Air Force 'POLcats' fuel RIMPAC

by Staff Sgt. Mike Meares
Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam Public Affairs

8/3/2012 - JOINT BASE PEARL HARBOR-HICKAM, Hawaii -- The Air Force fuels flight "POLcats" have a saying: "Without POL, pilots are pedestrians."

During the 2012 Rim of the Pacific exercise, the world's largest international maritime exercise, the men and women from the petroleum, oil and lubricant, or fuels flight, are responsible for getting fuel to the aircraft have pumped more than 10 million gallons of fuel into airplanes, making sure to keep pilots flying.

"Each RIMPAC gets bigger and bigger," said Alphonso Parks, Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor fuels department division chief and a retired Air Force chief master sergeant. "At Hickam, it's our primary mission to put gas on airplanes."

Twenty-two nations gathered in the Hawaiian Islands beginning June 29, bringing more than 40 ships and submarines, more than 200 aircraft, and 25,000 personnel. Of the more than 200 aircraft participating in RIMPAC, the fuels flight has hooked up to them more than 1,500 times during the month to refuel.

Master Sgt. Tony Karpenko, 647th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor fuels department quality control inspector, is the lone active duty Airman of 42 total people in the section. Their section has more than three centuries of flight fuel operations among the members.

"I love the smell of jet fuel in the morning," Karpenko said. "Essentially, our role in RIMPAC is the same as it would be any other day. Right now, we are busier because we have ramped up operations because Rim of the Pacific operations is happening in and around Hawaii."

The month-long exercise provides a unique training opportunity that helps participants foster and sustain the cooperative relationships that are critical to ensuring the safety of sea lanes and security on the world's oceans. RIMPAC 2012 is the 23rd exercise in the series that began in 1971.

"RIMPAC brings us a chance to work with other services, other organizations, other countries, and allows us the chance to train and better equip the warfighter for when they have to actually do it for real," Karpenko said. "If they don't get their gas, they can't hone their skills to take the fight to the enemy and POL plays a big part of that."

With nearly 70 years of Air Force fuels experience between Parks and Karpenko, the Airmen said they understand they are going to work harder while RIMPAC is going on. According to their calculations, they pump an average of 246,688 gallons per day, with their busiest day to date of 386,545 gallons. That is a more than double their typical 120,000 gallons a day.

"Along with servicing three times the number of aircraft, we have been supporting tank truck filling operations for the Pearl Harbor Fuel Department," Karpenko said. "These tank trucks deliver JP-8 to several locations throughout Oahu who are also fulfilling RIMPAC taskings. To date during RIMPAC, we have filled 385 tank trucks with 3,080,000 gallons of fuel."
Through management, operations, administration and accounting, compliance and environmental, the fuels service center, training, distribution, preventative maintenance, bulk storage and their laboratory, the unit has been able to keep up with the demand of fuel working seven days a week on 24-hour operations.

"We love it," Karpenko said. "RIMPAC gives us a chance to shine."

In recognition of their efforts, the fuels flight was recently awarded the U.S. Naval Supply Systems Command Fleet Logistics Center Pearl Harbor 2011 American Petroleum Institute Award for the "Best Navy Retail Fuel Activity for Airfield Operations." The API awards recognize the most significant contributions to Department of the Navy bulk fuel operations and fleet fuel support. The institute sets standards and provides technical direction for all aspects of petroleum production, refining, measurement, and fuel handling.

As RIMPAC operations come to a close Aug. 3, the fuels flight will continue making sure pilots don't become pedestrians.