Power in the Field

Photo By Sgt. Amaia Unanue | Lance Cpl. Alec Bean writes down the fuel levels of a Mobile Electric Power Solutions 1070 generator outside of a field operation Aug. 8, 2016 on Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan. Generator duty is assigned to one Marine from the Engineer shop to record the progress of the generators throughout a 24-hour period. The Marine on duty writes down the fuel level of each machine and makes sure everything is working properly. Bean, a Champaign, Illinois native, is an air conditioning mechanic with III Marine Headquarters Group, III Marine Expeditionary Force. (U.S. Marine Corps photo by Lance Cpl. Amaia Unanue/Released)  

CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JAPAN

08.08.2016

Story by Lance Cpl. Amaia Unanue    

III Marine Expeditionary Force   

Lance Cpl. Alec Bean, an air conditioning engineer with III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, III MEF, was assigned generator duty Aug. 8, 2016. His job for 24 hours was to check three 1060 Mobile Electric Power Solutions Generators and one 1070 generator placed beside a field operations site. With each visit he wrote down the fuel level of every generator, checked the wires and made sure everything was running as it should.
“Last week, we came here and there was only two-percent fuel in [a generator] because the aux fuel wasn’t working,” said Bean, a Champaign, Illinois native. “There was air inside the gas tank so we had to kick it and take the air out of it.”
The generator losing power would have resulted in the tent losing power. That type of problem is prevented by having a duty, said Bean.
Lance Cpl. Theodore R. Weber Jr., a generator mechanic also with III Marine Expeditionary Force Headquarters Group, said a generator duty is necessary because the equipment is still relatively new to them. They are still trying to work the bugs out of them, said Weber.
“As advanced as our equipment is, it still needs someone there to watch it,” said Weber, a Middleboro, Massachusetts native.
Weber accompanied Bean during his day of duty to check on the generators. They realized the auxiliary fuel tank for one of them stopped working. They had to assess the problem and reset a few things for the machine to start it working again. Weber said usually two or three generators are up and running and there’s always one or two on stand-by that turn on automatically when needed in case of situations like these.
The importance of keeping the generators running is not only for the benefit of a better lifestyle in a field environment but more importantly, for the completion of a successful mission, said Weber.
“Power in the field makes our lives a million times better,” said Weber. “If you don’t have power you have no communication, if you have no communication you can’t call in air strikes and stuff like that in an actual combat scenario.”

• Date Taken: 08.08.2016
• Date Posted: 08.09.2016 08:26
• Story ID: 206463
• Location: CAMP HANSEN, OKINAWA, JP
• Hometown: CHAMPAIGN, ILLINOIS, US
• Hometown: MIDDLEBORO, MASSACHUSETTS, US