Why I Serve – Iron Eagle air traffic controller keeps airfield safe

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt | Spc. Radha Bhramdat, air traffic controller, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Avn. Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad from New York City, watches as two Black Hawk helicopters land at the Camp Taji Airfield, Aug. 28, 2008. Bhramdat is one of the air traffic controllers who guide aircraft on to the busy airfield north of Baghdad.  

TAJI, IRAQ

08.29.2008

Story by Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt 

1st Armored Division Combat Aviation Brigade

By Sgt. 1st Class Brent Hunt
Combat Aviation Brigade, 4th Infantry Division

CAMP TAJI, Iraq – For one Iron Eagle Soldier, the decision to serve her country was never if it would happen only when.

"Since I was 15, my mom started giving me the idea of serving in the military. She is real pro-military," said Spc. Radha Bhramdat, air traffic controller, Company F, 2nd Battalion, 4th Aviation Regiment, Combat Avn. Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, Multi-National Division – Baghdad from New York City.

"Then, when I was a freshmen in high school, 9/11 happened and the event had a big impact on me," she said. "I lived very close to where it happened, so joining the military was inevitable for me."

Bhramdat begin her Army career by serving in the New York and then North Carolina National Guard. After four years of serving in the Guard, Bhramdat made the move to active duty.

Currently, she is serving in Iraq in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Bhramdat spends her days coordinating aircraft movement from the Camp Taji Air Traffic Control Tower just north of Baghdad.

"I've been doing this for about two months and this job is more than I expected," she said as she constantly looks at the airfield and then to the sky. "Once you get an aircraft [on the radar] you start communicating with them and then you tell them where you want them to land. It is a lot to worry about with all the other aircraft in the area."

Bhramdat works in a company of more than 40 air traffic controllers who are responsible for safely orchestrating the take-offs and landings of all types of fixed and rotary wing aircraft. Soldiers from the company are spread out in different locations throughout the country supporting the Multi-National Corps – Iraq mission.

With flights departing or landing day and night, air traffic controllers coordinate their movements so accidents do not occur. They coordinate air movements at sites ranging from temporary landing zones to fixed tower airfields.

The Fort Hood, Texas, based company stood up only a year ago and many of the Soldiers and the company as a whole are still growing. More than 80 percent of the controllers were straight out of advanced individual training when they joined the team.

For the young Soldiers who have just completed AIT and joined the company, they are required to perform 154 days of on the job training. During the OJT, Soldiers monitor progress of aircraft, conduct local ground control and then become certified by the Federal Aviation Administration for the particular airfield they are working at.

"This is her first experience at a very, very busy facility," said Capt. Amanda Violette, commander of Co. F from Nobleboro, Maine. "Growing our own has been the biggest challenge with this company. She [Bhramdat] has shown so much potential it is unbelievable."

• Date Taken: 08.29.2008
• Date Posted: 08.29.2008 10:39
• Story ID: 23012
• Location: TAJI, IQ