LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Arizona –
Defense Logistics Agency Energy Americas at San Pedro, California, employees showed effective distribution management during a supply chain disruption and demonstrated resiliency in the Jet A aviation fuel supply chain at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona.
A contractor at the base was performing soil excavation, as part of a military construction project, with a backhoe and hit the on-base pipeline connecting the bulk fuel tanks to the on-base truck fill stand which supports aircraft refueling operations Aug. 1.
In coordination with Air Force customers and commercial energy partners, DLA Energy Americas at San Pedro employees were able to realign the supply chain to meet the requirements while pipeline was being repaired.
“Through our continued partnerships with the military services and our commercial partners, DLA Energy Americas at San Pedro is able to provide agile, flexible and responsive solutions during supply chain disruptions,” said Timothy Hutson, Americas at San Pedro operations officer. “The ability to analyze supply chain nodes and develop mitigation strategies is a key skill set for our energy logisticians to not only meet the needs of our customers, but allow [the organization] to meet the goals of the Director's Strategic Plan as well.”
The realignment prevented any degradation in mission capabilities at Luke Air Force Base. Fuel trucks were preloaded at the Arizona Air National Guard Base at Sky Harbor International Airport in Phoenix. In total, twenty fuel trucks from Luke Air Force Base used the Air National Guard Base loading facility to preload jet fuel for flight operations. To compensate for the additional demand at airport, Americas at San Pedro personnel arranged for additional commercial deliveries from Defense Fuel Support Point Davis-Monthan in Tucson, Arizona, mitigating any operational degradation to Sky Harbor's mission.
Luke Air Force Base resumed using a smaller bulk storage tank and was able to resupply the on-base truck fill stand for aircraft issues. The base fuels personnel were able to process more frequent daily receipts and keep up with their daily demand and support routine flight operations.
“[Air Force] Maj. Justin Settles, DLA Energy Americas at San Pedro commander, has made developing new and fostering current relationships with energy partners, a key priority for DLA Energy Americas at San Pedro and our ability to quickly respond to Luke Air Force Base's disruption highlights this,” Hutson said. “This was a total team effort between our Mission Support, Supplier Operations, and Quality Operations divisions.”
Repairs to the on-base pipeline were completed and the bulk fuel system returned to full service Aug. 16.