ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Fuel is the lifeline for the aircraft at Altus Air Force Base, making missions possible. The 97th Fuels Management Flight is responsible for maintaining a 3.6 million gallon jet fuel inventory and issuing 43 million gallons of fuel annually.
In 2010, Defense Logistics Agency Energy turned off the Altus AFB pipeline and instead began using tank truck contracts as the sole mode for fuel receipts as a cost saving measure.
Once the tank trucks became operational, more than 25 trucks were used per day to transport 188 thousand gallons of fuel. As the years progressed, changing mission requirements and severe weather incidents rendered the tank trucks as the sole method for fuel receipts unreliable and inefficient.
In an effort to reopen the pipeline in 2023, the DLA-E funded a $906 million pipeline reconstruction contract project. Construction on the new pipeline began mid-2023 and was completed in March of 2024. On April 1, 2024, the Altus AFB pipeline was fully operational, completing its first of many fuel receipts.
“The pipeline offers Altus a reliable and secure fuel receipt capability while reducing the need for 25 tank truck deliveries daily,” said Master Sgt. James Hunt, 97th Logistic Readiness Squadron fuels superintendent. “Money, manpower, or base infrastructure– you name it, it helps!”
The new pipeline has provided immediate access to more than 630 gallons of jet fuel per week and reduced the need for tank truck fuel receipts to less than 15 per week. It now supplies approximately 80 percent of the fuel used to support the mission of the 97th AMW.
Staff Sgt. Alex Broyles, 97th Logistic Readiness Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge of fuels knowledge operations, shared the importance of the new pipeline for Altus AFB.
“With all new processes, there are learning curves and kinks to iron out; however, the pipeline has ultimately cut our fuels lab workload in half by reducing the samples required every single day,” said Broyles. “The new pipeline has also reduced carbon footprints and the amount of manning hours needed for fuel receipts.”