Photo By Staff Sgt. Rhett Isbell | Senior Airman Gabriella Bellou, 19th Operations Support Squadron air traffic control...... read more read more
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“Little Rock Air Force Base Tower to ROCK01, Little Rock Air Force Base Tower to ROCK01, Little Rock Air Force Base Tower to ROCK01…”
This is a common phrase heard in the Little Rock Air Force Base Aircraft Control Tower room overlooking the entire breadth of the runway, but even more so in the simulator training room found just a few floors below.
Airman 1st Class Ashley McDowell, 19th Operations Support Squadron air traffic control apprentice, attempts to receive an emergency response from the C-130J for a third time, but after no response from the aircraft, all she could do is watch as it crashes onto the runway of Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. She struggles to understand how this could have happened. After all it’s the second time it’s occurred in under an hour, and she still can’t figure out how to juggle all of the responsibilities of her job to keep those under her care safe.
McDowell is able to safely make this mistake due to her access to a life-like simulator located in the Air Traffic Control tower.
The 19th OSS Airmen who operate out of the control tower on Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark. are charged with directing aircraft coming in and out of the base. With a technical school spanning just over three months, some may wonder how they can be entrusted with such a massive responsibility. The answer? Dozens of hours spent on a life-like simulator and constant on-the-job training.
“The purpose of the simulator is to increase our job proficiency without needing to use real aircraft and potentially risk mission stability,” McDowell said. “We run simulations almost every day with each simulation taking 30 minutes to an hour. With three learning blocks full of simulations, we’ll end up spending over 70 hours in the simulations throughout the entirety of our upgrade training.”
These simulations aid air traffic control Airmen in learning the rules and regulations they’ll need for their Air Force career, as well as familiarizing themselves with the rules of the Federal Aviation Administration.
“Our technical school is an approved FAA air traffic control course,” said Master Sgt. Lenn Bassett, 19th OSS assistant chief controller. “This means that we are certified FAA controllers, but we also have to learn Air Force specific regulations as well.”
This dual responsibility can be hard to balance and can be made even more complicated when human elements are added.
“Having to learn how to work with [pilots] who can’t hear you clearly or don’t respond right away was one of the hardest parts of the job for me,” McDowell said. “That was a big obstacle to overcome because it completely messes up your plans. So I’m glad that I got to figure it out in the sim and then apply it in the real control tower.”
Nearing the end of her upgrade training, McDowell found that she can appreciate those long hours spent training on the simulator. It equipped her to perform how she practices, ultimately generating safe and effective mission execution every time.
“Having the simulator there to help me learn how to deal with hairy situations and ironing out the specifics on details that you struggle with is really helpful,” McDowell said. “It’s satisfying to be able to work through something that you’d been thinking about without having to risk the mission.”
| Date Taken: | 01.24.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 02.08.2018 11:05 |
| Story ID: | 263132 |
| Location: | LITTLE ROCK AIR FORCE BASE, ARKANSAS, US |
| Web Views: | 79 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Air traffic control: Growing real world skills in simulated environments, by SSgt Rhett Isbell, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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