An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Shaw takes it from the tanks to lab

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Ashley L. Gardner
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  The sound of an F-16 Fighting Falcon's engine roars as it flies over the Shaw gate, preparing to land underneath the brightness of the sun after relying on the fuel to get it from one location to another for a safe trip.

How does it safely stay up in the sky, or come down for a smooth landing?

A room filled with fuel waiting to be tested for its purity is one of the reasons that this plane is able to make it from location to location with fewer problems.

Two Airmen from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels laboratory are responsible for testing all tanks on Shaw to ensure that the fuel on base is held to the highest standards, ensuring the safest mission departure and return for the pilots, said Master Sgt. Michael Millhouse, 20th LRS Fuels Information section chief.

The fuels laboratory monitors and maintains the quality of all aviation and ground fuels and cryogenic products by taking and analyzing samples. They also oversee the fuels caution tag program to isolate equipment with off-specification fuel or discrepancies. The results are tracked and recorded in the Fuels Manager Defense software program daily to record product history and trend analysis.

To work in the fuels lab there are certain requirements that have to be met. They include being hand selected by the fuels management team and obtaining a Special Experience Identifier (SEI) from the Petroleum Laboratory Specialist/Fuels Quality Control Course at Fort Lee, Va., for specialized training.

The Airmen currently filling the task are Tech. Sgt. Gregory Fifer, 20th LRS fuels laboratory NCO in charge, and Senior Airman Christopher Dybalski, 20th LRS fuels laboratory technician, who work every day running tests on the fuel supply.

From day-to-day the majority of their time is spent pulling samples on the flightline and at bulk storage, to include the fuel in seventeen trucks, seven underground tanks, three above ground tanks and three storage tanks. Those samples are then analyzed inside the laboratory.

"The best thing about working in the lab is that I am completely hands on with every product we receive on base in a more in-depth capacity than most personnel in my entire career field," said Fifer. "The worst aspect of working in the fuels lab where only two personnel are assigned is that one of us is on call 24/7 in case of an aircraft incident."

The testing of fuel often requires a lot of time, patience and thoroughness.

"Fuel receipts are the most time consuming," said Fifer. "There are five different tests to run requiring about two and a half hours from start to finish to complete them."

Annually, there are approximately 889 tests ran in the fuels lab.

"The fuels laboratory is made up of our top personnel," said Millhouse. "Due to the importance of their job, they must be able to work with little supervision and trusted to ensure they complete all sampling and input the results accurately. The fuels lab personnel must be knowledgeable enough to respond at any time to an aircraft crash in order to obtain fuel for sampling and responsible enough to up channel any information on samples that may not meet the Air Force specifications."

So the next time anyone finds themselves looking up to the shadows of an F-16 and thinking about what's keeping it up, the safety of the fuel supply should be one of the first things that come to mind.