LANGLEY AFB, VA. –
The men and women of the 1st Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight will compete for The Drake Award when the Air Combat Command Drake evaluation team comes to visit Monday and Tuesday.
The Drake award is very dear to the hearts of the Langley Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants flight, named after Colonel Edwin Drake, who is credited for drilling the first successful oil well Aug. 18, 1859, in Titusville, Pa.
This task will not be easy though, as they will be competing against two other flights; one from Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., and the other from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.
To accomplish this feat, they will have to demonstrate that they are technically proficient and have the best operation.
"Being the best in the command is nothing new for this group of dedicated professionals," said Chief Master Sgt. Robert Cain, 1st LRS Fuels Flight manager.
In fact, 1st LRS Fuels Management Flight was named the Best Fuels Flight in 2003 and 2004. In 2003, the fuels management flight was the runner up for the American Petroleum Institute award as Best Fuels Flight in the Air Force.
"It is an honor to even be considered one of the top three in ACC, and get an on-site evaluation," said Chief Cain. "I really believe no other POL flight in the Air Force, yet alone ACC, is better or has accomplished more than we have here at Langley over the last year," he said.
Looking at the record, it's easy to see why the chief makes this claim.
This year alone, the 1st LRS Fuels Management Flight has issued more than 16.2 million gallons of JP-8 to 10,000 F-15 and F-22A Raptor aircraft.
Along the way, the 1st LRS Fuels Management Flight deployed 26 personnel in support of the Air and Space Expeditionary Force rotation where they were responsible for issuing 18.2 million gallons of TS-1 fuel.
In May, during the base closure for runway repair, the fuels flight deployed 19 personnel to the Savannah Combat Readiness Training Center in Georgia, four to Hill AFB, Utah, and four to Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. During the runway closure, they still issued more than four million gallons of aviation fuel to more than 2000 aircraft without missing an aircraft sortie.
In the midst of this high ops tempo, they further added to their resume by excelling during the 2006 ACC Logistics Standardization Evaluation Team visit, where they earned the fewest findings of any ACC fuels flight since May 2005.
In September, 1st Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight officially took possession of a state-of-the-art Type III hydrant system, worth more than $15.7 million, to support the Air Force's newest weapons system, the F-22A Raptor.
"The men and women of 1st Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight are poised and ready for this competition," said Chief Cain.