An aircraft carrier’s mission is to launch and recover aircraft, but to do that, the aircraft and ship must have fuel to function and operate at peak performance.

Sailors aboard USS Dwight D. Eisenhower (CVN 69) line the edges of the flight deck and peer out from the hangar bay as the USNS Supply (T-AOE-6) pulls alongside Ike, July 13. Lines are shot between the two ships and soon fuel begins to flow.

Once the transfer of fuel begins, Sailors far below the skin of the ship go into action, testing samples of JP-5 fuel. By the end of the replenishment-at-sea (RAS), just over one million gallons of fuel have been transferred to Ike and are now in the care of the below-decks Sailors working in V-4’s quality assurance team.

The quality assurance team’s overall mission is to ensure the 3 million gallons of fuel capacity throughout the ship is safe to use and capable of carrying out its necessary task.

“We test everything,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) 3rd Class Wesley Wooldridge, a quality assurance sentry aboard Ike. “We test all incoming fuel to ensure that its chemical levels are correct and that it’s safe for use.”

“Our job is important because when aircrafts are conducting flight operations it can cause malfunctions and possibly freeze if its levels aren’t correct,” said Wooldridge.

“All of our samples go through a five-step checking process before it is considered acceptable for use by our aircrafts and tractors aboard the Ike,” said Aviation Boatswain’s Mate (Fuels) 3rd Class Andrea Jefferson, a quality assurance sentry.

The quality assurance team continues to check fuel while the ship carries out its day-to-day task.

“Samples are checked even after being purified below-decks and put in storage tanks. We also check flashpoints for aircraft that are transported from the flight deck into the hangar bay,” said Jefferson.

The fuel is distributed and used by various departments all around the ship to complete their different missions, but at the end of the of the day they all have the same goal: keep Ike fueled up and ready to go.

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