USAG DAEGU, South Korea –
Defense Logistics Agency Energy Korea and United States Forces Korea turned over Defense Fuel Supply Point Waegwan to the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense in December 2017 as part of a bilateral agreement originally signed Dec. 18, 2004.
The DLA Energy Korea team began the drawdown of DFSP Waegwan in June 2016, reallocating over 5.5 million gallons of U.S. fuel to other DFSPs in Korea and meeting the December 2017 deadline. Logistics Division Chief Marc LaMontagne led the transportation and inventory teams responsible for drawdown efforts.
"Our whole team feels proud to have played a role in this monumental event,” LaMontagne said.
"It felt like we were closing a permanent exhibit in a museum," said DLA Energy Korea Commander Army Lt. Col. Faith M. Chamberlain.
The history of DFSP Waegwan dates back to the U.S. construction of the Trans Korean Pipeline in 1970, connecting 10 fuel terminals across South Korea. This investment in fixed infrastructure enabled the U.S. to store and distribute fuel from the port at Pohang to as far north as DFSP Uijeongbu.
This integrated fuel network was operated by 8th Army's 2nd Quartermaster Group, headquartered at Camp Henry, Daegu. The 2nd QM Group was a one-stop shop for all things fuel related. Soldiers and Korean National employees operated fuel testing labs, scheduled the redistribution of fuel, transported fuel, maintained all fuel infrastructure and even dove the East Sea during fuel discharges at DFSP Pohang to connect flex hoses from the pier to ocean tanker manifolds.
In many cases, these Army fuel experts have remained in the profession and have many stories to tell of their multiple assignments to Korea with the 2nd QM Group and DLA Energy. One such example is Ron Coleman, who was first assigned to Pyeongtaek Petroleum Laboratory with the 2nd QM Group in 1976. Today, 42 years later, Coleman works in Daegu, South Korea, for DLA Energy as supervisor of the Quality Assurance Representative section. In this capacity he led the QAR testing of fuel throughout the DFSP Waegwan closure.
"It is deeply gratifying to have supported the U.S. and ROK Alliance in uniform and as a Department of Defense civilian," Coleman said.
As the Korean fuel refining and transportation industry has developed into a world-renowned commercial sector, the U.S. no longer requires its soldiers to perform many of the fuel tasks previously performed by the 2nd QM Group. Today, the U.S. can procure fuel from Korean refineries and leverage Korean pipeline and transport commercial partners to distribute fuel throughout the peninsula.
"For the most part, I do the same thing today that I did in 1976, but now I spend the majority of my time working with our Korean industry partners, as opposed to soldiers," Coleman explained.
Of the 10 original fuel terminals in South Korea in the 1970s, only five remain in operation as ROK or U.S.-owned military terminals. One of the first terminals to close was DFSP Gangnam, located in the vicinity of that Seoul suburb. In the last five years, the DLA Energy Korea office has closed two terminals, DFSP Uijeongbu in 2013 and most recently, DFSP Waegwan.
"Because closing a DFSP overseas does not occur frequently, there is always a great deal of learning that occurs throughout the process," said Rob Barta, lead for project integration across DLA Energy Korea, adding he was glad the project had been successfully completed on time.
At each of the original fuel terminals, the 2nd QM Group had built statues from readily-available pipeline materials to promote esprit de corps in the Korea fuels community. These monuments look somewhat alike and are commonly known in the fuels community as 'Pipeman Pete.'
To honor the strong, decades-old U.S. and ROK fuels alliance, DLA Energy Korea partnered with the ROK Ministry of National Defense, the 2nd Infantry Division Sustainment Brigade and the 25th Transportation Battalion to extract the monument from DFSP Waegwan and move it to Camp Humphreys. When the new DFSP Camp Humphreys is commissioned later in 2018, Pipeman Pete will be situated in his new home -- honoring the closure of one chapter of the U.S. and ROK coalition history and celebrating the opening of a new one.