The military has very specific ways that they want things done, and when something happens that makes it impossible, there is often revenge involved.

That was the case in this story where a Spanish air base denied the airmen’s request to defuel a plane, telling them that they would need to burn off the fuel on the ground instead.

So, the airmen positioned the jet so that the thrust would blow tons of dust and debris back onto the Spanish air base’s housing area, making a huge mess for them to clean up.

They were just following orders, of course, and since no instructions were given on where the jet should be, they couldn’t get in trouble. Read through the full story below and see what you think about what happened.

The 25,000 Pounds of Thrust Wake Up Call

For this story, I need to provide a bit of background about some standard fighter jet operating procedures that become important later on.

A lot of planning goes into a military exercise.

This was an international exercise hosted on a Spanish air base. Several nations deployed their fighter aircraft there in order to train together in various combat scenarios. Our own contingent consisted of roughly 20 fighter jets and 200 personnel.

Since an exercise of this scale requires considerable logistical planning, there is something called a “site survey.” About six months before the exercise, a small delegation of ours traveled to the Spanish base for several days to inspect the facilities and coordinate procedures.

Refueling aircraft is critical work.

Topics included things like: “Where will our aircraft be parked?”, “Which rooms can we use for our equipment?”, “What are the emergency procedures?”, and among many other things, “How does refueling and defueling of the jets work?”

Everyone understands that aircraft need to be refueled. This is usually done immediately after landing because the danger comes primarily from fuel vapors, not the liquid fuel itself.

It is important to plan for every eventuality.

A fully fueled aircraft is therefore actually much safer than one with nearly empty tanks full of combustible vapors. However, it sometimes happens that faults are discovered only after refueling, faults that may require removing fuel lines or other components during repairs.

For that reason, there is a procedure called “defueling,” where the fuel is pumped back from the aircraft into a tanker truck. During the site survey this was approved without issue: we were simply told to notify them, and a specialized fuel truck would come and recover the fuel.

Looks like they found a problem.

Fast forward to a day during the exercise. We had already been flying successful missions alongside the other nations for several days. The aircraft landed and were refueled as usual.

Afterwards, while downloading the flight data, one aircraft reported an electrical fault in one of its external fuel tanks mounted beneath the wings to extend range and endurance.

What’s the problem?

After some troubleshooting it became clear that the external tank had to be replaced and repaired in the workshop. Under normal circumstances this is not a major job: the tank is defueled through the aircraft, removed, a replacement tank installed, and then the jet is refueled again.

Usually a 20-to-30-minute task. Or so we thought. When we requested the defueling truck as previously agreed during the site survey, we were suddenly told things were no longer that simple.

Why would they need to test the fuel?

First, a specialist would have to take a fuel sample from the aircraft. The sample would then be sent to a laboratory, and once the results arrived several days later, we could finally receive the tanker truck for defueling.

For us, this was completely unacceptable and entirely contrary to the agreements made beforehand. Losing the aircraft for several days would have been a significant setback since several pilots would be unable to participate in the exercise.

What a waste of fuel, but they will do what they have to do.

When we complained, every reasonable compromise was rejected, and the discussion ended with the rather snarky remark: “Then just burn the fuel if it’s that important.”

We didn’t need to be told twice.

All is quiet on the base.

Next morning, 5:30 a.m. The official exercise schedule for the day would not begin until 10:00 (long live Spanish snugness), and there was barely any activity on the base.

A light haze hung over the airfield, and almost no sound disturbed the silence of the Spanish plateau. Yet four people were already awake, casually walking along the line of parked jets on the apron. Morning dew covered the aircraft with a dull shimmer while dawn slowly prepared to give way to sunrise.

It was a peaceful moment right until two jet engines suddenly roared to life.

The people living there won’t be happy.

We applied as much thrust as the brakes could physically hold. The asphalt behind the aircraft dried almost instantly, and beyond it lay a strip of dry earth.

Sand, dust, dead vegetation, and small stones were blasted into the air, forming a massive cloud of debris that drifted roughly a hundred meters straight into an open Spanish Air Force shelter.

The base commander is not happy. And I’m sure this cost a lot of money.

It took us about twenty-five minutes to burn through 1,700 kilograms of jet fuel. Shortly afterwards the external tank was replaced, and by around 7:00 a.m. we were able to report the aircraft fully mission capable again so the pilots could plan their sorties for the day.

That same morning our commanding officer was spontaneously invited to meet the Spanish base commander to explain exactly who had woken him up so early and why.

That is a lot of extra work.

Meanwhile, Spanish personnel spent a full two hours sweeping all the dirt and debris back out of the shelter. After we explained the situation, we were informed that from that point onward we would be allowed to use the defueling truck without prior fuel sampling.

Unfortunately, we never needed the procedure again before the exercise ended.

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This guy undoubtedly got yelled at.

However, the liaison officer who had suggested we “just burn the fuel” was later observed attending a rather lengthy meeting with the base commander himself.

And had there not been aircraft launching in the meantime, you probably could have heard the commander yelling all the way to the runway.

If they want to make things difficult, these people can make their lives very difficult.

Read through what the comments have to say about this fun story.

Now this would have been a huge fire.

This commenter has another story about burning off fuel.

This would have been a great option, too.

Here is someone who works on an airbase weighing in.

If you enjoyed this story, check out this post about an employee who got back at slacking coworkers with fresh-baked treats.

This commenter says they shouldn’t have even needed to test the fuel.

How much did that fuel cost, not to mention the time and effort wasted on cleanup. While the story is pretty funny, this is the type of military waste that happens all the time.

It is unfortunate how much is wasted on something, even if it is important.