Fighting forces get no break on fuel costs

Consumers at the gas pump aren’t the only ones suffering sticker shock. Military units in Iraq and elsewhere will see another hike in fuel costs next week, the second midyear increase because of soaring oil prices.

On July 1, the cost for refined fuel used by troops will jump from $127.68 a barrel to $170.94


While prices charged to warfighting units have fluctuated in recent years, never have they faced such a steep spike in so few months. The cost of jet fuel, for example, jumped from $2.31 a gallon in October to $3.04 in December. As of next month, units will start paying $4.07 a gallon.

Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Brian Maka said Friday that the price hike is needed to cover an anticipated $1.2 billion rise in fuel costs in the next three months. While a $400,000 a month increase in fuel costs won’t affect ongoing military operations, it will require a “reprioritization of daily support activities,” he said in an e-mailed statement.

It also will impact a federal budget already stretched thin by the wars in Iraq in Afghanistan. The U.S. is spending nearly $10 billion a month in Iraq and more than $2 billion a month in Afghanistan.

AP