Quartermaster Company Helps Make IPDS History at Roving Sands ‘97

The 109th Quartermaster Pipeline and Terminal Operating Company from Fort Lee, VA, became a part of a historical "first" during Joint Exercise Roving Sands ‘97 in Roswell, NM, by safely pumping more than one million gallons of fuel through the Inland Petroleum Distribution System (IPDS) pipeline. Roving Sands ’97 was the first time that fuel was pumped through the IPDS pipeline during an exercise in the United States. The system first was tested with water before soldiers trained on pipeline operations using JP8 fuel.

The IPDS is designed as a lightweight, rapidly deployable pipeline and terminal system that can be used in undeveloped theaters of operation. The IPDS can interface with an existing host nation fuel source, such as a refinery, or with the Navy’s Offshore Petroleum Discharge System (OPDS). Modular in design, the IPDS can be tailored for any locality or operation.

The 109th Quartermaster Company can operate up to 90 miles of pipeline, 6 pump stations, and 1 tactical petroleum terminal (TPT). A TPT can receive, store and issue more than 3.7 million gallons of fuel. The 109th Quartermaster Company began training for Roving Sands ‘97 four months before the actual deployment. The training at Fort Pickett, VA, was vital to the unprecedented accomplishment of pumping fuel through the IPDS’s tactical pipeline at Roving Sands ‘97.

A unique aspect of the training was the actual construction of the pipeline. By doctrine, the Engineers lay the pipeline and the Quartermaster units operate it. In this training simulation on the US Army Forces Command (FORSCOM) Petroleum Training Module at Fort Pickett, the 109th Quartermaster Company did both. By constructing the pipeline at Fort Pickett, the Quartermaster Company was confident when repairing or changing the pipeline at Roving Sands ‘97.

When the pipeline was complete, the fill and test phase began. The line was tested and repaired, then tested again. The pipeline repair team practiced fixing leaks. The dispatcher ran the pipeline through its paces by pumping water, launching and receiving scrapers that clean the pipeline, and evacuating the system. An air attachment was created in order to evacuate the pipeline by using an air compressor and a scraper. Air evacuation was very successful.

After the training, the 109th Quartermaster Company was ready to provide bulk petroleum fuel in support of the largest Joint Air Defense Exercise in the world. Upon touchdown at Roswell Industrial Air Center, NM, soldiers in the 109th Quartermaster Company quickly began their mission. The mission’s concept was simple, but with simultaneous operations. The 109th Quartermaster Company constructed the head terminal during pipeline construction. Once completed, the Quartermaster soldiers constructed the base terminal and began general support (GS) bulk petroleum fuel operations along with conducting pipeline operations.

Before pumping operations at Joint Exercise Roving Sands '97 in Roswell, New Mexico, a Quartermaster staff sergeant checks the dispatching plan for timing and accuracy.

With the berms prepared and the International Standards Organization (ISO) containers positioned, the company started preparing the head terminal for operation. Within three days, the operation was ready to receive, store and issue up to 400,000 gallons of fuel. The head terminal consisted of two 210,000-gallon (5,000-barrel) bulk fuel tank assemblies (BFTAs). In addition to the BFTAs, the head terminal had a fuel dispensing assembly (FDA) to issue fuel to customers and a truck-tanker receipt manifold (TTRM) to receive fuel into the BFTAs.

After constructing the head terminal, the company was ready to perform its primary mission during Roving Sands ‘97. The company’s mission was to provide GS bulk fuel support to direct support customers, including the 43d and 300th Area Support Groups and the Marine Wing Support Squadron 274. The US Marine Corps Wing Support Squadron, tasked to refuel various US Navy aircraft at Roswell, was the 109th Quartermaster Company's largest customer, receiving more than 800,000 gallons of fuel during the exercise.

While the 109th Quartermaster Company prepared the head terminal, the 808th Engineer Company constructed a two-mile pipeline and installed two 800-gallons per minute pump stations. The 808th Engineer Company, a Reserve Component unit from Houston, TX, constructed the pipeline and was evaluated during its annual Operational Readiness Exercise (ORE). The 808th Engineer Company completed tasks within two days, providing precision work that resulted in no leaks during operation.

