• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Lincoln's Air Department V-4 Division Keeps Aircraft Flying

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS080522-23
Release Date: 5/22/2008 5:52:00 PM

By Mass Communication Specialist 3rd Class Johndion Magsipoc, USS Abraham Lincoln Public Affairs

ABOARD USS ABRAHAM LINCOLN (NNS) -- With the Abraham Lincoln Carrier Strike Group reaching the one-third completion point of its seven-month deployment May 22, ensuring clean fuel is available for Carrier Air Wing 2 aircraft flying combat mission is crucial.

USS Abraham Lincoln (CVN 72) Sailors from the Air Department's V-4 division work to ensure aircraft have clean and water-free fuel, to keep them running smoothly and efficiently while deployed to conduct counterterrorism and security operations in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of responsibility, to support Maritime Security Operations.

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) 1st Class (AW) Rodeliza Santiago, leading petty officer for V-4 below decks, explained complex modern aircraft fuel systems do not function properly if it contains contaminated water, sediments and other foreign objects.

"Our goal is to deliver safe and clean fuel to the flight deck to support the mission and to get the aircraft flying," Santiago said. "Contaminated fuel can cause a loss of life and loss of an aircraft.

"The pump room here is a complicated pump room with piping, pumps, valves, gages and motors," Santiago said. "In order to operate any JP-5 fueling system safely and efficiently aboard the ship, personnel in my department must possess a thorough understanding how our piping system works."

A JP-5 fueling system consists primarily of a storage system and three separate and independent pumping systems. A storage system receives JP-5 fuel during underway replenishment, explained Santiago.

To ensure fuel is free from contamination, it goes into an initial purification. This is a process where a JP-5 filling and transfer system separates and removes water, debris and emulsions from JP-5 during transfer from storage to service tanks.

After transfer from the storage to the service tank, the fuel goes through a second phase of purification, or filtration. After this process, the fuel is pumped to the flight deck where it will be used to refuel aircraft, Santiago explained.

Aviation Boatswain's Mate (Fuel) Airman Jessica Sirek, who recently completed her personnel qualification to operate the JP-5 pump room, explained that inspection and sampling procedures are the only means to ensure that fuel pumping equipment is performing properly.

Problems are prevented if equipment is properly operated and the sampling procedures are carefully followed, Sirek noted.

If contamination is discovered during the visual inspection procedure, the test will be repeated," Sirek said. "We're very concerned about safety. Providing clean fuel to the flight deck is a matter of life or death."

For more news from USS Abraham Lincoln visit www.navy.mil/local/cvn72/.