Rising fuel prices also affecting Marine training

With the cost of oil at an all-time high, individuals aren't the only ones feeling the price pinch at the fuel pump - training and operations at Marine Corps Air Station Yuma have also been affected.
 
Most impacted are visiting squadrons from the recent Weapons and Tactics Instructor (WTI) course and Desert Talon exercise that were surprised to find themselves receiving a fuel bill for the first time.
 
Previously, the station picked up the fuel tab for training provided by the Marine Aviation Weapons and Tactics Squadron 1.
 
Fuel for one WTI course exercise can cost up to $300,000.
 
Squadrons set a budget at the beginning of each fiscal year. When the price of fuel jumps in the middle of the year, the budget doesn't change. So the money has to come from somewhere.
 
"Everybody is feeling the pinch of the fuel cost," said Gunnery Sgt. Terumi Burrows, MAWTS-1 supply chief.

Annually, the station hosts two WTI courses and two Desert Talon exercises.
 
"During WTI and Desert Talon, the amount of fuel that we supply doesn't change, but the price does," Burrows said. "We have to deal with it, because no matter what, the mission has to get done."
 
WTI and Desert Talon only account for part of the station's fuel consumption. Not only is the training on station being affected, but the everyday transportation needs of Marines here as well.
 
Overall, units here are issued about 15.3 million gallons of Jet Propellant 8 for aircraft, 296,000 gallons of JP8 for ground vehicles, 205,000 gallons of unleaded fuel and 96,000 gallons of diesel fuel per year by the station's fuel farm.
 
JP8 is delivered via the Kinder Morgan pipeline from Norwalk, Calif. Unleaded and biodiesel are delivered by tanker trucks from commercial vendors.
 
The cost of fuel for the government jumped more than 70 cents from October to November last year, and even more since then.