Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jeff Peterson stands in front of part of the new power generation system at Logistical Support Area Anaconda, Iraq. Peterson, a power system technician, said the new system will replace the hundreds of generators that give the sprawling base a low-level hum. The new system will go online before year’s end. (Ron Jensen / S&S)
LOGISTICAL SUPPORT AREA ANACONDA, Iraq — The constant throbbing and ubiquitous humming of hundreds of generators found outside every tent and building have been as much a part of the base’s ambience as the persistent mortar and rocket attacks.
Chief Warrant Officer 2 Jeff Peterson may not be able to stop the daily fireworks, but he and his 17 soldiers from 3rd Detachment, Company B, 249th Engineer Battalion (Prime Power) are about to make the base a little quieter.
A 24-megawatt power system goes on line by year’s end to replace the hundreds of generators that fill the base with a constant “hum.”
Once that happens, the only place to hear that familiar sound, Peterson said, will be where the 18 1.4-megawatt power units will be tethered together to produce enough electricity to keep this base of 23,000 supplied with everything from hot coffee and communications to surgery equipment.
“The difference that the average ordinary person is going to notice is that they don’t see a generator on every corner,” said Peterson, whose unit is out of Fort Bragg, N.C.
The new system, which should be up and running in December, will be more consistent, Peterson said. But it will also be more efficient.
“When you have 1,000 small generators, [they] require manpower. They require fuel to keep them running,” he explained.
The new system will free up the teams that have maintained the churning generators on the sprawling base. It will also free up the people who moved daily around the base to fill the generators with fuel.
The generators now being used will be spread around the base for back-up at critical locations, such as the Air Force Theater Hospital and the communications unit.
Peterson said the challenge at Logistic Support Area Anaconda, the main logistics base in the country, is to keep up with the growth. It was originally designed for 10,000 people, but is now more than twice that.
He said the new system would not be the last word in power supply for the base.
“Even the 24-megawatt [system] will have to grow to meet the demands next summer,” he said.
