Lifeline to refuelers: 100th LRS proves NKAWTG

  • Published
  • By Karen Abeyasekere
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Somebody from another public affairs office once told me, many years ago, "Everybody loves the fighter jets - they're just sexy."

When you see them zipping around the skies, knowing they're often flying over war zones, or training for important missions, many people might think that. What people may not know is what it takes to keep these fighters in the air.

That's where RAF Mildenhall's KC-135 Stratotankers come in, providing the fuel to keep those fighter pilots and their jets in the sky for hours on end. They refuel a variety of aircraft - from RAF Lakenheath's F-15s and the 352nd Special Operations Group MC-130s, to all sorts of NATO aircraft - allowing those vital assets to stay airborne and not waste time landing to refuel every few hours on the ground.

While the boom operators and pilots are generally the "face of refueling," as they are the people who offload fuel to other jets, it takes an additional, vital team of people to get fuel onboard a KC-135 in the first place, while it's on the ground, to ensure it can perform its refueling mission.

Meet "POL" - the men and women of the 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management flight petroleum, oils and lubricants section.

This is the team who, behind the scenes, keeps those jets in the air and, together with the KC-135 aircrew, gives them their "sex appeal."

The POL team takes the fuel, JP-8, which is piped into base from the local area, and puts it in the aircraft either by pantograph - a jointed framework of pipes used to transfer fuel from large storage tanks to an aircraft - or an R-11 refueling truck.

Fuels management/POL consists of the fuels lab, distribution, refueling maintenance, forward area refueling point (also known as FARP), fuels service center, fixed facilities, and training and support. All have a unique and vital role to play in RAF Mildenhall's refueling mission. From the moment fuel arrives via the pipeline onto base, to the second it goes onto the aircraft, fuels management runs the entire process.

Below are insights into some of those roles and behind-the-scenes highlights of RAF Mildenhall's air refueling mission.

Fuels lab:

Ensuring that only top quality, clean fuel is pumped onto the aircraft is vital. Airmen in the fuels lab continuously strive to establish that nothing but the best is transferred from RAF Mildenhall to jets of both the U.S. and NATO countries.

The fuels lab's Airmen visit various sites around base, taking samples and running tests to confirm the fuel is pure. Depending on what tests are required at any particular time, samples may be taken either daily, weekly, bi-weekly or monthly. The equipment they use depends on what needs to be done and what the technical order specifies. The Airmen follow a two-person policy at all times so they can safely respond in case fuel is spilt or splashed onto one of the Airmen.

After they complete tests in the lab, they load the data onto a computer system and carefully track the analysis.

"The tests include particulate contamination in aviation fuels by laboratory filtration - also known as the bottle method - which determines the particulate content in the fuel by a vacuum system," said Staff Sgt. Megan O'Neil, 100th LRS Fuels Management fuels lab NCO in charge from Reading, Pa. "We pull a one-gallon sample, which is poured into a funnel, and the fuel gets pulled by a vacuum into a flask at the bottom.

"In-between these two is a system which holds a filter disc," O'Neil said, adding the disc is weighed before and after fuel has been run through it, to determine the weight difference.

"This test helps us determine how much particulate is in our fuel, to make sure it's within the acceptable range," she said.

Another test carried out on the specimens is electrical conductivity of aviation fuel. One of the additives in fuel - static dissipating additive - helps disperse electrical charge in the fuel, explained O'Neil.

These and numerous other inspections ensure fuel is ready to be loaded onto an aircraft. If any fuel samples fail, the contents of that particular storage container will not be used until a subsequent sample passes the tests.

FARP:

The forward-area refueling point team works hand-in-hand with the 352nd Special Operations Group and lands in austere locations where aircraft need refueling but don't have the traditional capabilities.

There are eight people on the team and they usually work in pairs when flying to refuel.

"We go in, land, then give them their gas so they can get on with their mission," said Airman 1st Class Thomas Mahoney, 100th LRS Fuels Management FARP hose deployment member from Newark, Del.

All refueling performed by the FARP team is done on the ground, usually under cover of darkness, so the team must use night-vision goggles. RAF Mildenhall's FARP team has the largest area of responsibility (there are just five FARP teams in the U.S. Air Force) incorporating all of Europe and U.S. Air Force Africa Command.

"Typically, we'll go once or twice a week with the 7th Special Operations Squadron and 67th Special Operations Squadron to support them on TDYs and training missions," Staff Sgt. Christion House, 100th LRS Fuels Management flight FARP program manager from Danville, Ky., said.

"We can deploy off C-17s (Globemaster III), C-5s (Galaxy) and C-130s and can refill quite a few different things," House said. "Basically, if it's a helicopter or small aircraft, we can refuel it."

The very nature and locations where the FARP team performs refueling usually indicate they are working in a hostile environment.

"We'll land in a hostile environment, deploy the hoses out, then an aircraft will come and land. Basically, we're setting up a bare-base gas station in a place where there's no refueling capabilities," he said.

The team members hook up a hose to a C-130 (or whichever type of aircraft they fly in on); once set up and waiting for the incoming helicopter or aircraft, the aircraft starts pumping gas from a single-point refueler out to the FARP team. The team then attaches the hose to the incoming aircraft and quickly refuels it. The receiving aircraft can then continue its mission.

All the equipment has a manual back-up, so if the power goes down, the refueling can still occur.

Hot refueling (refueling an aircraft while it's still running) is extremely hazardous because it's almost always done at night, aircraft engines are running and rotors are continuously turning.

"It would be dangerous enough if done during the day, but add to it being at night, and it makes it a lot harder," Mahoney said. "Sometimes the moon provides some kind of illumination, but we can't count on that."

House explained that they rely on vital equipment to help them do their job and perform the mission.

"We have NVGs and tactical vests on, and possibly cold-weather or rain gear on as well - it's easily another 40 or 50 pounds we carry," he said.

For Mahoney, it's the adrenaline rush that makes him love his job.

"When you're pulling the hose off a plane, you look out and it's just dark; then you're running out to the plane with its engines running, it's loud and nobody can hear you - you just do hand signals to each other," he said.

"One time, I was sitting on the ground waiting for a C-130 to come in. When I had my NVGs down, I could see it backing towards me, but when I flipped them up, I couldn't see anything," Mahoney said. "It's that adrenaline rush that I enjoy."

So, next time you see a jet or helicopter flying around, or see photos of aircraft being refueled, just remember that the RAF Mildenhall POL Airmen helped put them there, proving NKAWTG ... (look it up!)