for the Ships of GATE by Bill Barney Federal Coordinator for Meteorological Services |
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Some time in April, 1974, the Petroleum Agency of the DOD called to inform me
that they couldn't guarantee the airplane and ship fuel at Dakar for GATE due
to the oil embargo. When asked if there was any way we could get a commitment from an OPEC member, they said they didn't know because they were having trouble with contracts worldwide. They did say that oil was fungible--that Senegal had a refinery and if I could obtain a commitment they would take it from there. The US was out of the question due to domestic demand. That's when serendipity set in. I called General Tavikoli, the Vice-Minister of War in Iran and asked for help. I knew General Tavikoli when he was in school in the States, having served as his host. We had kept in touch and I sponsored his oldest boy when he came to American University and spent weekends with my boy. I explained that GATE was an International program involving forty ships, 28 aircraft, and 5500 people. He called back about two a.m. and said the Shah would commit 500,000 barrels and recommended that we coordinate with Nigeria, which was closer to Dakar. He said Iran's Ambassador to Nigeria would become involved. I called the Nigerian Ambassador to the US about the problem. He called back the next day and said his government was willing to honor Iran's commitment, and they would have their tankers unload the amount at the Dakar refinery dock. I then contacted our Ambassador Agrey in Dakar and brought him up to date. He had visited the project office twice for lunch and he was well informed about GATE. I then went to Senegal and with Mr. Seck, the Senegalese GATE representative, met with his minister who was responsible for GATE in Senegal. He said President Senghor said to help me. I had known President Senghor when he commanded a Colonial Brigade in General Juin's French Corps in the 5th US Army. I was in the Theatre Commander's Headquarters and used to take cigars and cigarettes to the French in exchange for French wine. I had read some of his poetry and we became acquainted. This was fortunate because Senegal had a refinery and a reserve and we needed five different kinds of oil, including 115 octane, JP 2 and 3, and bunker crude. They had a diesel supply. President Senghor said that to start GATE we could use Senegalese reserves until the Iranian commitment through Nigeria arrived. We started GATE and aviation gas became critical before the refinery output came on line. In using the bottom of the reserve tanks we loaded some contaminated fuel which caused three engine failures on take off. We sent samples to the Air Force Laboratory at Madrid by courier. They said we could use the fuel if it sat for three or four hours and then we drained the sumps. It worked, and two days later the reserve tanks were replenished. During GATE the Department of Defense said that Iran had donated the crude to the GATE project by way of Nigeria and Senegal and that there was no charge from Iran, Nigeria, or Senegal. That was the largest in-country expense, and it is why the flags of Iran and Nigeria flew in the GATE Operations Center. Senegal ended up with a surplus of 100,000 barrels. No one from NOAA had signed anything and all nations were included. I helped get Mrs. Tavikoli out of Iran when the General was imprisoned after the fall of the Shah. The General came to the US and I helped bury him three years ago. His boy is the largest chicken producer on the Eastern Shore. |