POL : Passing gas starts on the ground

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kelsey A.L. Waters
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  The main mission of the 100th Air Refueling Wing is air refueling with the KC-135 Stratotankers, and this mission begins on the ground.

The 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight, generally referred to as "petroleum, oils and lubricants," is comprised of the people who refuel tankers and transient aircraft on the ground .

POL is broken into many different sections: fuels distribution, fixed facilities, fuels service center, refueling maintenance, fuels lab and training support.

The fuels distribution Airmen drive the flightline bringing fuel to the planes.

"We provide JP8 jet fuel to aircraft; we also provide fuel to the 100th Maintenance Squadron Aerospace Ground Equipment and provide the pilots with cryogenic liquid oxygen," said Airman 1st Class Lukas Pruett, 100th LRS fuels apprentice from Livermore, Calif.

The fuel is passed to the jets through an R-11 truck which holds 6,000 gallons and can issue fuel at a rate of 600 gallons per minute, said Senior Airman Dillon Moore, 100th LRS fuels apprentice from Reno, Nev.

When a plane on the flightline needs fuel, a call goes to the missions operations control center which then puts in a request to the fuel service center. A POL Airman receives the request with how much fuel needs to be passed and delivers a truck. When the Airman is done refueling the plane, the Airman refuels the truck and waits for another call.

"Usually jobs come in batches," said Moore. "We'll have lots of work for a while and then there will be nothing for an hour or two."

POL doesn't just refuel the KC-135s; they also refuel transient aircraft, even those from different countries, with whom we have agreements of support.

"My favorite part of this job would have to be refueling new aircraft I haven't seen before," said Moore.

POL plays a major part in helping the 100th ARW get the mission done.

"Our Airmen are critical to the mission," said 1st Lt. Kelly Myers, the 100th LRS Fuels Management Flight deputy commander, from Lima, Ohio. "They're the one who are out there every day for hours on end, filling up those tanks.

"Without them, I don't think we have much of a mission," she said.