Tech. Sgt. Kenneth May, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, checks the incoming fuel gauges at the squadron's fuels management facility April 7, 2011, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. Sergeant May, deployed from the 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., helped achieve a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011 at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Airman 1st Class Jacob Baxendale, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, makes a refueling run at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on April 7, 2011. Airman Baxendale, deployed from the 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., helped achieve a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011, at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Senior Airman Joseph Pelkey, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, coordinates a fuel delivery at the fuels management facility at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on April 7, 2011. Airman Pelkey, deployed from the 436th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Dover Air Force Base, Del., helped achieve the squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011, at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Airman 1st Class Chantz Wyant, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels distribution journeyman, refuels a KC-135 Stratotanker at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, on April 1, 2011. Airman Wyant, deployed from the 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., helped achieve a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011, at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Senior Airman Paul Loranger, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels distribution journeyman, spools a ground line April 1, 2011, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. Airman Loranger, deployed from the 43rd Logistics Readiness Squadron at Pope Field, N.C., helped achieve a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011, at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Grist, 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, performs an automated flash point test at the fuels management facility on April. 7, 2011, at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan. Sergeant Grist, deployed from the 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., is one of several fuels quality-control lab qualified Airmen at the 376th ELRS who earned a special experience identifier through about three weeks of technical school and six months of on-the-job training to test fuel samples for proper additive levels and usage. Approximately one in 10 fuels Airmen across the Air Force receives the training. He also helped achieve a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11, 2011. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18, 2011, at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore)

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Mobility Airmen among team to 'shatter' deployed fuels record in Kyrgyzstan

Published April 11, 2011
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
Air Mobility Command Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- They are deployed from numerous Air Mobility Command bases from Kansas, New Jersey and Delaware to name a few. Combined, with Airmen deployed from other Air Force commands, they formed a team in the 376th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight that "shattered" a record for amount of fuel pumped in a 24-hour period.

According to a 376th Air Expeditionary Wing news report April 9, fuels Airmen with the 376th ELRS at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, achieved a squadron record of pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in a 24-hour period on March 11. Previously, the 51-person and four Kyrgyz personnel-held record was set Feb. 18 at 544,758 gallons in 24 hours, the report stated.

Mobility Airmen featured in the news report included Tech. Sgt. Kenneth May, deployed from the 87th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; Tech. Sgt. Jeremy Grist, Airmen 1st Class Chantz Wyant and Jacob Baxendale, deployed from the 22nd LRS at McConnell Air Force Base, Kan.; Senior Airman Joseph Pelkey, deployed from the 436th LRS at Dover AFB, Del.; and Senior Airman Paul Loranger, deployed from the 43rd LRS at Pope Field, N.C.

The 376th ELRS' fuels superintendent, Senior Master Sgt. Christopher Burroughs, said in the report that it took a while before they realized they achieved a record.

"We really didn't realize it at first because we were focused on the mission," said Sergeant Burroughs, who is deployed from the 75th LRS at Hill AFB, Utah. "However, the passenger terminal breaking their transient record (here) spurred us looking into it, and we found that we broke it."

The 376th AEW is home to the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron which features KC-135 Stratotankers that provide air refueling capability for Operation Enduring Freedom. In supporting that mission, the fuels Airmen not only have their biggest customer, but also provide their biggest impact. So pumping 587,546 gallons of jet fuel in one day wasn't a day "out of the ordinary" in getting the job done.

"It's just another day of staying busy but the satisfaction comes from getting the mission done," Sergeant Burroughs said in the release.

Fuels Airmen are also trained to meet the demands of the deployed mission, according to the official Air Force job description for fuels distribution. They are trained to operate mobility fuels equipment such as the R-11 and R-12 fuels trucks to refuel aircraft. They also maintain and operate petroleum-related facilities and equipment and perform quality analysis on products. Additionally, fuels Airmen perform operator maintenance on fuels handling equipment and facilities and prepare receipt, inventory and issue documents for fuels products accounting.

Furthermore, fuels distribution Airmen have to maintain mandatory job knowledge in numerous areas such as composition, properties and characteristics of petroleum products and cryogenics fluids. They must also know about environmental protection procedures; conservation; methods of receiving, storing, testing and evaluating fuel and cryogenic fluids under normal, field or remote conditions; and fuels deployment and contingency operations.

The Transit Center at Manas was activated in December 2001 when coalition forces deployed to Manas International Airport and began supporting Operation Enduring Freedom and the International Security Assistance Force after the terror attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, the 376th AEW fact sheet states. The base continues to promote regional stability in Central Asia.

(Tech. Sgt. Jerome C. Baysmore, 376th AEW Public Affairs, contributed to this report.)