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MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, N.C. - In many war movies there’s always a man screaming into a radio then a cut to a massive explosion as the aircraft fly by. The tactical air control party trains those men to do that job.
Some of the radiomen are joint terminal attack controllers and forward air controllers.
“Every battalion in the Marine Corps will normally have an air officer and forward air controllers,” said Maj. Matthew Foreman, the Marine Corps Auxiliary Landing Field Bogue airfield commandant with Marine Wing Support Squadron 274. “They are the liaison between the air and the ground.”
The tactical air control party course is the training that makes FACs and JTACs, explained Foreman. A FAC is a pilot that goes through the course to become forward air controller. JTAC is an observer from artillery or other ground unit that is certified to communicate between air and ground units. FAC’s can act as an air officer for the ground commander because he has seen things from the sky and knows how to communicate better with the aviation personnel. The students are trained at the Expeditionary Warfare Training Group Atlantic, in Virginia Beach, Va.
“I’ve been in for 18 years and still if I go to a different unit it’s just filled with lingo and acronyms that I’ll have to look up later on,” said Foreman.
The TACP is four weeks long and covers aircraft weapons artillery and forward observation. After the ground portion the observers do simulated calls for aircraft, calling in aircraft via live controls. To be certified, the service members need a certain amount of simulated artillery drops.
There are three different types of simulated drops. The troops are required to log a certain number of type one and two drops. A type one drop is where a FAC has eyes on the aircraft and on the target. Type two is when a FAC has eyes on the target or aircraft and is assisted by either forward observer or a drone. A type-3 drop is neither eyes on the target or aircraft.
Ideally each unit ground unit should have a FAC to communicate with the aircraft and put ordnance on targets. The TACP course increases the number of forward air controllers in the fleet and each unit’s expeditionary readiness.
If this course didn’t exist then fewer FAC’s would have the skills needed in the places like Afghanistan,” explained Foreman.
“This might cause people who are there now to extend their deployment, or the unit just won’t have that capability,” Foreman added.
During the missions the AV-8B Harriers carried and dropped mk-76 training bombs, also known as the blue death. The bombs are design to not make a large explosion and are safer and cheaper to use during the training missions 500,000 pound bombs.
The Marines at Bogue conducted “hot refuels and hot reloads” to keep the aircraft moving. Hot refuels and reloads are conducted when the engines of the aircraft are still running. Though more dangerous, keeping the engines on was quicker and more effective.
“The Marines here are doing a great job” said Foreman. “Bogue is set up exactly as it would be in an expeditionary environment. It doesn’t have all the immunities or facilities that typical on an aircraft base. But this is what the Marines are trained for and they are doing a superb job. They’re making sure the aircraft have fuel and ordnance and they’re doing it safely and on time.”
A FAC’s or JTAC’s main job is to protect troops. Those are the guys on the front lines and ideally they’ll set up with all their gear on top of a big hill or building, explained Foreman. It’s their job to know where all the ground units are, all the aircraft are, where the bad guys are and ensure that our aircraft are putting ordnance where they need to be.
“This is why the Marine Corps is so effective,” said Foreman. “We have that cohesion between the air and the ground.”
| Date Taken: | 08.23.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2011 14:09 |
| Story ID: | 76357 |
| Location: | MARINE CORPS AIR STATION CHERRY POINT, NORTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 47 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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