Photo By Senior Airman Briana Beavers | Michael Dausel, 33rd Operations Support Squadron current operations member, works on a...... read more read more
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EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. — Despite working in a converted loft of an old F-15 simulator building with no windows, the 33rd Operations Support Squadron, Current Operations unit, makes critical contributions to the wing’s mission.
Current Ops is exactly what it sounds like, current operations happening every day. This includes scheduling airspace, managing the flying hour program, integrating with tanker assets and much more.
This team, composed of both active duty and civilian contractors, work together to directly support the high-tempo F-35A Lightning II training mission.
“Our main objective is to schedule airspace for as many F-35 sorties as possible to ensure our fighter squadrons can accomplish all phases of syllabus training,” said Maj. Christopher Villanueva, 33rd OSS current operations chief and F-35 instructor pilot.
Given that Eglin AFB is a multiple MAJCOM base along the western Florida panhandle, it proves difficult to schedule with limited usable airspace.
“The Gulf Coast airspace ecosystem is very competitive with various concurrent missions: test missions with our 96th Test Wing counterparts, large training exercises, and new F-35 units standing up at Tyndall AFB,” said Lt. Col. Kirk Wanner, 33rd Fighter Wing chief of safety and former current operations chief. “(Current Ops) schedulers create a house of cards schedule every week that is customized to provide the training squadrons the best airspace available.”
In addition to scheduling airspace, the team also reserves tanker aircraft to enable critical air-to-air refueling with F-35 student pilots.
“During some months, we get tons of tanker support, which has helped increase our average sortie duration from about 1.42 to 1.49 hours,” said Villanueva. “Because of this, we exceeded our planned flying hour program (FHP) this year.”
The Air Force FHP is a requirement based, peacetime program consisting of the flying hours necessary to train aircrews to safely operate aircraft.
“The team has made relationships with tanker units from California to Maine,” said Wanner. “The extended training duration of sorties with extra fuel … eases the burden on the maintenance team which would have otherwise had to produce approximately 200-300 more flight-ready jets to meet our annual FHP allocation.”
Through their tireless efforts, Current Ops exceed expectations by ensuring F-35 trained airmen receive quality training through assembling scarce airspace.
“This is a team that consistently finds a way to fit a square peg in a round hole,” said Lt. Col. William Andreotta, 33rd OSS outgoing commander during a change of command ceremony. “They do the impossible every day and make it look easy.”
Although there is low day-to-day visibility, the Current Ops team is another critical piece of the Nomad machine that makes the mission possible!
| Date Taken: | 09.10.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 09.21.2024 12:52 |
| Story ID: | 480536 |
| Location: | EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 37 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 33rd Current Ops: Scheduled delivery of combat air power, by SrA Briana Beavers, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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