An official website of the United States government
Here's how you know
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

“Without fuel, nothing moves,” says Al Udeid Airman

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Kerry Jackson
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

Having delivered more than three billion gallons of aviation fuel since 2001 in support of major operations, including Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom, the expeditionary logistics readiness squadron here continues its non-stop hustle to execute the mission, and according to one Airman, “Without fuel, nothing moves.”

“That’s not being cocky, those are the facts,” said Master Sgt. Jean-Paul Smith, 379th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels superintendent, whose fuels unit is touted as being the busiest refueling hub in the Air Force and Department of Defense. “Without fuel the KC-135s aren’t going up and creating the air bridge for the fighters that are supporting the missions on the ground—fuel support is a critical factor in the success of these missions.”

Smith and his team of 79 Airmen deliver roughly one million gallons of fuel per day to tactical aircraft supporting joint and coalition missions in the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility. In November, at the height of Operation Inherent Resolve, the 379th ELRS delivered more than 32.9 million gallons of fuel, breaking a 2009 monthly record while the United States was engaged in two major operations.

“We are doing the same amount of servicing lines as a fighter base, if not more, but we have a heavy-base fuel load, which is unique,” said Smith. “We are, without a doubt, the busiest refueling point in all of the Department of Defense.”

At Al Udeid, the fuels team provides direct fuels support to eight tactical and cargo airframes including: the B-1B Lancer, KC-135 Stratotanker, C-130J Hercules, C-17 Globemaster III, C-21A, E-8C Joint Stars, and the RC-135V/W Rivet Joint.

“It takes a lot of skill to provide POL support to that many variations of aircraft,” said Smith. “Most of my Airmen are assigned to wings that have a couple of airframes, but here we support eight or more, and it just goes to show how skilled the Grand Slam fuels team is at consistently executing the mission.”

The Airmen assigned to the 379th ELRS Fuels team employ the R-11 refueler trucks, the R-12 Hydrant Servicing Vehicles, and the Pantograph Fueling System to deliver fuel to aircraft and ground equipment. In addition to being responsible for delivering fuel to the warfighter, they are also responsible for managing a robust fuel storage and retrieval system.

“Our bulk storage system is unique to anything else in the Air Force, “said Smith. “In saying that, we have Contract Operated, Contract Owned Bulk Storage, allowing the Fuels flight to focus on the refuel servicing operation, while the contractor operate and maintain the system.”

The fuels flight is also the sole source for Cryogenic products and the Air Bulk Fuel Delivery System in the AOR, where they support 11 joint forward operating locations with Liquid Oxygen and Liquid Nitrogen to include fly-away missions of aviation products.

Smith doesn’t want it to go unnoted that the support his team provides to the Grand Slam mission goes beyond that of supporting the aerial mission.

“It’s bigger than just supporting our pilots—I mean, it includes our ground mission here as well,” said Smith. “Without ground fuel, vehicles don’t move, generators don’t run—it’s all-around support that we provide here, and that’s 24/7, 365 days a year, non-stop.”

Despite the numbers speaking for themselves, the 379th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Superintendent here, Chief Master Sgt. Phil Campbell, supports Smith’s assertion.

“There is no doubt that our fuels mission here is world-class,” said Campbell. “We certainly couldn’t fight the air war without the tremendous support the fuels team provides our aircraft on a non-stop, daily basis. So yes, ’without fuel, nothing moves,’ is a true statement indeed.”

Smith, who is certainly a “one team, one fight” kind of Airman, concluded in a “drop the mic,” style vernacular, “pilots are pedestrians without POL.”