FARP keeps TF Aviation
fueled and functioning
Story and photo by U.S. Army Sgt. Samantha Parks
4th Public Affairs Detachment
U
H-60 Black Hawks can be
heard on a daily basis, taking
off from the Camp Bondsteel
?ight line with the help of
the Task Force Aviation fuel team.
Nine soldiers maintain and operate the
Forward Arming and Refueling Point,
supplying all of Camp Bondsteel
helicopters with the fuel necessary to
complete their missions.
A FARP is a temporary facility
organized, equipped and deployed by
an aviation commander and normally
located close to where the units
operations are being conducted.
PG 16
“Our mission here in Kosovo is to
provide hot [refuel] at the FARP,”
said U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Earl
Scoggins, Maryland National Guard
noncommissioned of?cer in charge
and a native of Myersville, Md. “We
provide all the hot fuel operations as
well as the lab.”
engine is cut off and cooled down.
Hot refuel is when the rotor blades of an
aircraft continue turning and the engine
is not cut off, explained U.S. Army Sgt.
William Bundy, a Petroleum Supply
Specialist from the Maryland National
Guard and a native of Herford, N.C. It
is different from a cold refuel where the
Scoggins said he has two teams that
man the FARP 15-hours a day and go
on standby for the remainder of the
night in case of medical evacuations or
other situations.
“It’s a high risk job, [refueling] with the
rotors turning because of the amount of
static electricity that the rotors put off,”
Bundy said. “It’s a strenuous job, you
have to make sure you take your time
and everybody stays safe.”
“Our guys are called back in and we