Photo By Sgt. Brandon Ames | U.S. Army Sgt. Nicholas Conway, of Fox Company 1-158, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade...... read more read more
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MIROSLAWIEC, Poland – In a military exercise bringing the U.S and Poland together, adversity is the name of the game.
Soldiers from U.S. Army, Fox Company 5-158, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade, based out of Ansbach, Germany, and the Polish armed forces have teamed up for Operation Atlantic Resolve on a 45-day rotation where they hone their skills as multinational capable air traffic controllers. The purpose of Atlantic Resolve is to strengthen relationships among allied militaries, to contribute to regional stability and to demonstrate U.S. commitment to NATO.
Understanding each other’s rules, interpreting different languages and learning how to run the control towers with unfamiliar and foreign equipment were the three main changes to adapt to.
Learning the rules and regulations of the Polish armed forces was the first biggest obstacle. In the U.S. Army as an air traffic controller, multiple aircrafts are permitted to land on the runway at a time. In the Polish armed forces, one aircraft at a time is permitted.
“I think for me the biggest task we had to overcome as a unit was to understand that the rules and regulations in which we are accustomed to differ from that of a Polish air traffic controller,” said U.S. Army Sgt. Nicholas Conway, air traffic controller, F/5-158, 12 Combat Aviation Brigade. “Once we understood how the Polish ran things it made for a smoother operation on our end.”
The second challenge the air traffic controllers had to face was interpreting each other’s language. With English and Polish coming in through the radio one after another, it created difficulties at times.
“It became quite a process at times when a Polish pilot would radio in and then have an American pilot following right after that,” said Polish armed forces Capt. Jacek Jakubik, chief of tower for the last 18 years. “Sometimes we had to bring in interpreters for each other, overall I think we have a good system down now.”
The third and final change to succumb to was understanding the difference of how the Polish armed forces ran their towers in comparison to the U.S. Army. The U.S. Army have a separate control room for the tower and one for the radar, compared to the Polish armed forces having it all merged into one. With separate rooms, that means separate jobs for the U.S. Army. With the Polish Armed Forces having it in one room, it created a great opportunity for cross training for the U.S. Army and Polish armed forces.
“With both the jobs of tower and radar here in one building, it makes it easy for us to train on and learn each other’s jobs and be able to apply our knowledge in this exercise,” said U.S. Army Spc. Lester Frink, air traffic controller, F/5-158, 12th Combat Aviation Brigade. “It’s been a great experience so far to learn from the Polish military, as well as them learn from us.”
Aside from the differences, the Polish armed forces and U.S. Army have the same goal, safety.
“We wanted to come into this exercise with an open mind to be able to adjust to changes accordingly and learn as much as possible from one another,” said Conway. “At the same time we want to have fun and make sure safety is a key priority and we’re doing just that.”
| Date Taken: | 10.27.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 10.30.2014 07:16 |
| Story ID: | 146529 |
| Location: | MIROSLAWIEC, PL |
| Web Views: | 529 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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