It Takes a Lot of Petrol to Fight a War

By John Ballard

When I hear complaints about the government spending too much money I think about stuff like this.

Coalition airpower integrated with ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations Sept. 23, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.

In Afghanistan, Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt IIs responded to a request for assistance in the Balocan area. Coalition forces reported taking enemy fire and when point of origin for the enemy fire was located, several strafing runs were made, terminating the enemy fire.

A-10 aircraft provided overwatch for friendly forces near Lashkar Gah. The aircraft were sweeping for improvised explosive devices ahead of a friendly patrol when the patrol came under fire. The coordinates of the enemy fire were confirmed. The A-10 provided several shows of force and finished with a strafing run that successfully ended the enemy fire.

At Chahar Bagh, Navy F/A-18E Super Hornet aircraft assisted a coalition patrol by sweeping the patrol's route for suspicious activity. The coalition forces started taking small-arms fire and requested shows of force to deter the enemy fire. The shows of force were made and were deemed successful in deterring the anti-coalition small arms fire.

Thirty-two Air Force, Navy and coalition intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance aircraft flew missions as part of operations in Afghanistan. In addition, two Navy aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.

In total, 86 close-air-support missions were flown in support of the ISAF and Afghan security forces, reconstruction activities and route patrols.

In Iraq, 27 Air Force and Navy ISR aircraft flew missions as part of operations there. In addition, two Air Force aircraft performed tactical reconnaissance.

In total, 26 close-air-support missions were flown in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. These missions integrated and synchronized with ground forces, protected key infrastructure, provided overwatch for reconstruction activities and helped to deter and disrupt hostile activities

Air Force C-130 Hercules aircraft and C-17 Globemaster IIIs provided intra-theater heavy airlift, helping to sustain operations throughout Afghanistan, Iraq and the Horn of Africa.

Air Force airlift crews flew 151 airlift sorties, delivered 611 short tons of cargo and transported about 3,700 passengers. Airlift included about 130,000 pounds of aerial resupply cargo dropped over Afghanistan.

Coalition C-130 crews flew as part of operations in Afghanistan and Iraq.

On Sept. 22, Air Force HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters and pararescue teams transported 13 patients to coalition field hospitals from locations in Afghanistan. Pararescue team members aboard the helicopters located, rescued and began treatment to stabilize patients in the battlefield. The HH-60G aircrews transported these patients to field hospitals in less time than it takes for a civilian patient to reach emergency care by ambulance in most major cities.

Air Force tankers flew 59 sorties and off-loaded approximately 3.5 million pounds of fuel to 257 receiving aircraft.

Check that last line.
Three and a half million pounds of fuel seems like a lot to me.
I'm sure glad we're pushing for more fuel economy in automobiles.
These guys drink a lot of fuel and need all we can spare.
Oh, and the carbon footprint, too. I forgot about that. But I digress...

That's just the report for September 23.

Here's the consumption for September 22.

Air Force aerial refueling crews flew 53 sorties and off-loaded approximately 3.4 million pounds of fuel to 217 receiving aircraft.

This is from August 14.

U.S. Air Force aerial refueling crews flew 50 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.6 million pounds of fuel to 205 receiving aircraft.

This is in the report for June 1:

On June 1, Air Force and RAF tanker crews flew 53 sorties and off-loaded approximately 2.9 million pounds of fuel to 239 receiving aircraft.

There's lots of them.
Too many to include in a little blog post.  (Did that search return over eleven thousand hits? Yeah, I think so. No, I didn't check all of them.)

Yep, it takes a lot of petrol to fight a war.
Sleep well, America.
Keep your gas tanks topped off just in case.
And don't use your brakes too much because it wastes energy.