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Airmen help Iraqis keep fuel on fire

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau
  • 321st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
ALI AIR BASE, Iraq --  The 407th Expeditionary Support Squadron petroleum, oils and lubrication flight is teaching the Iraqi military how to run a successful fuels operation through hands-on training sessions.

The Iraqi fuels area was set up in December, but they hadn't received much training in maintaining the area until now.

The POL flight realized that without the training, inexperience could impact the Iraqi mission when U.S. forces turn over operations completely in December.

"They don't know any of the procedures at this point; we're just trying to instill something in them," said Master Sgt. Ron Crowl, 407th ESPTS POL flight superintendent.

Sergeant Crowl, deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, and his Airmen, along with the help of the 321st Expeditionary Mission Support Advisory Group base transition team, are taking time out of their work day to train a handful of Iraqis on the proper way to store fuel and maintain the fuel equipment.

"We're just trying to get them up and running on their own," said Staff Sgt. Ryan Schaan, 407th ESPTS POL flight fuels supervisor, deployed from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev.

According the Sergeant Crowl, the most important aspect the Iraqis need to learn from the training is the inspection criteria on the fuel bladder to ensure it's not leaking.

"If they can't identify that, they are going to have a big mess on their hands, and they don't have the tools to fix it," said the Anchorage, Alaska, native.

Another focus is the storage area of the fuel bladders. While the storage area protects the fuel bags from the elements, it also serves as a containment unit in case of a spill.

"[We're teaching them about] general cleanliness of the area. In case the bladder breaks, they can suck all of the fuel out of the berm without sucking up a bunch of [debris] with it," said Sergeant Schaan, native of Grenora, N.D.

This is important because the fuel can be salvaged if it isn't too badly contaminated by water and debris.

The POL flight will continue the training until the Iraqi military has the knowledge needed to maintain their fuel operations.

"We're here to help them make sure they get started on the right foot and continue to have success. That's our main goal," said Sergeant Crowl.