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The 601st Aviation Support Battalion ran a laboratory to check fuel quality for units operating in and around Regional Command South in Afghanistan.
In August 2013, the 601st Aviation Support Battalion deployed its Petroleum Quality Analysis System-Enhanced (PQAS-E) to Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, with Task Force Guardian in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
In garrison, the Task Force Guardian PQAS-E team provided daily qualitative petroleum laboratory testing. To accomplish the mission in theater, the PQAS-E team needed to address and overcome multiple challenges, including the need to conduct 24-hour operations, acquire supplies for those operations, and learn in-theater shipping and receiving procedures.
About the PQAS-E
The PQAS-E is a self-sufficient, mobile fuel laboratory that uses current fuel analysis technologies to meet Military Standard 3004C, Quality Assurance/Surveillance for Fuels, Lubricants and Related Products.
PQAS-E operations are designed to be carried out by three military occupational specialty 92L (petroleum laboratory specialist) Soldiers. The system includes a 30-day supply of all expendable items, but it does not include the fuel needed to operate the attached generator.
Garrison Operations
Before deploying to Afghanistan with Task Force Guardian, the PQAS-E was located at Marshall Army Airfield at Fort Riley, Kansas. At home station, the PQAS-E processed fuel samples for all of Fort Riley and Fort Sill, Oklahoma, including samples from civilian contractors. From October 1,2011, to August 2013, the PQAS-E processed 1,440 samples, testing over 8 million gallons of fuel.
Operations in Afghanistan
The mission of Task Force Guardian's PQAS-E at Kandahar Airfield was to provide expedient, qualitative petroleum laboratory testing for all U.S. Army units and contractors in and around...