Camp Pendleton, Calif. --
Fuel is an essential part of any military operation, whether it’s for aircraft, ground vehicles, or generators, it needs to be readily accessible and able to be transported wherever it is needed. Moving the equipment and personnel needed to operate these fuel sites could be difficult in some environments. During exercise Summer Fury 20 on Camp Pendleton California, the Marines of Bulk Fuel Company, 7th Engineer Support Battalion and 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing worked together to move this equipment by air.
Bulk Fuel Company uses large equipment to store and quickly move fuel, but getting that equipment to where it needs to go can be a problem. By utilizing 3rd Marine Aircraft Wing aerial capabilities, they are able to transport their vital fueling assets via Helicopter Support Team (HST). An HST is a team that manages the activities of a helicopter landing zone, by using an assortment of cables and hooks, they are able to attach helicopters to packaged cargo and moved to anywhere on the battlefield. Using this capability, Bulk Fuel Company can move their expeditionary fuel system and establish sites in remote and austere environments.
“The expeditionary fuel system is the next generation of the amphibious assault fuel system,” says Capt. Robert Boyles, Bulk Fuel Company Commander. “This is important because when we start to conduct expeditionary advanced based operations this is how we will get our gear ashore.”
During this event water instead of gasoline was used to simulate the storage and movement of fuel. The purpose of this event was to construct and operate tactical supply systems in an Expeditionary Advanced Base Operation environment. EABO enable naval forces to partner and persist forward to control and deny contested areas where legacy naval forces cannot.
(U.S. Marine Corps story by Sgt. Kyle McNan)