Against a constant battle with the elements, the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing’s flying mission depends on one unit to always be ready when called on.

The 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron’s petroleum, oil and lubricant, or POL, flight stands ready to deliver fuel to anyone who needs it, at any hour of the day or night, no matter the weather conditions.

“We’re fighting windstorms, rain, mud and alarm reds, but we’re getting fuel on base and to the aircraft everyday,” said Tech. Sgt. Jeff Garner fuels operation superintendent for the squadron. “Our response time goal is 30 minutes, but we’re averaging 14 minutes from the time we receive the request to getting the aircraft fueled.”

Meeting their goals can be challenging -- the POL flight averages almost 2,000 aircraft refuelings and approximately 2.3 million gallons of fuel a month.

“Without fuel the mission doesn’t fly and the wing comes to a halt,” Sergeant Garner said. “When you handle this much fuel, you have to make sure you’re doing everything safely and doing it the right way.”

Doing things the right way doesn’t just mean getting the fuel, or JP-8, to aircraft. The flight also issues diesel to generators and power plants on base so Airmen can have electricity. In addition, POL issues oxygen and liquid nitrogen for cryogenics requests and maintains a fuel bladder farm to support all mission requirements.

They also special-deliver fuels such as aviation gasoline that power unmanned aerial vehicles like the Predator.

The 29-member POL flight is made up of about half active-duty Airmen from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and half Guardsmen from the Alaska Air National Guard.

“This is one of the most challenging bases to work at because of the environment, the mud and dust,” said Senior Master Sgt. Gene Sawdon, squadron combat fuels manager. “We have to take care of the equipment and everyone must perform at 100 percent or the mission won’t work.”

The process starts with the fuel filtration. According to Air Force standards, fuel is required to be filtered twice before using it, but the POL flight here makes sure it gets filtered three times before it hits the aircraft.

“We have pretty strict sampling procedures,” Sergeant Garner said. “It looks dirty out here, but we get clean, dry fuel to the aircraft. So far we haven’t had any fuel-related aircraft incidents.”

The environment also takes its toll on vehicles the flight uses. That’s where Staff Sgt. James Sullivan comes in. Sergeant Sullivan is in charge of maintaining 11 R-11 refuelers, two aviation gasoline trucks and two C-301 diesel fuel trucks.

“The trucks are old and beat up from the weather and we’re running them 24 hours a day,” Sergeant Sullivan said. “It’s my job to keep them working and combat-ready.”

“When I see the planes take off and know they’re on time, I know that’s our mission,” Sergeant Sawdon said. “We know we’ve played a big part in getting them in the air.”