After completion of the head terminal, the 109th Quartermaster Company concentrated on establishing the base terminal. The mission at this terminal was quite different from the head terminal. The base terminal consisted of only one 210,000-gallon collapsible fuel tank but also had two 50,000-gallon collapsible tanks in one berm. This terminal’s mission was to receive about 100,000 gallons of fuel into the 210,000-gallon petroleum fuel tank for initial pipeline operations. One of the two 50,000-gallon tanks was used to store 30,000 gallons of water that was used to pressure-test the pipeline before fuel was introduced into the system. The other 50,000-gallon collapsible tank was used to catch the fuel/water mixture that would be created during the operation.

After initial checks of the pipeline, water was introduced into the IPDS. The water had two purposes. First, the water was used to pressure-test both the pump stations and the two miles of IPDS pipeline for any leaks.

Secondly, water was used in the IPDS pipeline to conduct scraper and evacuation procedures. Soldiers practiced these operations with water instead of fuel.

After determining that the IPDS was pressurized, fuel went into the system from the base terminal. Soldiers put a scraper into the IPDS to push the 15,000 gallons of water out of the system. Fuel pushed the scraper which, in turn, pushed out the water. This water was reused to push the fuel out of the pipeline at the end of Roving Sands ‘97. Since the company’s primary mission was to provide fuel to customers, the fuel at the base terminal was not allowed to mix with the fuel at the head terminal until it had passed all quality surveillance tests.

The 1997 base terminal for the world's largest Joint Air Defense Exercise consisted of one 210,000-gallon fabric fuel tank and two 50,000-gallon fuel tanks use to store contaminated fuel in the desert.

After passing all tests with the fuel, the company conducted many significant operations. The entire system (base terminal, head terminal, and two miles of IPDS pipeline) now could receive, store and issue fuel to customer units, transferring fuel from one terminal to the next (or both at the same time) through the pipeline and receiving fuel from the TTRM and issuing fuel to the pipeline simultaneously.

While the 109th Quartermaster Company set up the head terminal, the 808th Engineers unpacked and emplaced over two miles of pipeline for the Inland Petroleum Distribution System.

Army field manuals state how to put the fuel in the IPDS, but do not specify how to take the fuel out. The 109th Quartermaster Company devised a way to extract the fuel from the IPDS without any loss and, at the same time, keep the system environmentally sound. The method was simple. The water originally used to pressurize the pipeline was used again to push the fuel out of the system. Again, a scraper went into the pipeline. The water was used to push the scraper that, in turn, pushed the fuel out to the 210,000-gallon petroleum fuel tank. The next problem was getting the water contaminated with fuel out of two miles of IPDS pipeline. This was accomplished by injecting 100 pounds per square inch of air behind the scraper to push the water into one of the 50,000-gallon collapsible fuel tanks.

Then, the 109th Quartermaster Company was selected by the FORSCOM to test another first during Roving Sands ’97. Quartermaster soldiers tested an Army prototype to recycle contaminated water. If successful, this prototype could save the Army thousands of dollars in future operations. The prototype is a backwash system that will enable the Army to treat contaminated water instead of spending money disposing of such water through local contracting.

More than one million gallons of fuel were safely pumped through the pipeline. The IPDS and the soldiers of the 109th Quartermaster Company, 240th Quartermaster Battalion, and 49th Quartermaster Group (Petroleum and Water), Fort Lee, VA, stand ready to provide bulk petroleum support worldwide, directly enhancing the Total Army readiness and capabilities of the force-projection Army. Overall, Roving Sands ‘97 provided valuable experience in how to provide first-class combat service support. Continued training in petroleum operations will allow Quartermaster soldiers to do just that.

LT Mark E. Parsons is currently the Pipeline Platoon Leader, 109th Quartermaster Company, 240th Quartermaster Battalion, Fort Lee, Virginia. He has a bachelor of arts degree in economics from Ohio State University. He is also a graduate of the Quartermaster Officer Basic and Airborne Courses. He was previously assigned as the Executive Officer of the Sub Area Petroleum Office during Operation Joint Endeavor, and as Terminal Platoon Leader of the 267th Quartermaster Company, Fort Lee, Virgin

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Before pumping operations at Joint Exercise Roving Sands ‘97 in Roswell, New Mexico, a Quartermaster staff sergeant checks the dispatching plan for timing and accuracy.

The 1997 base terminal for the world’s largest Joint Air Defense Exercise consisted of one 210,000-gallon fabric fuel tank and two 50,000-gallon fuel tanks used to store contaminated fuel in the desert.

While the 109th Quartermaster Company set up the head terminal, the 808th Engineers unpacked and emplaced over two miles of pipeline for the Inland Petroleum Distribution System.