Tinker NCO, San Antonio native, supports combat missions as E-3 Sentry flight engineer

Photo By Maj. Cathleen Snow | Staff Sgt. Abel Carrillo, E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft flight engineer with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia, works the flight engineer console of an E-3 while on a combat air mission, Feb. 16. Carrillo is deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and his hometown is San Antonio, Texas.  

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03.10.2010

Story by Senior Airman Jenifer Calhoun 

380th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- His dream of flying on the E-3 Sentry instead of only working on it came to fruition just over a year ago. Now Staff Sgt. Abel Carrillo is not only flying, he's helping guide E-3s on combat missions throughout the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility.

Carrillo is an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft flight engineer deployed with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia. He is deployed from the 965th AACS at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla.

"I was a maintenance technician before this and stationed at Tinker," Carrillo said. "I've been officially flying since February 2009. When I was in maintenance, I was a back shop guy who worked in avionics for the E-3. In my current job, I work to back up the pilot, and once in the air to make sure it will be ready for landing. There's checking the data links and running the checklists and doing all the things to make sure the mission ends successfully."

Although as a maintenance Airman he supported caring for the E-3, he said he wasn't focused specifically on all aspects of the E-3 so becoming a flight engineer offered its challenges.

"I had to learn all of this," said Carrillo, whose hometown is San Antonio, Texas. "I was a little behind the curve. Crew chiefs work on planes all the time, but I worked in a back area that didn't provide that experience."

But he made it through flight engineer training and is now quite comfortable in preparing and supporting combat AWACS missions for overseas contingency operations. The staff sergeant described what he has to do to prepare for a mission.

"Once we get out on the flightline, flight engineers like me will usually come out before the pilots and put up the pilot panel and make sure the aircraft is in the right configuration," Carrillo said. "We want to make sure also there are no problems as far as maintenance and if there are issues we try to resolve those issues before the pilot comes out."

He described the next steps he goes through once the pilot is aboard the aircraft. "When we've gotten the okay (to depart), we check the weather again and try to ensure everything is right, working properly and we're ready to take off," Carrillo said. "The flight engineers get the engines running and ensure that all things are working correctly."

Once the E-3 is airborne, Carrillo said the flight engineer continuously monitors the plane's performance for the entire mission. His work affects the operation of the 20-plus flight and mission crew members in the air weapons and air surveillance sections flying on each mission.

"Through managing my panel up on the flight deck and on back through the rest of the plane, it all works together," Carrillo said. "I think what I do helps the guys in the back. I let them know how long we will be out and what the aircraft is doing as we are flying it. There's also the comfort level -- I also control the temperature in the aircraft. Anything I can do to make it easier for the other crew members to keep on with their work is important to us all being successful."

Carrillo said he is glad he decided to join the Air Force. He said part of it was out of necessity but it has blossomed into much more than he's expected.

"When I was young I wanted to serve, but when I did join it ended up about having a steady job, getting medical and other stable things," Carrillo said. "But I'd always had it in the back of my mind that I wanted to serve.

"As far as flying on these combat missions, I think it's very important for what the AWACS airframe does to support the guys on the ground," Carrillo said. "There is little doubt how well we can do our mission so being able to be a part of that is a great sense of accomplishment."

According to its Air Force fact sheet, the E-3 Sentry AWACS is an aircraft with an integrated command and control battle management, surveillance, target detection and tracking platform. The aircraft provides an accurate, real-time picture of the battlespace to a theater air operations center. AWACS provides 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 965th EAACS is an attached unit of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. In addition to the E-3 Sentry, the wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragonlady and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The 380th AEW supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.

• Date Taken: 03.10.2010
• Date Posted: 03.10.2010 01:26
• Story ID: 46415
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)