Fuelies fuel the force Published Dec. 7, 2006 By 1st Lt. Lisa Ferguson 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs POPE AIR FORCE BASE, N.C. -- Pope has long been known across Air Mobility Command for its unique mission, and the tradition continues with the 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management flight. "It's the only base in AMC that receives its fuel from a rail system," said Chief Master Sgt. John Sledz, Fuels Management Flight Chief. "It's also the primary way Pope has to get JP-8 fuel loaded into our fuel storage tanks allowing our planes to fly." Trains loaded with JP-8 fuel from Selma, NC. are transported by rail to Pope AFB. They are handed off from to Fort Bragg rail engineers and then escorted to Pope. Fuels storage personnel connect hoses to the railcars and begin the exchange of JP-8 fuel. "We are very proud to be AMC's only active railcar receipt operation," said Chief Master Sgt. Michael Southerland, fuels manager. "Compared to other bases that receive fuel via pipeline where they only have to open valves, the railcar receipt takes up to four hours and is an extremely hard job. On a normal week we receive two sets of 14 railcars and are supplemented with tank truck receipts." Just the thought of being without a fuel pipeline might seem unthinkable to some, but here at Team Pope it is a way of life, and the fuels management team works hard to ensure mission support regardless of the receipt means available. Tech. Sgt. Jeffrey Goins, non commissioned officer in charge of bulk storage, and his crew safely received more than 20 million gallons of aviation and ground fuel in support of the 43rd Airlift Wing. The most recent addition to bulk storage is a newly constructed 2.4 million gallon tank; it increased storage capacity by one-third and allowed for the deactivation of 18 type II hydrant storage tanks. Now bulk fuel storage has a maximum capacity of 4.4 million gallons in four JP-8 tanks and two ground fuel tanks at the base military service station. A less noticeable, but important addition to bulk storage was six hydrant outlets installed on the Red Ramp. This area provided the base with six additional parking spots for wide body aircraft and is the main "hot cargo" refueling area which affords the flight an opportunity to maximize the capability of hydrant servicing vehicles to accomplish refueling needs. "Pope is unique in that we support movements of the XVIII Airborne Corps, Golden Knights, 23rd Fighter Group, 43rd Airlift Wing and all transient aircraft," said 1st Lt. Mitchell Parker, Fuels Management Flight commander. "We have maintained an excellent fuel request to aircraft response time, despite having 50 percent of our flight deployed throughout the year." Another unique aspect to Pope's fuel management flight is that it's the only base in the United States that has NATO-compliant cut and cover tanks. "The tanks are buried inside a concrete shell providing additional explosion protection," Lieutenant Parker said. Pope's fuels management flight services on average 12,000 aircraft every year with more than 19 million gallons of fuel. While deployed to Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan Pope's fuels flight blew the deployed aircraft servicing record out of the water, pumping 25 million gallons of jet fuel in a four-month period, beating the old record by 8 million gallons. The fuels flight laboratory assists the Army in fuel testing ensuring fuel quality for Army assets. "We cut the turnaround time on fuel testing for the Army from 14 days to less than one day," Chief Southerland said. What makes the fuels management flight great isn't just their dedication to the mission and hard work day in and day out, but their commitment and support to each other. "Once a month we support Airmen Against Drunk Driving," said Chief Sledz. "Our resource control center takes the call and then dispatches the call to the on-call person in our flight." The fuels management team also organizes and runs the squadron's Adopt-a-Highway, weekly Meals-on-Wheels, test proctoring at the local schools and tutoring students at Pope Elementary. "The camaraderie and morale of the fuels flight is what sets us apart," Lieutenant Parker said. Team Pope's Fuels Management Flight has proven themselves capable of supporting not only worldwide contingencies and home-base operations, but excels in leading the fuels management for exercises as well. The flight was recognized for its outstanding fuels planning during this year's Eagle Flag deployment. Proof of the flight dedication and hard work is in being a finalist for the William N. Penton award for the Best Fuels Management Flight in AMC. The evaluators will be inspecting the flight Sunday through Thursday. The flight is up against Travis AFB, Calif. and Fairchild AFB, Wash.