19-year Canadian Forces veteran, Calgary native, flies on combat AWACS missions as air surveillance technician in Southwest Asia

Photo By Master Sgt. Jenifer Calhoun | Canadian Forces Sgt. Theresa McLaren is a deployed air surveillance technician flying on combat missions in the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia. She is deployed from the 965th AACS at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., where she along with nearly other Canadian Forces members serve with the 552nd Air Control Wing. McLaren is a 19-year veteran of the Canadian Forces and her hometown is Calgary, Alberta, Canada.  

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

02.13.2010

Story by Senior Airman Jenifer Calhoun 

380th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- For nearly 11 of her 19 years of service, Canadian Forces Sgt. Theresa McLaren has been around radar of some kind. It's gone from the early days working an air defense sector at Canadian Forces Base North Bay, Ontario, to now with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron in Southwest Asia.

After serving her first eight years of service in the Canadian army, McClaren switched to the air force and working with radars. Now, McLaren is a deployed air surveillance technician flying on combat missions in the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft with the 965th EAACS at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia.

"Thanks to a knee injury back in those days, I switched over to the air force to what I am doing now," said McLaren, who is deployed to Southwest Asia from the 965th AACS at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. "Now that I'm deployed and doing something this important, I'd have to say this is pretty exciting."

At Tinker AFB, McLaren and nearly 50 other Canadian Forces members serve as co-manners as part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement. For the past several years, Canadian Airmen like Sergeant McLaren have been able to deploy with units from Tinker's 552nd Air Control Wing.

McLaren, whose hometown is Calgary, Alberta, Canada, said one of the most important aspects of her job aboard an E-3 on combat missions is to provide an "air picture."

"We make sure the air picture is established and everything is showing and correctly identified on our screens," McLaren said. "That gives the air weapons officers and the senior director [senior weapons officer] a better opportunity to find their aircraft and make sure they are directing people to the right places."

According to the Air Force fact sheet for the E-3 Sentry, the radar on the airframe has a range of more than 250 miles. The radar, it shows, combined with an identification friend or foe, or IFF, subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems. It's using this IFF where McLaren and fellow air surveillance technicians can as establish the "air picture."

The fact sheet also shows the radar and computer subsystems on the E-3 Sentry can gather and present "broad and detailed" battlefield information. This includes position and tracking information on enemy aircraft and ships, and location and status of friendly aircraft and naval vessels. The information can be sent to major command and control centers in rear areas or aboard ships. In time of crisis, this data can also be forwarded to the president and secretary of defense. In support of air-to-ground operations, the Sentry can provide direct information needed for interdiction, reconnaissance, airlift and close-air support for friendly ground forces. It can also provide information for commanders of air operations to gain and maintain control of the air battle.

McLaren described the system she works with on the plane. "The system is pretty standard," she said. "What we used in NORAD is comparable to what we use here. Of course every system is different and has different aspects, but once you get a basic understanding of how things work it's really not difficult to navigate from one system to the other."

Serving in the Canadian Forces for as long as she has is no surprise to McLaren. She said serving in the military has always been in her blood.

"I actually started playing this game when I was about 12 years old," McLaren said. "I joined the air cadets through junior high school and continued through high school. After high school I played around for a year at dead-end jobs and realized I was never going to get anywhere. My first love was the military so I joined."

The career Canadian airman said she keeps serving in the Canadian Forces because, in her words, "I still don't know what I want to do when I grow up."

"I'm still having too much fun playing this game every day," McLaren said. "I love what I do. I take pride in what I do. So, I have no intention of leaving until they tell me I have to go."

• Date Taken: 02.13.2010
• Date Posted: 02.13.2010 02:33
• Story ID: 45293
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)