Rail tank cars added to petroleum training program at Fort Barfoot

FORT BARFOOT, Va. -

Logistics In Action - Editor's note: article originally appeared on the official Virginia National Guard website.

After years of planning, the U.S. Forces Command added two rail tank cars to their Petroleum Operations Sustainment Training program, or POST, in support of the Fort Gregg-Adams-based 94th Training Division to enhance bulk fuel supply training efforts Aug. 23, 2024, at Fort Barfoot, Virginia.

Fort Barfoot is home to the government-owned, contractor-run program, providing training for Active, Reserve, National Guard units and foreign allies and is the only in-depth, realistic and detailed military pipeline and terminal operations training capability available to land-based forces within the Department of Defense.

The rail tank cars, which arrived at Fort Barfoot from Fort Liberty, were added to enhance training of 92F Petroleum Supply Specialist Soldiers, allowing them to get hands-on experience loading and unloading fuel from rail transport cars.

"Currently the Army has a gap in providing sustainment training for our 92F Soldiers on how to upload and download bulk petroleum from a rail tank car," said James Blalock, liquid logistics team lead for FORSCOM G4 Logistics. "Commanders have identified that gap and they want to utilize the rail tank cars as part of their analysis and operational plans on supporting a theater environment, providing them with maximum flexibility for the distribution of bulk petroleum. Other than Advanced Initial Training, there was not a sustainment training capability for rail tank cars in the Army, so we started to work to incorporate it into the program."

"The addition of a rail car training facility is just the latest in a series of capabilities we have developed," said Col. James C. Shaver Jr., Fort Barfoot's garrison commander. "We were able to site this near the existing pump station in the Old Hospital Area and capitalize on the proximity to the cantonment, the bill of materials yard and their classroom. In the future this will be a great asset to increase the diversity of activities already being carried out in liquid logistic exercises on post."

Getting the rail tank cars in place took a coordinated effort between FORSCOM, the 94th TD, Fort Barfoot's Directorate of Public Works and multiple contractors. Once platforms for the cars were built at the petroleum training site, crews worked to secure and offload the empty tankers onto flatbed trucks via a large crane. After a slow, careful five-mile convoy from the railhead to the training area, the crane then hoisted the cars off of the trucks and into their permanent home.

Multiple installations were considered for the new training aid, but Blalock said Fort Barfoot made the most sense.

"We had to identify where we wanted to place it, which training program was best suited for it," he said. "We looked at multiple training opportunities and programs, one being Transportation Command at Fort Eustis. We decided co-locating it with POST and the Inland Petroleum Distribution System at Fort Barfoot made the most sense. This is where the Petroleum Operations Sustainment Training program is for the Army, and we decided to incorporate it here."

The addition of this new training asset adds to the growing list of unique training platforms at Fort Barfoot, keeping its status as one of the premier training installations on the East Coast.

"Fort Barfoot is continually communicating with our training audience in response to customer support requests pertaining to emerging requirements, changes in the operational environment, and any improvements we can accommodate at the point of need within the arena of DOTMLPF-P," said Shaver. "We have been a longstanding venue for petroleum training with the logistics community. Our partners to the east at the Sustainment Center of Excellence, the Army Reserve units that come here, and the onsite expertise in FPTM/POST staff have really been crucial in supporting this critical piece of the war fight.

Fort Barfoot has been the Army's home for petroleum training since 1989. In addition to the new rail tank car training tools, 92F Soldier also train on Fort Barfoot's Inland Petroleum Distribution System, a deployable bulk fuel storage and pipeline system. It is made up of tactical petroleum terminals (fuel units and pipeline connection assemblies), pipeline pump stations, pipeline sets, and special-purpose equipment. The system is modular in design and can be tailored for specific locations and operations.

Read more about Fort Barfoot at https://ngpa.us/25024.

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