미해병대 USMC to develop new expeditionary fuel dispensing system

US Marines load gear on a vehicle at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, New Jersey. Credit: U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ryan Schmid.

The US Marine Corps (USMC ) is working to develop a new expeditionary fuel dispensing system (EFDS) to boost its battlefield flexibility and fuel sustainment capability. 

The effort has been initiated by Marine Corps Systems Command’s (MCSC) Fuel and Water Team.

The new EFDS is a smaller, more agile and reconfigured model of Amphibious Assault Fuel System (AAFS), the Tactical Airfield Fuel Dispensing System (TAFDS) and other existing conventional fuel systems.

EFDS lead logistician Linnis Hobbs said: “It increases expeditionary capabilities by allowing Bulk Fuel Marines to choose between a small, medium or large containerised system.”

The new compact system will allow the users to customise bulk fuel capabilities, rather than directly employing a large fuel system in an operational environment.

EFDS project officer master sergeant Vidal Rojas Giron said: “EFDS allows us to take a 1.1-million-gallon fuel farm and break it down into smaller pieces.”

The system has been introduced as part of the USMC’s modernisation efforts.

It involved contribution from the different units, including II Marine Expeditionary Force (MEF), Marine Corps Logistics Command and Marine Force Storage Command.

The three units, in collaboration with CSC Engineer Systems programme manager performed an inventory inspection of AAFS and TAFDS bulk fuel assets that were available in storage at Marine Corps Logistics Base (MCLB) Albany in Georgia.

Conducted from 22 August to 22 October 2022, the inspection aimed to check the viability of fuel storage equipment to support current needs of the fleet.

Hobbs said: “We knew that this effort couldn’t be done alone and required a large number of resources.”

In the next steps, the USMC said that a similar inspection will be carried out by the MCSC and I MEF Marines at MCLB Barstow in January 2023.