Soldiers train, keep aircraft safe

Courtesy Photo | Spc. Chad E. Carpenter, an air traffic controller at Forward Operating Base Sykes, Iraq, watches an aircraft as it moves down the runway. Carpenter and his coworkers are training to become FAA certified air traffic controllers while on deployment in Iraq.  

TAL AFAR, IRAQ

01.09.2002

Courtesy Story

25th Combat Aviation Brigade

By Spc. Daniel Bearl
25th Combat Aviation Brigade Public Affairs

TAL AFAR, Iraq - As aircraft move from base to base throughout Iraq, a certain group of Soldiers are constantly at work to ensure the safety of their pilots, crews and passengers.

Perched in towers and mobile tactical traffic control stations, they track aircraft and weather over Coalition airstrips throughout Iraq.
At war, but ever safety minded, air traffic controllers from Company F, 3-25 Aviation Regiment, and Company D, 1-14 Aviation Regiment, perform the vital task of keeping the runway at Forward Operating Base Sykes running smoothly.

"The biggest thing for us is keeping aircraft separated and making sure they land safely," said Sgt. 1st Class Robert Walter, the noncommissioned officer in charge of the air traffic control tower at FOB Sykes.

From the vantage point of a metal and glass tactical control tower situated on top of a Saddam-era bunker, the Soldiers scan the surrounding airspace for aircraft, monitor radios and frequently check and update the weather conditions around the base.

"We're responsible for all aircraft in a five-mile air zone," Walter said.
The long stretch of runway that extends left and right of the tower handles traffic from all types of aircraft.

"We see everything from C-130s, UH-60s [Blackhawks], and OH-58D [Kiowas]. Basically we have a combination of fixed wing and rotary wing type traffic," Walter said.

The tower also employs a mix of Soldiers from different units. The 3-25 Aviation Regiment is an active duty unit that falls under the 25th Combat Aviation Brigade and based out of Wheeler Army Airfield in Hawaii. The 1-14 Aviation Regiment comes from the Arkansas National Guard.

Mixed in are troops from other National Guard units who volunteered for the deployment.

"I was supposed to go to college," said Spc. Jonathan D. Braden, an air traffic controller from the Tennessee National Guard. "But I decided to volunteer to deploy with these guys instead."

Because it is in a combat situation, the control tower at FOB Sykes operates tactically. The difference between a normal, fixed-base tower operation and a tactical operation lies in mobility.

"Fixed base is like some place like San Antonio International," Walter said. "It's a set facility."

A tactical control tower, however, can be operated from something as mobile as the back of a humvee, provided the operators have the right radio equipment.

"You can roll out and it's very mobile. You can literally talk to aircraft while you're driving down the road," said Walter, describing one of the Army's tactical air traffic control platforms.

"I wouldn't want to do that, but I mean you could," he added with a laugh.

Whether fixed or mobile, though, the job is essentially the same.

"Air traffic control is air traffic control no matter where you go," Walter said. "The reporting points may change, the control zone may change its shape a little bit. But, your rules and regulations on how you talk to aircraft are the same everywhere you go. Once you're a controller, you're always a controller."

And though they operate as a tactical control tower, the airfield sees civilian air traffic, too, which means the tower must meet Federal Aviation Administration guidelines, Walter said.

That does pose a training problem, though, Walter said. In order to operate an FAA tower, a controller must have a control tower operator rating, commonly just called a CTO, which requires six months of training, he said. To meet this requirement, the Soldiers have been training on the job while performing their duties.

"That's the hardest thing," said Walter, who is himself CTO rated. "It takes six months before these guys can actually work by themselves. You have to have at least one CTO rated person on every shift."

The great benefit of the training is that the rating can help the Soldiers gain employment in the civilian world, Walter said.

"The most important thing to me is getting a rating while out here," said Spc. Chad E. Carpenter, an air traffic controller with the Arkansas National Guard. "I'm new to this MOS [military occupational specialty], and I've done more already this year than most people do their first year."

Carpenter says when he earns his CTO rating in the near future it will be the third air traffic control rating he will have earned while on deployment. "Most people don't do that in just one year in air traffic control. That alone will make me eligible for jobs back home with the FAA."

For Walter, seeing his Soldiers succeed is what his job is all about.

"My whole thing is soldiers," Walter said. "I work for them, they don't work for me. My whole mission in life while I'm here is to make their life better. Their job is to make sure the facilities run, but my job as NCOIC is making sure my soldiers have what they need."

• Date Taken: 01.09.2002
• Date Posted: 01.16.2007 07:54
• Story ID: 8808
• Location: TAL AFAR, IQ