run 24/7 operations with little more than 40 flight members, all here on six-month deployment rotations.
These Airmen supervise fuel delivery at the Transit Center’s receiving point, called the header. Here, a contractor delivers fuel for about 18 hours each day, offloading anywhere between 40 to 60 trucks at about 8,000 gallons each.
“Every time we get a truck, the first thing we do is check the seals,” said Airman Justin Rose, who explained the trucks’ tanks are secured after they are filled to ensure the fuel isn’t tampered while en route to the Transit Center.
But, even if the seals haven’t been disturbed, the POL Airmen still test each of the truck’s fuel compartments to prevent the possibility of contaminated fuel at the source from entering the Transit Center’s system and jeopardizing the U.S. Central Command’s ability to support 30 percent of Afghanistan’s air refueling missions and 80 percent of its forward troop movements.
Once the quality of the fuel is verified, the fuel is calculated, corrected to 60 degrees Fahrenheit, the most accurate way to measure its volume. This ensures proper payment to the contractor.
After the fuel is offloaded it comes through a booster pump that pushes it through filter separators to clean it before it’s diluted with three additives to make it useable by U.S. aircraft.
“Then it moves down the line to whichever bladder we’re (filling) at a rate of 450 gallons a minute,” Staff Sgt. Benjamin Lowers said.
He added that the bladder is the final storage destination until the fuel is loaded onto a truck and driven onto the flight line.
More than a dozen bladders have the capacity to hold 200,000 gallons each. The large, rubberized fabric containers rest inside dikes lined with the same material and will contain any fluid that may leak out due to pressure imbalances within the network.
Airman 1st Class Zachery Conoway talks as he pumps fuel from a bladder into his R-11 fuel truck.
“It definitely takes more time to load the truck than it does to offload the fuel into the aircraft,” said the first-time deployed Airman.
“My favorite part of the job?” said Airman Conoway as he waited for the fuel service center to tell him which aircraft he’s refueling next. “I like driving the truck. We get to be out on the flight line with the aircraft. We’re the ones who make them go.”
“This truck holds 6,000 gallons, but we don’t service the aircraft with more than 5,600 gallons at a time,” he said.
Senior Master Sgt. Brian Payne, POL flight chief, said this limit prevents air from getting sucked into the pump while offloading fuel into the aircraft.
“It significantly reduces the possibility of the truck’s pump being damaged when not enough fuel is being drawn into the system,” he said. “This is just one of many considerations our Airmen need to keep in mind in order to keep the mission working.”
This also means taking the best possible care of older, worn equipment compared to what is found at home stations. Staff Sgt. Dominick Griego said the trucks, especially, fit this category.
“We’d rather take an extra 5 to 7 minutes to fill a truck carefully then to break one completely,” he said. That would hurt us.”
Lt. Col. Will Phillips, the squadron commander, says the POL Airmen have risen above all of their challenges and continue to pump the life blood into the airlift, onward movement of troops and refueling missions of the Transit Center at Manas.
“Our guys have been working out of a tent and a bladder farm since 2001,” he said. “Stateside they are operating a hydrant system with above-ground storage tanks, a very modern operation. It’s amazing they’ve operated as if this was a bare-base environment for this long.”
Senior Airman Byron Theriot says every Airmen in the flight knows how valuable they are.
“There’s a saying we have in POL: Pilots would be pedestrians without us.”
