There has been talk on this blog about fuel and especially the consumption of fuel in deployed environments. Currently at Fort Hood a new forward area refueling point is being implemented which reduces the traditional helicopter refueling time of 20 minutes to just 4 minutes. The 166^th Aviation Brigade is serving as the testers for this new technology.

                Before the introduction of the forward area refueling point pilots had to fly to off post airstrips, power their aircraft down, and then manually refuel their own aircraft. This process is known as a “cold fuel” because the aircraft is off and therefore “cold”.

                The forward area refueling point uses a “hot fuel” where the pilots and crew remain in the aircraft, the motor is running, while a support unit refuels the aircraft. The process saves time allowing the pilots to spend more time focused on the mission rather than refueling.  For more information visit www.army.mil.

                As we continue to deploy and redeploy troops into Afghanistan, the “hot fuel” can become more of an asset and help to maintain the safety of our troops. It will be interesting to see how classes at the Army Logistics University (ALU) are structured to incorporate this new concept. For all of the Quartermaster companies out there, this will be a new and possibly very exciting field for soldiers to be a part of.