Photo By Staff Sgt. Magen M. Reeves | Royal Canadian Air Force Capt. Matthew Noel, 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron air...... read more read more
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Team Tyndall’s execution of Checkered Flag 22-1 brings many personnel to Tyndall in order to get the most accurate picture of air dominance. We need the support of our defense partners to help us reach maximum strength in the global airspace.
Royal Canadian Air Force Capt. Matthew Noel, 964th Airborne Air Control Squadron air battle manager, Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is originally from Ottawa, Canada. Noel, and others like him, serve a role for both the U.S. Air Force and the RCAF as part of a bilateral partnership agreement.
“My grandfather was in the Royal Air Force in England as a bomber in World War II,” said Noel. “As a young man, I admired him and I wanted adventure so I always knew I wanted to be in federal service in some capacity.
I wasn’t sure exactly what I was going to be doing as Air Battle Manager but it turned out to be a million times better than anything I had hoped for.”
The 964th AACS falls under command of the 552nd Air Control Wing which is responsible for the operations, maintenance, logistics, training and combat support of E-3 Sentry aircraft and combat-ready Control and Reporting Centers in support of combatant commanders.
In Noel’s case, his ABM role supports North American Aerospace Defense Command, with a part of that mission happening aboard the E-3 Sentry, an airborne early warning and control system aircraft.
“I’ve always heard that aboard the AWACS is the best place to go,” said Noel. “You get to see all of the cool stuff. It’s prestige, if you will.”
According to Noel, the pilots dominating the airspace execute tactical reach while the AWACS crews get a real bird’s eye view of the entire space of conflict. They can assess the fight from a broader point of view by utilizing pulse-Doppler radar systems. In layman’s terms, the radar signal identifies anything from aircraft to land formations in the airspace, to determine how, where, and when to best attack a target as well as protect pilots from threats they may not be able to see themselves.
“Before coming to Checkered Flag, I was most excited about the fact that here we can truly get about 70 aircraft in the airspace at the same time,” said Noel. “The airspace mimics a true range where we can practice and train in command and control operations safely. It is a great opportunity.”
Noel and the AWACS crew brought all that airspace radar awesomeness to Tyndall for Checkered Flag to better understand and execute operations in a combat airspace.
Much like the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Navy fighter jet pilots getting air-to-air, live fire training in the airspace during Checkered Flag, the ABM controllers aboard the AWACS are also getting all the necessary training and qualifications they need to be deployment ready in the future.
“I believe we have accomplished our mission quite well - very well, actually, here at Checkered Flag,” said Noel. “From a command and control perspective, we’ve generated more sorties than our unit has had in years. We are in lockstep with the Air Force, and as a Canadian, I’ve never once felt out of place. I’ve always been welcomed as part of the team and the family.”
| Date Taken: | 11.16.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 11.18.2021 15:33 |
| Story ID: | 409620 |
| Location: | TYNDALL AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Hometown: | OTTAWA, ONTARIO, CA |
| Web Views: | 93 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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