Recent figures provided by the Defense Logistics Agency (DLA) show “the U.S. military is using between 10 million and 11 million barrels of fuel each month (April 2009) to sustain operations in Afghanistan, Iraq and elsewhere”1. At an estimated price of $36 per barrel, the U.S. DoD is spending approximately one million dollars per day on fuel.
Few Resources are More Vital to a Mechanized Military than Fuel
Supplying our forces with fuel is critical to the success of our operations; it provides advantages in communications, firepower and, of course, mobility. In Iraq alone, it is estimated that U.S. forces consume approximately 1.2 to 1.7 million barrels of fuel each month2 to mechanize 27,000 vehicles. Overseeing this fuel supply requires the work of some 20,000 American soldiers and private contractors. Every day approximately 100 to 200 fuel trucks leave Kuwait for various locales in Iraq.
Why so Much Fuel?
In decades past, U.S. Army logisticians assumed that 50 percent of the tonnage moved onto a battlefield was ammunition, 30 percent was fuel, and the rest was food, water and supplies. Today, the fuel component may be as high as 70 percent3. Over the years, weapons technology and mechanized maneuver warfare tactics have driven the U.S. military to increase the amount of fighting vehicles used, while insurgency threats have required increased armor. The consequence is seen in fuel efficiency; for example, the Bradley fighting vehicle gets less than two miles per gallon and the M1 Abrams tank less than one. It is a vicious cycle: attacks on convoys produce a need for more armor, which produces a need for more fuel, which produces larger convoys, which produce more targets for attack.
Fuel Storage Locations
In Iraq, the U.S. military operates from temporary fuel farms (termed Fuel System Supply Points by U.S. Army) that store and distribute fuel from Collapsible Storage Tanks (also called fuel bladders or flexible tanks). Collapsible Storage Tanks (CSTs) are constructed from heavy duty, reinforced fabric that allows them to be rolled into compact, transportable units. Once deployed, they are simply unrolled into a dike system and filled on site. They are available in various sizes and include all pipe and valve connections. This allows configurations of CSTs based on local requirements. For example, a fuel farm (or base) may have four 50,000 gallon CSTs (50k bladders) providing a total storage of 200,000 gallons.
Each CST is generally connected in parallel with inlet and outlet hoses. Portable fuel pumps move the fuel in/out of the CSTs and flow meters provide the operator with a means to record overall fuel moved. Fuel generally arrives by tank truck, pipeline or marine terminal facility. It is pumped into the CSTs and stored until it is required locally. It may be distributed to vehicles on site or placed into delivery vehicles, such as tank trucks, and then transported to a forward operating environment to refuel fighting vehicles.
Presently, fueling personnel manually perform inventory management processes. This is generally performed once a day by recording meter movement values or measuring CSTs using crude best practices. Once this timely process is complete, fueling personnel manually calculate an estimate of current fuel physical inventory. This can then be balanced against all daily fuel movements to monitor daily gains/losses and get a picture of overall fuel usage
Manually Measuring Collapsible Storage Tanks
Presently, the height of a CST is measured and a volume is derived based on manufacturers’ nominal CST strapping tables for a given CST size or a combination of metered volumes and corresponding height measurements performed by operators to create a strapping table on site. Three methods are commonly used to determine CST volume; the first, a visual estimate by looking at the CST, e.g. “say about 50% full”, secondly the total volume is calculated based on metered inputs and outputs, thirdly the ‘stick-method’ is used. When performing the ‘stick-method’, a line (cord or string) is tied to the base of the vent pipe and pulled taught, horizontally across the CST. A level is used to ensure the cable is horizontal. The height of the tape from the base of the dike is recorded against a measuring stick and compared to the strapping table. This process may be repeated at intervals around the CST and an average measurement used. This ‘stick-method’ procedure is covered in DESC Policy I-11 and I-29.
