Fuels Airmen pump up

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathan Gallahan
  • 40th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM (AFPN) --  On a busy day at their home station, the Airmen from the fuels element measure their amount of pumped fuel by the thousands. When they are deployed here, they measure it by the hundreds of thousands. Busy is not the word.

The 40th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Flight fuels Airmen pumped their 10 millionth gallon of fuel Aug. 23 -- averaging about 170,000 gallons a day.

Two of them have pumped more than 1 million gallons each, said Master Sgt. Bruce Mjelde, 40th ELRF fuels superintendent.

Along with the sheer amount of fuel required by the B-1 Lancers and KC-135 Stratotankers, the fuels Airmen face other challenges.

“We’ve been busy streamlining many of the procedures to increase mission effectiveness,” said Staff Sgt. Travis Schaefer, 40th ELRF day-shift leader. “That coupled with (servicing oxygen tanks that are used by the medics) and establishing a good foundation of continuity has kept us on the move since day one.”

When the Airmen first arrived, they noticed some areas that could be improved upon, Sergeant Schaefer said. The Airmen were able to save hundreds of man hours by working with the foreign contractors to simplify the fuel-sampling process.

It is a daily occurrence for them to work with the contractors, but working directly with Sailors presents its own challenges and rewards.

Although the fuels Airmen rarely work directly with Sailors in terms of hands-on muscle, they work very closely with them operationally, Sergeant Mjelde said.

“Working with (Sailors) here has broadened my experiences and will give me a stronger foundation to build the rest of my career on,” Sergeant Schaefer said. “Although I may not use these Navy-specific experiences back at Fairchild [Air Force Base, Wash.], later on in my career when I deal with them again, I will have a firm understanding of how their systems work and will be able to make better managerial decisions.”

Working with contractors and other services is a new experience, but to some degree working closely with fellow Airmen could be slightly different as well.

If the Airmen are unable to purchase a product through the Air Force at their home station, they get permission to purchase it off base, Sergeant Schaefer said. Here, they work even closer with supply and transportation to complete the mission.

It has been interesting to see how the different agencies work and affect the mission, Sergeant Schaefer said. If it was not for the outstanding work of Airmen, Sailors and foreign contractors, these aircraft would never leave the ground, he said.