Photo By Petty Officer 2nd Class Dana Legg | 160124-N-MC499-005 GULF OF OMAN (Jan. 24, 2016) Air Traffic Controller 3rd Class Evan...... read more read more
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By Mass Communication Specialist Seaman Apprentice Dana D. Legg, USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) Public Affairs
GULF OF OMAN - “Striker five-one, take angels 19.”
“Green deck.”
The sound of a launching AV-8B Harrier jet is loud overhead.
“Striker five-one, roger.”
Inside the amphibious air traffic control center (AATCC), it’s controlled chaos. There are messages being passed over the 1MC, the sounds of launching aircraft, and almost everyone is talking into a headset. The air traffic controllers of the amphibious assault ship USS Kearsarge (LHD 3) are hard at work.
Launching and recovering aircraft isn’t just a job for the aircraft handling yellow shirts of the flight deck.
“When the weather is bad, the pilots rely on us to get them safely on deck,” said Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Levern Neal, AATCC’s leading petty officer. “We’re essentially their eyes in the sky.”
“Our job is really important,” said Air Traffic Controller 2nd Class Desmon Freeman, the newest Sailor in AATCC. “We keep people safe. Some people in here are 18 or 19 years old, and that’s a lot of responsibility for someone that age to have.”
In addition to the responsibility of keeping pilots safe, air traffic controllers are tasked with working long days. Staying alert and aware is crucial – their work isn’t done until all aircraft are safely onboard.
“We man up our stations 90 minutes early,” said Neal. “We do a comms check, and make sure our equipment is good to go.”
Before manning their watch stations, the 11 Sailors in the division receive the air plan for the day, tasks are assigned and the AATCC song is played.
The AATCC song is a tradition with Kearsarge ACs. Before the various watch stations are manned and ready, the shop takes a few minutes to jam out and get ready to do what they do best.
“It’s just something we kind of came up with to get us ready for the day,” said Freeman, laughing.
“After the brief in the morning, before we man our stations, we have to get pumped up.”
“It’s a tradition we’ve had for a little while,” said Neal with a grin. “It gets my guys ready for work.”
As quartermasters are vital to the navigation of the ship, air traffic controllers are essential to the launch and recovery of aircraft. They must do their job without aid or distraction.
“Medical calls us their babies,” laughed Neal. “We’re technically in a flight status, so we aren’t allowed to drink any energy drinks or take certain medications. It’s important for my guys to have situational awareness and be vigilant.”
According to Neal, it takes a certain type of Sailor to do what they do.
“In here, we are all alpha personalities,” he said. “We all want to outdo each other, so we’re always learning and building each other up. Our rate is a small community so it’s a close-knit team.”
AATCC Sailors are often required to make on-the fly decisions. Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Dennis Briggs emphasized the difficulties that can come with directing aircraft.
“Our work isn’t a catch-all kind of thing,” said Briggs. “Sometimes we really have to think outside the box in a short amount of time, especially when marshaling Harriers and trying to get pilots back on deck safely.”
Marshaling is when multiple Harriers are ready to come back on board and air traffic controllers layer the aircraft several hundred feet on top of each other. When a Harrier is ready for final approach, the ACs approve the pilots to land.
“Marshaling jets can be difficult sometimes,” said Briggs. “Every once in a while, a situation comes up where we have to land an aircraft quickly or make sure that our pilots are staying in our air space, which can be tough when we’re close to land.”
Though some days are tougher than others, on a large-deck amphibious ship like Kearsarge, air traffic control at a naval air station or on an aircraft carrier can be even more difficult, Neal added.
“Our job is by no means easy, but our guys on aircraft carriers have it a lot tougher,” said Neal.
“We are mostly rotary wing, so we have it a little easier. Carriers don’t have that luxury. The hardest part of our job is the ship’s location, which is why we record it every 30 minutes.”
Freeman included that being confident is one of the most important aspects of the rate.
“Once you’re confident, you’re good,” said Freeman. “Everyone is rocky when they start off, but once you get the training, and just follow the book, you’ll be confident enough do to your job. That’s what matters.”
If nothing else, air traffic controllers aboard Kearsarge are top notch - and they know it. They are the eyes in the sky for our pilots, or as they like to call themselves, the “Elite of the Fleet.”
Kearsarge is the flagship for the Kearsarge Amphibious Ready Group (ARG) and, with the embarked 26th Marine Expeditionary Unit (MEU), is deployed in support of maritime security operations and theater security cooperation efforts in the U.S. 5th Fleet area of operations.
| Date Taken: | 02.05.2016 |
| Date Posted: | 02.05.2016 05:30 |
| Story ID: | 187988 |
| Location: | USS KEARSARGE, GULF OF OMAN |
| Web Views: | 318 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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