On average, it takes two personnel 3-5 minutes to measure a single fuel CST; for an average base that operates 40 CSTs, a complete inventory measurement collection may take 2-3 hours.
At around a CST height of 9 to 11 inches, only best estimates can be recorded using manual measurement methods.
In standard, rigid petroleum Above Ground Storage Tanks (ASTs) found at fixed installations, such as terminals and refineries, have volume characteristics that are defined and known. The height (level) of the product directly correlates to a volume that can be adjusted to API standards for 60°F. The nature of the flexible fabric and the CST ‘squat’ produced by the weight of the fuel inside a CST means the volume characteristic of each CST is unique. The visual estimates, metered values or ‘stick-method’ do not account for CST squat characteristics. To compound the issue, the fabric expands and contracts under the weight of the stored fuel and volumes change due to ambient temperature conditions, so the height to volume measurement of a fuel CST when it has been in service for 3 months will be different from when the CST was first installed. Also, at low volumes wrinkles restrict the level line, while the vent pipe may have begun to indent the normally taut and flat CST surface. This occurs around a CST height of 9 to 11 inches. Only best estimates can be recorded under these conditions.
This manual process may also introduce other variable factors, such as the levelness of the ground (dike floor), placement and leveling of the measuring stick from one reading to the next (even with establishing a reference point) or level reading and calculation errors.
CST squat is caused by the weight of the fuel pushing outwards on the sides of the tank. The weight stretches the CST fabric. It is not uncommon to experience a several inch difference in height from a newly filled CST to the same CST that is full and left to settle for a 24 hour period.
Recording the Receipt and Distribution of Fuels
A fuels operation completes a daily record of petroleum issues (DA form 3643) for local accountability. This form is hand written with column entries for fuel receipt and issue of fuel transactions. All entries for the day are manually calculated and transferred to monthly bulk petroleum summary records (DA form 3644 and 4702). All completed forms are then submitted to command or fleet headquarters for processing. In the dynamic environments of a forward fuels operation, paper records are easily lost, fuel volumes may be incorrectly calculated, hand written entries may be illegible or volumes may be “estimated”. Processing the forms at command level may trail actual transaction dates by days or weeks, which makes correcting any errors time consuming, and during active operations this may not be the highest priority.
The Pentagon adopted JP8 as “the single product on the battlefield”. However, sustainment efforts to support ongoing operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have included upwards of 14 fuel grades being supplied.
Metering the Flow
Typically, fuel is received into tactical storage areas through a single meter. The meter serves to control and validate a shipment to ensure a valid recorded receipt. Transfer of product from a single source, such as a pipeline, is a simple straight forward procedure. Likewise, for a single truck, a visual inspection of the vehicle’s tankage before and after product receipt is generally conducted to ensure total product offload and verify meter readings. Delivery from multiple sources, such as tank trucks, becomes an increasingly complicated activity, as multiple trucks can be simultaneously offloaded at one time. Correlating individual quantities cannot be reconciled and validated using a single meter. Therefore, actual manually recorded measurements from multiple trucks offloading at a single time become an estimated, non-validated quantity.
Other Considerations
Joint Operations
U.S. forces are increasingly performing joint operations and also working with other nations’ forces. When there is such a coalition, supplying fuel to other parties requires timely measurements, sound accounting practices and the ability to invoice accurately and quickly. Even if U.S. forces have a command of internal accounting processes and procedures across services, invoicing and obtaining reimbursements when dealing with a manual paper process can be difficult. The problem can then be compounded when dealing with foreign entities. Thus, payments and reimbursements are delayed or even refused.
Theft and Fraud
The opportunity for fraud is ever present in a dynamic environment that lacks a timely, verifiable and auditable process. The ability to deter, identify and take correct action in a timely fashion is crucial in deterring product theft. The existing manual, paper-based process does not allow accurate daily reconciliation and consistent tracking of fuel disbursement and usage.
The U.S. military has encountered fraud and theft of fuel stocks in Iraq and Afghanistan.
