YONGSAN GARRISON, South Korea — Duty vehicles now can be refueled without touching a single sheet of paper or talking to another human under a new key-based refueling system.
The Army has completed installation of an automated system that eliminates dispatch papers and signatures when refueling, said Maj. Charles Marbas, chief of the petroleum and water branch for the 8th Army.
“The main emphasis is to reduce the paperwork involved,” he said.
Units have been issued vehicle identification keys. A driver inserts a key into a motor pool pump, punches in the vehicle’s odometer reading and pump number and fueling begins, Marbas said.
Previously, a driver would have to bring his or her dispatch to an attendant, who would record the information and manually input it into a tracking system that eventually billed the unit, Marbas said. Now, the information goes from the pump to servers at Fort Belvoir, Md., which then bill units for fuel use.
“There are less steps involved,” Marbas said. “You don’t have to go to the attendant any longer.”
Motor pools with the system conceivably could stay open 24 hours since no attendant is required. Installation commanders will decide whether motor pools on their installations will change to ‘round-the-clock operation, he said.
Many stateside bases already use the key system; its installation was completed earlier this month for most motor pools in South Korea, Marbas said.
