GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business) — Grissom Air Reserve Base has completed a $35 million project that has been nine years in the making. The base says its new fuel hydrant system, which replaces one that had been in operation since the 1950s, is now online.

Design work for the project began in 2012 and crews broke ground in 2015. Grissom says the Type III Hydrant Fuel System provides a high-tech, digital platform to fuel aircraft at the base. 

Grissom says the new system has a flow capacity of 600 gallons of fuel per minute, which can fuel four aircraft in the same parking row. The system is also designed to automatically turn on the pumps needed to maintain the required pressure.

An added benefit of the system is fuel delivery trucks no longer need to come onto the base and helps eliminate the potential for fuel spills.

“Facilitating off-load of commercial tanker trucks from outside the installation’s perimeter has obvious security benefits,” Lt. Col. Matt Garvelink, 434th Security Forces Squadron commander at Grissom, said in a news release. “Anytime we can create extra stand-off between Grissom assets vehicles with 50,000lbs of jet fuel, it’s a good option.”

Grissom says the Air Force has also removed aged underground storage tanks at the base.

GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. (Inside INdiana Business)- For the first time in 15 years, an airshow will be presented this weekend at the Grissom Air & Space Expo. The United States Air Force aerial demonstration team, the Thunderbirds, will headline the north central Indiana event alongside other military and civilian aviation acts during the two-day expo.

Officials says the event is expected to attract a large crowd. The last show in 2003 is reported to have had an estimated 60,000 people in attendance. 

“We’ve got an aggressive team working diligently to ensure we put on the best show possible,” said Col. Larry Shaw, 434th ARW commander. “We’ve been laying the foundation for this event for six months already, working behind the scenes, getting paperwork in place to ensure we are doing things right.”

The show will run September 7 and 8. The event is free and open to the public. 

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