Photo By Gina Randall | U.S. Air Force Senior Airman John Moreno, right, 100th Operations Support Squadron air...... read more read more
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RAF MILDENHALL, United Kingdom - The role of a 100th Operations Support Squadron air traffic controller is constantly changing.
“Every day is completely different when we come into work,” said Senior Airman Charles Allen, 100th OSS ATC from Riverside, California. “I don’t know how many aircraft I’m going to work with until 15 minutes before I start my shift at crew change.”
The controllers ensure safety of aircraft, day and night.
“Controllers work tirelessly around the clock, ensuring the safe passage of traffic throughout the world’s skies,” said Staff Sgt. Cody Baird, 100th OSS ATC supervisor from Point Comfort, Texas. “Without a controller’s guidance, each and every mission runs the potential to end with catastrophic results.”
To reduce the risk to aircraft and the personnel they carry, the team follows strict rules and guidance.
“There are a lot of regulations,” stated Allen. “As Air Force controllers, we have to follow Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, the same as civilian controllers back in the States. In addition, we follow more restrictive Air Force instructions and base-specific regulations.”
The job is not as simple as looking out of the tower to make sure the aircraft are safe to land. There are a great deal of factors for the Airmen to consider when giving the pilots the all-clear to touchdown.
“The primary service controllers provide is to separate aircraft using established requirements pertaining to type and size of aircraft, altitude, airspeed, direction of flight, along with many other factors,” explained Baird. “To be entrusted with this responsibility, controllers are required to hone skills such as spatial awareness and enhanced communication skills over a number of months of training, and are expected to continue to develop these skills throughout their career.”
These skills learned in technical school are continuously evolving throughout their time in service, and each time an Airman changes station.
“Every base is different; every time you go somewhere new you have to go through training again,” said Allen. “At your first base, you have about eight to 10 months to become proficient. But at your second and third base you have roughly two months to get completely trained. You have to learn the new airspace, aircraft characteristics, and base specific regulations very fast.”
Their in-house training serves the Airmen well while carrying out their assignment, but their career field could take them anywhere in the world to serve their country.
“Air traffic controllers, whether in a control tower or radar facility, serve as vital components to the overall mission of the Air Force at every location worldwide,” said Baird.
Although local training is essential, the job as a whole is the same wherever they are stationed — they are the eyes and ears for the pilots to land safely.
“I keep aircraft from getting too close to each other while they’re in the air,” said Allen. “We talk to the pilots on the ground and in the air. We make sure they get the practice approaches they need and get back on the ground safely. We separate our aircraft by maintaining certain mileage limits between aircraft, altitude restrictions, or simply ‘see and avoid.’ Those are the best separations standards for a tower controller.”
These standards are what keep the aircrew safe, and what makes the controllers proud to come to work each and every day.
“It’s the satisfaction of knowing that I am getting people home to their families safely every day,” Allen added. “The workload is different each day; they can all come back at once or spread out over a shift. You can have five aircraft in the pattern at the same time and it’s my job to make sure they get on the ground, engines shut down and back home. That’s my job and I love it.”
| Date Taken: | 06.16.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 06.18.2015 03:23 |
| Story ID: | 167068 |
| Location: | GB |
| Web Views: | 31 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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