Fuels Flight keeps Incirlik moving

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Oshawn Jefferson
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
INCIRLIK AIR BASE, Turkey --  They keep C-17 Globemaster IIIs transporting people and cargo to locations supporting Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom. They keep the more than 1,170 vehicles, which are taking Airmen to work and distinguished visitors from one side of the base to the other rolling. They also keep those generators at the Base Exchange running during power outages.

They are the men and women of the 39th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight and they keep the fuel flowing and the “Lik” moving.

“We provide fuel to aircraft that come through the cargo hub, AAFES, aerospace ground equipment, any type of vehicle on the base and transient aircraft,” said Master Sgt. Scott Nielsen, 39th LRS fuels operations element chief. “Our mission is to provide clean, dry and serviceable fuel for Incirlik day-to-day operations and for aircraft supporting missions into the AORs.”

The fuels management flight stores, handles and distributes three types of fuel products here, including JP-8 or jet fuel, diesel fuel and premium unleaded gasoline. Additionally, the flight handles liquid oxygen and nitrogen storage and distribution. Since the cargo hub started in June 2005 the fuels flight has pumped and distributed more than 79 million gallons of fuel.

“When the cargo hub first opened we were pumping two and a half to three million gallons of fuel a month,” said Staff Sgt. Joshua Fuller, 39th LRS noncommissioned officer in charge of fuels administration. “That was a three-fold increase to our fuels operations.”

The fuel arrives here via pipeline. Before it can be used by the base, it is filtered and subjected to laboratory testing to ensure it meets military standards. The fuel is eventually pushed to a storage yard. From there it is distributed via trucks, which can carry as much as 6,000 gallons of fuel, or by underground distribution lines terminating in panographs for refueling large aircraft.

“We test all the fuel thoroughly and ensure is it is maintained and stored properly before it is pumped into any vehicle or aircraft,” said Tech. Sgt. Duane L. Matthews I, 39th LRS noncommissioned officer in charge of bulk storage. “We have to keep all of the fuel ready and serviceable or the mission could come to a complete stop.”

Since the unit handles all fuel on base, to include supplying fuel to cargo hub operations and Incirlik’s day-to-day operations, the fuels flight receives more than nine million gallons of fuel a month which is the second highest operations tempo in U.S Forces in Europe behind Ramstein Air Base, Germany. While Ramstein conducts their mission with 128 people, Incirlik conducts theirs with 37 permanent party Airmen and 24 temporary duty Airmen. The TDY Airmen, here on fourth-month rotations, drive all of the fuels distribution trucks on base.

“When you come here, you have to be ready to roll,” said Senior Airman Jared Mason, 39th LRS fuels distribution truck driver, TDY from Beale Air Force Base, Calif. “The flightline here is set up to fuel fighter aircraft, since we don’t have any, we have to drive the trucks up manually and fuel the aircraft. Even though that mission isn’t much different from my homestation, it is busier here and we have to always be ready to go.”

The 24-hour operated fuels flight never stops moving, on a regular night the unit moves an estimated 118,000 gallons of fuel, ensuring that not only the aircraft on the flightline are ready to fly their missions the next day, but that everybody else on the base can drive to work the next morning.

“From the lowest ranking day shift Airman to the highest ranking night shift NCO, the men and women in the fuels flight continue a standard of excellence in all they do on a daily basis,” said Capt. Cassandra Antwine, 39th LRS fuels management flight commander. “Most people will never see the dedication and pride the fuels flight puts into the day-to-day operations here. We are the fuel source and life blood of the mission.”

As Airmen and civilians watch the planes fly over the skies above Incirlik or the government vehicles move across the base, they will know it’s the fuels flight that keeps the “Lik” moving.