BACN mission aims for record-breaking year

Photo By 94th Airlift Wing | Members assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, stand in front of an E-11A Nov. 29, 2014. The team, which provides communications channels and channel conversions in geographic areas where terrestrial services are either restricted or unavailable, recently exceeded 10,000 flight hours for 2014. (U.S. Air Force courtesy photo)  

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AFGHANISTAN

11.29.2014

Story by Staff Sgt. Whitney Amstutz 

455th Air Expeditionary Wing   

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan - Members assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, recently exceeded 10,000 flight hours for 2014, an accomplishment which has only been done twice since the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) mission’s inception in 2008.

The BACN program fills a Joint Urgent Operational Need and is facilitated by Air Force E-11A pilots in the air, and supported by both military and civilian personnel on the ground.

“The E-11A provides an airborne data relay and gateway that allows real-time information exchanges between different tactical data link systems,” said. Lt. Col. James Caplinger, 430 EECS commander. “It also enables voice relay and bridging between tactical voice systems, both in line of sight and beyond line of sight situations.”

The BACN program delivers the flexibility required to conduct communications operations in hostile conditions and austere locations, making it an indispensable command and control asset.

BACN provides communications channels and channel conversions in a geographic area where terrestrial services are either restricted or unavailable. BACN offers three service categories: Tactical Data Services, Voice Services and Inter Protocol Services. In general, BACN provides value to users by either extending the range of an external interface, or by converting external interface data from one format to another.

Because of its unique capabilities, the BACN program is in high demand. Even so, reaching 10,000 flight hours is a laudable achievement for a fleet of four aircraft. According to Caplinger, the squadron is on track to break the program’s current flight-hour record of 10,878, which was achieved in 2011.

“Ten thousand hours is a lot for four aircraft,” Caplinger said. “I am really proud of our team, both Air Force and contractors alike.”

• Date Taken: 11.29.2014
• Date Posted: 12.26.2014 01:57
• Story ID: 151111
• Location: KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, AF