Controlling the air at Team Dover

by Senior Airman Jared Duhon
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

4/9/2014 - DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del.  -- Team Dover operates more than 30 aircraft, maintained by the maintenance squadrons and flown by the operations groups' airlift squadrons. These aircraft would be unable to complete their missions without being carefully guided both on the ground and in the sky.

To control all of these moving parts, the Operations Group has the solution to ensure that all of the aircraft that are flying into, out of and around DAFB are operating safely and orderly.

The air traffic control complex, which is comprised of tower and a radar approach control or RAPCON, controls a total of 1,000 square miles of air space surrounding Dover AFB, including all air traffic operations up to 7,000 feet above the airfield, said Senior Airman Adam Stieber, 436th Operations Support Squadron air traffic control radar approach controller.

"Air traffic controllers ensure the safety of flight for all aircraft that enter their airspace," said Stieber. "Here, the tower and RAPCON make up the air traffic control. RAPCON works with the Dover's aircraft, but also aircraft from other bases and with local civilian aviation from the surrounding smaller airports."

The tower uses its position in the sky for a clear view of all runways operations and all aircraft activity within a 5-mile radius.

"We are involved with ground control, flight data and local control," said Senior Airman Brent Sargent, 436th Operations Support Squadron air traffic control tower controller. "We help aircraft taxi to a runway or clear them for takeoff and sequence them. We are involved with all aspects of safety of flight."

The job is essentially the same for both the tower and RAPCON, said Staff Sgt. Laron Mclean 436th OSS tower and RAPCON watch supervisor.

"We are concerned with managing the separate aircraft, deciding the pattern of who will land first, second, third, etc., and we do the same with departing aircraft," said Mclean. "Our goal is to keep everybody safe and everybody alive."

Another important aspect of the ATC world is training; tower training takes an average of nine months to a year or 14 to 16 months for RAPCON training.

"As a trainer I ensure new 3-levels are molded into the type of controller they need to be," said Mclean. "It is a highly stressful job with lives on the line, but it is important to get them past their fears and learn to handle situations and resolve conflicts on their own."

The final thing that brings all air traffic controllers together is challenges. Some of the challenges air traffic controllers deal with are aircraft sequencing, maintaining positive control and training new Airmen.

"Coming to work doesn't feel like work," said Stieber. "I enjoy it. It's a challenge for me and everyone I work with. The work can be rough sometimes, but I come for the challenge every day. Every day is different."