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Western Air Defense Sector in Eastern Europe
Posted 7/22/2011
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by Maj. Matthew T. Mutti
SAFE SKIES 2011 Public Affairs
7/22/2011 - MIRGOROD AIR BASE, Ukraine (AFNS) -- The Western Air Defense Sector provides a critical component to the U.S. homeland defense mission.
Located at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., WADS members are responsible for coordinating all airborne alert aircraft in the western U.S. Its sister organization, EADS, is responsible for the Eastern Air Defense Sector.
A team of four controllers from WADS is participating in SAFE SKIES 2011, a joint U.S., Ukrainian and Polish event where Air National Guard pilots will fly engagements with Ukrainian-piloted Su-27s and Mig-29s, as well as Polish-piloted F-16s, developing the Ukrainian and Polish air sovereignty operations in preparation for the 2012 Olympics, the 2012 EUROCup and the 2014 Winter Games in Europe.
This involvement demonstrates the true strength of the National Guard's State-Partnership-Program, officials said.
During the two-week event, many airborne scenarios will be played out, where the Ukrainian air force will scramble its SU-27s and MIG-29s to intercept U.S. fighter aircraft. Ukrainian pilots flying L-39s and AN-26s will play the role of either a distressed or hijacked aircraft that is presenting a threat to the Ukrainian and Polish citizens.
The capabilities and insight provided by WADS controllers will prove instrumental when the aircraft are scrambled, officials said. In these scenarios, the WADS controllers will coordinate the U.S. fighters while the Ukrainian and Polish controllers will work with their interceptor fighters.
"Every country's military defends itself," said Maj. Dan Wrazier, the senior WADS controller and a member of the Washington Air National Guard. "We are not trying to teach them how to do that. What we are doing is sharing the insight we have learned since the terror attacks of September 11, 2001. We want to help ensure a tragedy like that does not happen on Ukrainian soil."
On day three of the operations, the WADS controllers have assisted in coordinating nine intercept engagements. They are quickly working through the language barriers with the help of interpreters.
In the U.S., WADS controllers pass important information to alert sites around the nation, identifying potential airborne threats. Once airborne, the pilots on alert receive information on the aircraft presenting the threat or "track of interest," and pass that information to the pilots intercepting the TOI.
In Ukraine, the process is very similar, with collaboration of the Ukraine air traffic control and ground control intercept teams.
The Ukrainian controllers communicate with the air traffic controllers and the pilots on alert, coordinating the engagement and relaying critical and time-sensitive information back to the national leadership team. As the partnership continues to develop, the depth of training increases, providing mutual benefits to all the countries involved.
"From the basics, the controllers here handle the intercept and controller process very similar to us," said Tech. Sgt. Lonnie Talley, one of the WADS team members and a member of the Washington Air National Guard. "What is different is our unique forms of measurement. We keep finding ourselves converting the U.S. measurement standards of nautical miles (distance), feet (altitude) and knots (speed) into kilometers, meters and kilometers per hour ... which takes some getting used to."
Despite the small challenges, officials said, the WADS team has been making an immediate positive impact, and members are learning while conducting these practice scenarios.
"Working with our Ukrainian counterparts is very fulfilling", Talley said. "They take the mission of homeland defense very seriously, and are very good at what they do. The equipment we are using is a little different, but the mission is the same, providing useful and timely information to the pilots so they can mitigate any airborne threat."
SAFE SKIES 2011 will continue through July 29, and is scheduled to conduct more than 50 intercepts. |
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