Photo By Staff Sgt. Mya Crosby | U.S. Air Force Maj. Mae Rejoice Rozel Farnell, 968th Expeditionary Airborne Air...... read more read more
Subscribe
From the Airman who performs post-flight checks to the pilot who executes long flights around the area of responsibility, the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft and its crew at Al Dhafra Air Base, United Arab Emirates, supports the mission by detecting and listening.
“You get to see beyond the borders of countries from a ‘bird’s-eye’ digital view,” said Maj. Mae Rejoice Rozel Farnell, 968th EAACS air battle manager air surveillance officer. “You also get a better understanding of tactical, operational, and even strategic decisions.”
The E-3 has been at ADAB for nearly eleven years, providing situational awareness of friendly, neutral and hostile activity; command and control of an area of responsibility; battle management of theater forces; all-altitude and all-weather surveillance of the battle space; and early warning of enemy actions during joint, allied, and coalition operations.
The computers and systems within the E-3 Sentry enable these missions with their radars that have a 360-degree view of up to 320 kilometers and used to track a multitude of useful information. A main component in tracking this information revolves heavily around communication.
“Ensuring our radios and datalinks are operational allows us to communicate and share our air picture with the friendly aircraft under our control, letting them worry less about what they can't see and focus more on their current tasks,” said Senior Airman Dan Lodholm, 968th EAACS communications systems operator.
Like any other Air Force aircraft, the E-3 requires a significant amount of maintenance personnel to keep it in top-notch shape. What makes the E-3 different are their Computers & Electronic Warfare specialists, who are responsible for fixing the aircraft with their tech-savvy hands, as opposed to wrenches and screws.
“Without computers, the AWACS cannot complete its mission; it flies but is not mission capable,” said Senior Airman Christian Pamlenyi, 380th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Computers & Electronic Warfare specialist. “Aside from learning something new every day, as computer technology constantly updates and finds new ways to challenge myself and my coworkers, the overall AWACS community will always hold the top spot for the best part of being an E-3 maintainer. At the end of the day, Computers and Electronic Warfare are the brains of the AWACS held together by the hard work of many other maintainers who ensure the jet can get in the air and allow my systems to do what they were designed to do.”
Keeping eyes and ears open involves the whole crew’s attendance. Air Battle Managers play a key role in that aspect by communicating with other aircraft or ground stations.
“If I don't do my job correctly that day it can lead to confusion, mission failure, or even loss of life,” said Capt. Xavier Coley, 968th EAACS air battle manager senior director. “Whether this involves aircraft performing airdrops of bombs or personnel, defending ground troops, or giving and receiving fuel, my job is to ensure that all these are assets where they are supposed to be at the correct time, and to be certain it is done in a safe manner.”
Air Surveillance Officers deal with critical communication, but also ensuring “proper identification is met within a matter of seconds.”
"As the ASO, we manipulate the E-3's sensors and datalinks to ensure that a single integrated air picture is provided not only to our Air Weapons Officers (AWOs) for air-to-air control, but also to any higher headquarters entity needing to see the AOR,” Farnell said. “We also ensure that any air, surface, and ground entities receive the proper identification of either ‘unknown’, ‘friend’, ‘suspect’, or ‘hostile,’ based upon standing Special Instructions (SPINs) and Rules of Engagement (ROE) criteria."
The E-3 Sentry and its air crew, of up to 22 Airmen, are providing ‘Pattern of Life’ identification, air-to-air control, air-to-surface control, counter drug operations, presidential support, and humanitarian relief operations,” Farnell said.
The surveillance aircraft are actively stationed out of Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.; Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska; Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, Japan; or here in the 968th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at ADAB – but can be flying and surveilling anywhere on the planet.
“I love working with a crew!” said 1st Lt. Claire hoover, 968th EAACS air battle manager air weapons officer. “There is so much teamwork that is involved with executing our mission every day, whether I am talking to my fellow controllers, or receiving help from one of our technicians, to talking to flight deck, there is a lot of trust that is built as well as team problem solving that occurs. At the end of the day, everyone on the jet is there to help each other so that we can have a successful mission and get home safely.”
| Date Taken: | 01.05.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 01.08.2019 04:08 |
| Story ID: | 306390 |
| Location: | AL DHAFRA, AE |
| Web Views: | 667 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, The E-3 Fleet: The Eyes and Ears from ADAB, by SSgt Mya Crosby, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
