JBER Airmen are top AWACS crew

by Johnathon Green
JBER Public Affairs

3/29/2013 - JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska -- Look! Up in the Alaska sky ...is that a jet giving a UFO a piggyback ride!? No, it's a United States Air Force E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System jet. This is a long-range airborne surveillance, detection, identification, and command and control platform created by modifying a Boeing 707, America's first jet airliner, designed back in the 1950s.

When the Boeing 707 was made, it was designed to have a four-man crew to pilot the aircraft. That still holds true today for the E-3 Sentry. It takes a pilot, co-pilot, navigator and a flight engineer to fly the aircraft safely. An additional individual is needed to operate the E-3, a "safety observer", who sits in seat 5, but to just fly the aircraft requires four individuals.

The 962d Airborne Early Warning and Control Squadron was first activated July 8, 1955, as a unit of the 551st Airborne Early Warning and Control Wing, with headquarters at Otis Air Force Base, Mass. The squadron, equipped with various models of the propeller-driven C-121 Constellation aircraft, was a unit of the Air Defense Command.

In October 1992, the squadron was assigned to the 3rd Wing, then Elmendorf Air Force Base, under Pacific Air Forces, and acquired the additional mission of being ready to deploy in support of the commander of Pacific Command. In August 1994, the 962d AEWCS was redesignated the 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron.

As in any military unit or squadron, each entity works and trains hard to be the best they can be. The 962d AACS has proven themselves the best in Pacific Air Forces 2012. They received the Airborne Air Battle Management Crew of the Year for Crew 5 and Airborne Battle Management System Operator of the Year.

A crew for the E-3 Sentry consists of 20 to 25 Airmen to accomplish a full mission. Every member of the crew must work together to make the E-3 Sentry the effective combat multiplier it is.

"It's a big aircraft," said pilot and aircraft commander of Crew 5, Air Force Capt. Nathan Dever. "The largest one I flew before this was a T-1 [Jayhawk], which is basically a small corporate jet and we use those in pilot training, and so to step up from there to this aircraft, it was a big, big challenge. Initially it was learning on the technical aspects of flying a big aircraft, learning how to land it safely and, as I progressed from a co-pilot to an aircraft commander, then the challenges became more of, OK, we have the front end and we have the back end, which work together to accomplish the mission.

"The biggest challenge for me as mission crew commander is to make sure that the crew is focused," said Air Force Maj. Rodney Pretlow, mission crew commander. "We have 20 to 25 different personalities. We have the flight deck, we have the mission crew, and within that the mission crew, we have other dynamics. We have a radio operator, computer technician, radar technician ... if these systems don't work, we can't execute. It's a lot of dynamics there. Just dealing with the dynamics and making sure that everyone is focused on the mission."

Since the E-3 Sentry was originally designed and flown by four crew members, "Not having one of those players would be a very large deficit," said Air Force 1st Lt. Joshua Roose, co-pilot of the E-3. "To say that you would lose anyone of them, I suppose the plane would be flyable, but the workload would be exponentially increased. This airplane, everybody has a job and it's an important job."

"It was no surprise to me that our [Air Expeditionary Force] crew was awarded the [Pacific Air Forces] Airborne Air Battle [Management Crew of the Year]," said Air Force Lt. Col. Michael Erickson, 962d AACS commander, about the Crew 5 award winners. "This team of seasoned aviators worked hard during the spin-up process through a combination of academics, simulators and live-fly exercises. They coalesced as a crew during spin-up, and their positive attitudes and hard work yielded [Command and Control] excellence for the [Central Command] theater."

Enlisted crew members have an important function on the Sentry. "My job on the jet: I am an air surveillance technician," said Air Force Staff Sgt. Patrick Culhane, PACAF Airborne Battle Management System Operator of the Year for 2012. "I have different hats I can wear on that jet as well. I can be an evaluator, I can be an instructor, or I can be just a regular crew member. It's actually a pretty important job as far as presenting our mission capabilities as far as surveillance. That's our bread and butter in my section of the jet - surveillance and detection of aviation aircrafts.

"There are different kinds of challenges," Culhane continued. "Physically, a lot of times we have early show times and long flying durations that can start to wear and tear. But just the challenge of knowing the different kinds of aircraft and anticipating what their maneuvers are going to be. I think the squadron does a good job in preparing all of its members, being ready to go out and complete the mission."

"Staff Sgt. Pat Culhane is the gold standard for NCOs," Erickson said. "As a flight examiner at the [operations] group level, his expertise has contributed greatly to our squadron's and this wing's readiness for combat. He participated in every Red Flag-[Alaska] exercise last year."

Crews operating the E-3 Sentry are the largest crew for any single aircraft in the Air Force.

"What makes our 962d Airborne Air Control Squadron work the way it does?" Pretlow asked, "This unit is really small and tight knit. I think it comes down to morale; keeping the crew, the morale and camaraderie up. That makes for a better crew."