From tracking MiGs to supporting 'troops in contact:' Deployed Tinker senior NCO, Winston native, manages surveillance on combat AWACS missions

Photo By Master Sgt. Jenifer Calhoun | Master Sgt. Dustin Rayl, an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft senior surveillance technician with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron, flies on a deployed E-3 air mission in Southwest Asia on Feb. 16. Rayl is deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and his hometown is Winston, Ore.  

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03.05.2010

Story by Senior Airman Jenifer Calhoun 

380th Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- In his 20-plus years of service in the Air Force, Master Sgt. Dustin Rayl has seen a lot of the world while flying on board the E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System platform.

Rayl is currently deployed with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia as an E-3 senior surveillance technician. Throughout his career, Rayl said he has deployed more than 10 times and remembers his first flight aboard an E-3 like it was yesterday.

"When I came into AWACS, my first flight was tracking Iraqi MiGs," said Rayl, reflecting on when he was first an air surveillance technician. "That was my first flight without a lot of experience behind me. I finished training and...bam! The next day I was flying on a mission."

Now, as a senior surveillance technician, he works with the team of Airmen flying on the E-3 doing combat air missions in support of operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa. He said what AWACS Airmen are doing in these missions are making a difference for the warfighters on the ground.

"What we're doing is quite important -- especially when we are over Afghanistan," said Rayl, who is deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. "We have the best communications system so we can relay the information to our airborne assets who are down there supporting the guys on the ground. We can assist the ground controllers when it actually comes to providing help when it's needed in a hurry."

Rayl's primary job on a mission is to operate and troubleshoot the data link the E-3's air surveillance section has established for the air weapons section to control air traffic through their air battle management mission.

"Also, along with the air surveillance officer, I'll supervise and assist the air surveillance technicians in creating the air picture that we have of detecting, tracking and identifying all the air traffic," Rayl said.

The Winston, Ore., native said creating that "air picture" with the E-3's powerful radar system is crucial to everything the AWACS team does.

"If we have an accurate air picture of what's going on out there, then the weapons section has what they need to prosecute any threats and keep friendly assets separated," Rayl said. "It helps everyone just to know where everybody is. It's important to be as accurate as possible so we can get that bird's eye view of the battlefield."

When he joined the Air Force in 1990, Rayl said joined solely for the opportunity to be able to go places.

"I'm from a small town so I thought, 'I have to get out of here,'" Rayl said. "After a couple of years of doing the job of a B-1 electronic warfare technician, it wasn't what I thought it would be so I decided to cross-train to what I do now. I've been doing that ever since and it's been great fun. I've got to travel and see almost the entire globe."

The AWACS veteran said he will continue to fly as long as possible and do what he can to help the younger generations of technicians carry on as he as all this time.

"I find these days the younger Airman are pretty sharp," Rayl said. "I think they come in more motivated than we did. It's amazing. Being aircrew, we try to keep the best guys that we possibly can. This generation also seems to be more tech-saavy than we were. And if given the opportunity, they will surprise you."

He said the challenge for new AWACS technicians is finding a good opportunity for them so they can get that first experience like he did with the Iraqi MiGs in 1993.

"That's a leadership challenge that we all have - getting them the good opportunities," Rayl said. "However, with today's operations in places like Afghanistan, they are getting that first experience like I did. When we have a 'troops in contact' situation, for example, they are getting that first-hand combat experience. I'm just glad I'm still doing it with them."

The 965th AACS is part of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. In addition to the E-3 Sentry, the wing is home to the KC-10 Extender, U-2 Dragonlady and RQ-4 Global Hawk aircraft. The wing is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance, and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia.

• Date Taken: 03.05.2010
• Date Posted: 03.05.2010 23:43
• Story ID: 46220
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)