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FOBs tap into Iraqi power with help of Airmen

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Tim Beckham
  • U.S. Air Forces Central, Baghdad Media Outreach Team
BAGHDAD, Iraq --  An initiative that will save the U.S. government thousands of dollars took place Feb. 20 in the International Zone here, as members of the Joint Expeditionary Team did their part in converting power from generators to commercial power.

By tapping into the Iraqi power grid, many areas within forward operating base union III will now have reliable grid power and can now use generators as backup power sources.

"The generators currently supply power to 12 different transformers throughout the FOB area," said Staff Sgt. Todd Livingston, Joint Area Support Group - Central electrician and Rochester Minn. native. "They (FOBs) will have continued operations and won't have to rely on generator power anymore. They can go strictly over to commercial power with the Iraqis."

The government will not only save money on resources used to maintain the generators but also on the time it takes contractors to perform maintenance.

"Maintenance will be decreased a lot, mainly because with the new equipment installed we won't have to rely on generator power as much so there will be a decrease and demand for items that the generator uses such as, fuel, oil, coolant and filters, not to mention the man hours itself it takes to maintain these generators," said Sergeant Livingston, who is deployed from the 28th Civil Engineer Squadron at Ellsworth Air Force Base, S.D. "With that in itself we are saving thousands upon thousands of dollars just with this new piece of equipment being installed."