Nothing goes without the hose

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Nicole Leidholm
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  At Travis, a team of Airmen work hard every day to ensure mission success. There could be no mission without the 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels shop.

"POL handles all the fuel components on base," said Senior Airman Jonathan Derby, 60th LRS fuels lab technician. "We service (Jet Propellant)-8, diesel, bio-diesel, and the oxygen for aviators, (liquid oxygen)."

"Our career field plays a vital role because fuel is the very source that allows us to complete the missions around the world," he said. "We keep the planes flying, without fuel we couldn't do the missions.

POL services an average of 60 million gallons of JP-8 annually, Derby said. Without this fuel Travis and transient aircraft couldn't meet Air Force and commercial needs.

Fuel technicians support the global mobility of Travis by providing around-the-clock availability of contaminant-free jet fuel that meets the most stringent requirements.

"As fuels lab technicians, we maintain the quality of the fuel and hold it to a certain standard," said Senior Airman Clinton Glass 60th LRS fuels lab technician.

Having to get fuel samples tends to get these Airmen dirty.

"Pulling samples is the dirtiest part of our job," Derby said. "We have to take samples out of the fuel lines."

Diesel is the worst to pull samples from.

This past June, their skills were tested when they had to pull samples on the Kinder Morgan Storage tanks.

When a hose first gets hooks to dispense fuel debris is flushed out with water. There was a part broken in the line and was getting the fuel dirty. It would have been over a billion dollar project that we helped fix, Derby said

As critical as POL is, there also are dangers involved, dealing with fuels such as JP-8, diesel there are inherent dangers such as the risk of explosion, Derby said. On a day-to-day basis, there is also the possibility of fires, inhalation and absorption of fuel.

To prevent such mishaps, Airmen in the lab wear personal protection equipment, which includes nitrate gloves and goggles.

"Bio-environmental does inspections to make sure the intake level is at the right specification so we're not unintentionally poisoning ourselves," Derby said.

"There's no room for complacency," Glass said.

The job may be redundant because the Airmen know what they are doing everyday but complacency leads to spills and accidents, Derby said.