by Senior Airman Gustavo Castillo
52nd Fighter Wing Public Affairs
9/8/2014 - SPANGDAHLEM AIR BASE, Germany - -- Fourteen
enlisted Airmen and officers work 24/7 to control an air war by staring
at computers with a plethora of shimmering dots passing over a map
showing 251,000 square miles of airspace. This is the job of the air
battle managers and weapons directors, also known as 606th Air Control
Squadron operators.
These operators maintain a real-time picture of the area of operations
while communicating with air and ground assets. The three-dimensional
airspace management includes allocation, de-confliction and integration
of aircraft around the clock.
"All the unmanned aerial vehicles, surveillance aircraft, air drops;
when the joint terminal attack controllers request kinetic support, show
of force and show of presence - All that stuff is run through guys like
us," said U.S. Air Force Capt. Michael Acanas, a 606th ACS air battle
manager and native of Sacramento, California.
The 606th ACS developed a six-week plan in order to prepare Airmen for
the long hours and stressful work they will face. The constant training
Airmen undergo allows them to be ready to deploy at a moment's notice
"It was six months of a crawl, walk and run phase," Acanas said. "Each
ramping up in difficulty and making it so each crew position got to see
certain things that would get them prepared for contingent operations."
There will be no time for a slow start. They will be thrown into 12-16
hour days of constant work that will require extreme concentration and
attention to detail.
"From talking to the new people, they said it was like drinking through a
fire hose," said U.S. Air Force Senior Airman Kristian Brown, a 606th
ACS weapons director and native of Amarillo, Texas. "I believe them
because that is how I felt last time. I think a little stress is good;
it keeps you on your toes. When it comes to controlling aircraft, if you
get relaxed you are much more likely to make a mistake."
The program consisted of 3,000 total man hours of academics, tests and
simulations, including 100 simulated hours of maximum capacity aircraft
representing the deployed environment supporting Operation Enduring
Freedom.
"We gave them weekly tests to prepare them with call signs they will
see, JTACs they will work with, the airfields and the air traffic
control air route names and points," Brown said. "I think we gave them
really good training and we had a bunch of really good controllers and
surveillance personnel to get them ready, now it will be up to them."
Veteran operators oversaw the training and certification process. Having
deployed at least once before, they have the knowledge and expertise of
exactly how operations run in a deployed location. This allows them to
give laser-targeted training points to the Airmen.
"We have a lot of experience so people know what to expect, but even
then you don't know what the area of operations is going to be like,"
said Acanas. "Even six months later it could be completely different, so
that is what we did, we built that framework."
The training has prepared the 606th ACS Airmen to perform at their best.
Operators emerging from this six-week crash course will be able to
provide timely, decisive airpower to meet emerging challenges and
execute the mission during any contingent situation down-range. These
forward, ready forces will be able to support combatant commanders and
global operations.
Monday, September 08, 2014
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