A Guardsmen from the 258th Air Traffic Control Squadron, a geographically separated unit of the 171st Air Refueling Wing, attended a seven-week long Marine training course at Marine Corps Air Station in Yuma, Arizona.
Staff Sgt. Garrett Swanson, an air traffic control specialist, joined a Marine aviation combat squadron for the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course with a goal of increasing operational efficiency to make different branches more interchangeable.
“Interchangeability comes down to standardization throughout air traffic control. The key point to interchangeability is that even though everywhere you go will have some differences, they also have a base level of functionality. We focus on the core concepts, which will make the interchangeability easier within all forces,” said Swanson.
The purpose of the Weapons and Tactics Instructor Course is to produce trainers with expertise in advanced air and ground tactics.
“The training is actually directed towards pilots so they can expand their air and ground tactics and take those skills back to their own units to use at their own squadron level. But for the air traffic side, we are on the ground side of it helping those in the air navigate a battle space. The biggest point for us (air traffic controllers) is to set up communication nodes so we can pass up mission updates and important environmental information to the pilots in addition to our air traffic control services,” said Swanson.
While the training focuses on operational efficiency, the course also supports the Air Force’s initiative of developing multi-capable Airmen.
“My full-time job is in a tower or a radar room talking to planes but with this training, I build off that air traffic control craft and apply it in a more austere environment. But, I’m also learning how to operate radios and set up a navigational aide devices,” said Swanson.
Being one of 10 deployable air traffic control units in the guard, these types of trainings will help the 258th in increasing their combat airfield operations.
“This will help us with the Guard’s initiative of further developing landing zone safety officers,” said Swanson. “In short, we go out to a dirt strip and verify safety measures, set up the landing strip, then pass information along to the pilots allowing them to land and more importantly take back off in a safe and efficient manner.”
In addition to further developing the Air Force’s multi- capable Airmen, this training also targets the agile combat employment concept.
“These types of trainings impact total force and the ACE concept for the Air Force. This allows us to quickly get our equipment set up somewhere and then immediately move us somewhere else all within a couple hours,” said Swanson. “Overall, it allows us to be more rapidly deployable.”
| Date Taken: | 01.23.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 01.23.2024 12:44 |
| Story ID: | 462268 |
| Location: | PA, US |
| Web Views: | 50 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Air and Marine Synergy: Enhancing Combat Efficiency, by Jodi Snyder, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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