818th Materiel/Supply Squadron

Above: Building 1580, the large base supply warehouse today.

Right: A look at the bulk storage units for base fuels, AvGas and JP-4 jet fuels
Mission: 

Provide for receipt, storage, and issue of all classes of supplies except Medical, Commissary, Clothing Sales, and Remarketing and Distribution. Provides a consolidated supply for receipt, storage and issue of equipment type items, maintenance of UAL's accounting and other allied records

Commanders

History:

The mission of the 818th Supply Squadron was wide and varied. In 1956 the squadron consisted of Petroleum, Supply facilities, Inventory and Inspection and Property Accounting sections. 

A large base warehouse was built during the 1950s, remaining today (2018) as Building #1580. Before 1958, base supply administrative offices were located within Building #958, a former World War II wooden hangar that was demolished that same year. Otherwise many smaller warehouses in the north of the base provided inventory as well that ranged from among 29,000 different line items in 1959. The only items that were not stocked were commissary, clothing and munitions as they were the jurisdiction of other units.

Six IBM computers, utilizing punch cards, aided in the accounting of the great stocks of goods. Pneumatic tubes ran from a quality control section down to the warehouse to speed operations. With the necessity of aircraft parts 24 hours a day, supply operations were scheduled day and night as well. 

Fuels were also operated by the supply squadron, within a sub-unit often referred to as base fuels. A bulk storage area north of the main base supply warehouse possessed four large storage tanks, each containing either Avfuel for the propeller-driven KC-97s or JP-4 jet fuel for the B-47s. Underground storage near the flightline were connected to these bulk tanks via pipes that ran underneath the base. Diesel, gasoline, and other lubricants were also managed by this group. Petroleum, Oil, and Lubricants (or POL) were absolutely vital for continuing base operations. 

Links

Photos from an airman who served in base fuels