Maintainers, aerial porters, aircrews shoulder the success of fuel conservation efforts Published Oct. 24, 2011 By By Capt. Kathleen Ferrero Air Mobility Command Public Affairs SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- Experienced marathon athletes are rarely haphazard about running. From the morning's breakfast ingredients to the stretching ritual minutes before start; and from the choice in gear to form correction during the race, marathon performance relies heavily on controlled efficiency. Similarly, air mobility performance increasingly relies on controlled fuel efficiency. As the Air Force's marathon fleet and largest user of aviation fuel, Mobility Air Forces, or MAF, extend their range faster and further than any other Air Force in the world to provide global reach to those in need. New policies hone the essential amount of takeoff fuel so aircraft do not have excess weight during their "race." Ingenuity has also paved the way for more sophisticated aircraft taxiing and takeoff routines; more efficient cargo loading; more streamlined aircraft exteriors to reduce drag; and new ways to optimize aircraft paths in flight to conserve fuel. These initiatives are just a handful of more than 70 in motion but they would be useless without the maintainers, aerial porters and aircrew members who step forward to help out, said Col. Bobby Fowler, director of the Headquarters Air Mobility Command Fuel Efficiency Office. "While our goal is to increase everyday effectiveness of what we do on a daily basis, we give air crews the ability to be more efficient while doing it," Fowler said. For example, mobility Airmen are required to participate in a fuel tracking system which logs sortie specific details to include fuel amounts before takeoff and after landing. Although the tracker's current manual logging system can be time-consuming and perceived as tedious, over 90 percent of mobility Airmen participate, Fowler said. The fuel tracker data allows the FEO to compare projected fuel savings with actual fuel savings and adjust accordingly. "We'd particularly like to get more participation with crews using Mission Index Flying as it's coming on-line," he said. Mission Index Flying officially became available in the summer of 2011 for all who fly the MAF C-5s and C-17s. It's scheduled to become available for KC-10s and KC-135s in fall 2011. It is a software-based program that allows crews to adjust flight profiles in real-time to maximize fuel efficiency. Across the MAF C-17 enterprise, for example, AMC's Fuel Efficiency Office expects to see a 1.25 to 1.5 percent decrease in fuel consumption, said Lt. Col. Marc Gildner. "It doesn't seem like much, but because Mobility Air Forces use almost 60 percent of the total Air Force fuel inventory, that savings amounts to a considerable dollar figure which can be used to recapitalize the aging fleet, support fuel efficiency initiatives and provide resources for incentives," Gildner said. While the ingenuity and hard work of aircraft maintainers, aerial porters and aircrews build an energy-secure future for the Air Force, the bottom line remains the mission. "We will do whatever it takes to support the warfighter, no matter what," Fowler said. "It is about getting the Soldier what he needs in the most effective manner possible. "(For example), I've been on the [operations] floor ... when there is a life-threatening injury, just one individual, over in theater," said Col. Kevin Trayer, FEO director of operations. "And literally, we will drop everything to make that happen. "We get the job done, and that will never change," Trayer said.