Naval Station Rota base commander Capt. Earl K. Hampton Jr., left, discusses Rota’s new underground fuel hydrant system with Spanish Rear Adm. Ricardo Gomez Enriquez, Admiral in Chief, Rota Naval Base, and Lt. Christin Crowley, base fuels officer. (U.S. Navy photo)
Naval Station Rota’s new aircraft refueling pumps can fill up a C-5 Galaxy in 90 minutes.
With a 51,450-gallon fuel capacity, that means sailors at this U.S. base in Spain are pumping 570 gallons of fuel each minute into the Air Force’s largest airplane.
The new pumps — part of a $42 million project that has tripled the base’s underground fuel storage capacity — has dramatically increased the base’s capability to move aircraft in and out of the European theater, said Lt. Christin Crowley, the base’s fuels officer.
Plans to boost Rota’s refueling capability started before the U.S. launched operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. However, such contingences can benefit greatly from the improvements, said Rota’s commanding officer, Navy Capt. Earl Hampton Jr.
“Theaterwide, this gives Air Mobility Command more flexibility in where they can send aircraft,” Hampton said in a phone interview.
“It doesn’t replace anything,” Hampton said. “If anything, it adds on capability we have theaterwide.”
Plans call for 16 new fuel “pits,” in addition to the existing five hydrants, bringing the base’s capability to 21 pumps, Crowley said.
Before the new system, crews needed three hours to refuel one C-5 Galaxy aircraft. Now, four planes can be refueled at a time, and the refueling time takes about 1½ hours — nearly an eight-fold increase in capability and efficiency, officials said.
The project triples the capacity of underground fuel storage. The two new 30,000-barrel tanks can hold 1.3 million gallons each.
And the project will not require additional sailors to operate. In fact, fewer troops are needed. The current truck refueling system takes two to four people to operate, but the new pumps only need one, said Lt. Michael Morely, the base spokesman.
Ten pumps currently are up and running, with the remaining six expected to be completed by spring. Of the total, 14 will be built on what aviators call the “parking apron,” with the other two built on the “hot cargo” pad, or isolated area where aircraft bearing ordnance are refueled.
Construction began in May 2004, with the total cost split between Air Mobility Command and Defense Logistics Agency, 42 percent and 58 percent respectively.
Oh, and in case you’re wondering: It would take the new pumps only 13 seconds to fill up the 44-gallon tank in your Ford Excursion.
