Forward arming and refueling points (FARPs), explained

A forward arming and refueling point (FARP) is a temporary facility set up as far forward, or as widely dispersed, as tactically feasible to give aviation units fuel and ammunition in combat. That is the definition in ATP 3-04.17, the Army techniques publication on FARPs. A FARP lets commanders extend the range of their aircraft or add time on station, because aircraft no longer fly back to the unit's base to refuel and rearm. Within a battalion the forward support company runs the FARP. The refuelers are petroleum supply specialists, military occupational specialty (MOS) 92F, and a safety officer certifies the site before use.

Where FARP doctrine is written

ATP 3-04.17 is dated June 4, 2018 and carries Change 1 of May 18, 2021. The publication is approved for public release and supersedes ATP 3-04.94 of January 26, 2012. The preface names the main audience: commanders, staff, and mission planners at combat aviation brigades and below. The manual includes a site inspection checklist and a sample FARP standard operating procedure (SOP) as appendices.

Two newer manuals sit beside it. FM 3-04, Army Aviation, dated March 27, 2025, expands its FARP discussion and adds a new Army term, the area for forward arming and refueling (AFAR). An AFAR uses no fixed fuel hoses or set pads. Aircraft land inside a larger area and the fuel and ammunition equipment drives up to them. ATP 4-43, Petroleum Supply Operations, dated April 18, 2022, covers the fuel side.

ATP 3-04.17 names four types of FARP: active, silent, jump, and rolling. A jump FARP is used when scope, assets, and time are limited. A rolling FARP refuels aircraft that are guarding a convoy at the convoy's location. Separate rapid refuel points serve surges, such as air assaults.

Who runs a FARP

FM 3-04 splits the work three ways. The battalion operations officer (S-3) gives the where, when, and why, and selects the site. The logistics officer (S-4) sets the fuel and ammunition requirements. The forward support company commander executes the mission.

ATP 3-04.17 says every aviation battalion has an organic forward support company. That company's distribution platoon holds the fuel (Class III) and ammunition (Class V) personnel. The aviation support battalion's distribution company stores and issues bulk fuel for the brigade, and its aviation support company can lend armament personnel.

The people at the nozzle are 92Fs. ATP 4-43 describes petroleum supply specialists as licensed operators of pump and filtration systems. ATP 3-04.17 estimates that a FARP with eight service points needs at least ten 92Fs, eight to refuel and two at the emergency shut-off valves, plus sixteen arming personnel. Units can cross-train ammunition specialists (89B), 92Fs, and copilots to help with arming. The manual calls the MOS petroleum service specialist in one paragraph and petroleum supply specialist in the next.

Layout and safety rules

ATP 3-04.17 builds a FARP around the Advanced Aviation Forward Area Refueling System (AAFARS), a four-point system with 100 feet between refueling points and at least 55 gallons per minute at each. The standard separation between aircraft is double the rotor blade length, to prevent collisions and rotor wash damage. The system should lie at a right angle to a prevailing wind, on the higher part of a slope, because fuel vapors are heavier than air and flow downhill. The fuel source should stay downwind of aircraft exhaust.

Each refueling takes three people: one on the nozzle, one at the emergency shutoff valve, and one outside the rotor disk who can see both the pilot and the refueler. The safety table requires fire extinguishers at the pump and every nozzle, grounding rods, a nozzle bonded to the aircraft before the fuel cap opens, armament set to SAFE, and a site cleared of debris that could cause foreign object damage. Aircraft do not transmit during fueling or arming. In an emergency, uninvolved personnel move at least 100 meters upwind.

The Chinook needs more room. When several airframes share a FARP, ATP 4-43 tells units to set a designated refueling point for CH-47s so the rotor wash will not hit other helicopters, and sets a minimum of 180 feet rotor hub to rotor hub side by side for a CH-47, or 140 feet nose to tail, against 100 feet for the UH-60.

The CH-47 as a flying FARP

ATP 3-04.17 calls the CH-47 a rapidly employed FARP. The aircraft's extended range fuel system II, known as Fat Cow, takes one, two, or three 800-gallon tanks, up to 2,400 gallons, and a 120-gallon-per-minute pump feeds two refueling points 200 feet from the helicopter. The 2018 text describes the system on the CH-47D. FM 3-04 says the CH-47F can carry 2,400 gallons of usable fuel in the same role. ATP 3-04.17 lists the costs: turning blades during refueling can create a hazard, fuel burn rises with the added weight, and the CH-47's signature makes the site easier to detect.

A February 2020 story from the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade shows the drill. On February 5, 2020, at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii, 92Fs from two battalions refueled three UH-60s and an AH-64 from a CH-47F of Bravo Company, 3-25. The company commander said the unit runs Fat Cows at least every quarter and usually trains with one 800-gallon tank.

The Chinook also moves FARPs. An August 2012 story from Fort Bragg describes petroleum supply specialists staging 500-gallon fuel blivets, a container of FARP supplies, and a generator for two CH-47Fs to sling load to a new jump FARP.

What to check

• Does a FARP plan cite ATP 3-04.17 with Change 1 of May 18, 2021, and FM 3-04 of March 27, 2025?
• Is the site a FARP with fixed points and hoses, or an AFAR, the 2025 term in which fuel and ammunition equipment drives up to the aircraft?
• Who certified the site? ATP 3-04.17 requires a safety officer or a trained person the commander designates, using the SOP checklist.
• Is a CH-47 given its own refueling point and 180 feet of hub-to-hub spacing side by side?
• Does a Fat Cow figure state the tank count? One 800-gallon tank and the 2,400-gallon maximum are both in use.

Azcuna's ELLMENT for the CH-47 puts the Chinook's public technical manuals, the Army sling-load manuals and a unit's own SOPs on a laptop or tablet that answers a repairer's or flight engineer's question with no network and cites the manual and page. Azcuna submitted it as a concept white paper to the Army's xTech|Search 10 competition in October 2026.

Sources

1. 1ATP 3-04.17, Techniques for Forward Arming and Refueling Points · Headquarters, Department of the Army (June 4, 2018, with Change 1 of May 18, 2021)
2. 2FM 3-04, Army Aviation · Headquarters, Department of the Army (March 27, 2025)
3. 3ATP 4-43, Petroleum Supply Operations · Headquarters, Department of the Army (April 18, 2022)
4. 4Aviation Brigade practices 'Fat Cow' fueling operation · 25th Combat Aviation Brigade, via DVIDS (February 2020)
5. 5Jump-FARP fuels monumental outcome · 159th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs, via DVIDS (August 24, 2012)

Where this shows up in our work

• ELLMENT for the CH-47 Chinook answers a repairer's or flight engineer's question from the Chinook's manuals and the Army sling-load manuals and cites the page, with no network.
• TRACE, the offline S1000D and IETM viewer opens S1000D, MIL-STD-3001 and PDF technical manuals on a tablet with every marking intact.