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Airman 1st Class Zachary Erickson goes through a checklist of preventative maintenance at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, March 13, 2012. The EACS supports the enduring airpower mission through air control and data support by making sure a constant radar feed is available from various sources throughout Afghanistan. Erickson is assigned to the 73rd Expeditionary Air Control Squadron. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Scott Saldukas)
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16 specialties work together, build one clear picture
Posted 3/24/2013 Updated 3/24/2013
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by Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
3/24/2013 - KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan (AFNS) -- Controlling 250,000 square miles of air space over Afghanistan is no easy task, but it's just another day for the Airmen of the 73rd Expeditionary Air Control Squadron.
The 73rd EACS supports the enduring airpower mission through air control and data support by making sure constant radar feeds, radio communication and datalinks are available from various sources on Kandahar Airfield.
"We are the eyes of the warfighter in RC-South," said Capt. Bonita Allen, the 73rd EACS commander. "We have one mission and that is to provide an accurate air picture to the decision makers."
The squadron uses two radar systems to gather the information from the designated area of responsibility and then transmits the information to the Combined Air and Space Operations Center in Southwest Asia.
While members of the unit are split up geographically due to their mission, the members at KAF are responsible for the functionality of the radar systems, ground-to-air communications systems and the equipment necessary to send that data to the Combined Forces Air Component commander.
"Every person here supports the mission of the radar, radio, and datalink systems, whether powering them, supplying them with parts or sending the feed to Southwest Asia," said Tech. Sgt. Tyler Hand, the 73rd EACS Radar and Communications Systems Flight chief.
"Our unit is designed to be able to be picked up and put down somewhere and be completely functional," he said.
To be such a diverse unit, the EACS is made up of 16 different career fields and is expected to be able to stand up on its own and be self-sufficient.
To do so, there are computer technicians, supply technicians, electronic protection technicians and even an independent duty medical technician. There are also aerospace ground equipment Airmen to make sure the equipment has power and heating, ventilation and air conditioning systems to keep the equipment in a controlled climate while also having maintainers to keep the equipment running properly, just to name a few.
"Without everybody doing their part supporting the radar and communication systems, we would not be able to provide the air controllers with a picture," Hand said. "We have to make sure everything is the way it ought to be. If something happens and the radar feed goes down, every person here does their part to help get it back up again."
Hand mentioned that a large portion of the maintenance within the squadron consists of preventive maintenance, but anything can happen because of the austere weather conditions and the age of the equipment; never mind that any system producing 117,000 volts and 2.4 million watts requires precision care.
"Our locally-maintained generators are our life supply," Hand said. "Even though we're on KAF, we don't use any of its power, we use our own as of now. That's why we check everything regularly. The environment out here is really tough on our aging equipment. Our equipment is like an antique car. The outside looks vintage but many of the working parts have to be constantly maintained, replaced and fixed."
One reason the 73rd EACS doesn't miss a beat when arriving to KAF is that nearly all of their people deploy together. The current squadron is deployed from Hill Air Force Base, Utah.
"We need to be able to stand up immediately after arriving somewhere, especially if it is in a new location," Hand said. "So when we get to our deployed location, we already know who has what responsibilities, skill sets and how each of us functions."
The EACS commander also attributed much of their success to how everyone maintains a deployment mindset.
"We're always deploying," Allen said. "Once we get back from a deployment we relax, but we know that we'll be going again soon. Our people stay in the deployment mindset, not an in-garrison mindset. We're either training to go, are gone, or just getting home. Even when we're home, we could receive a tasking at any time for POTUS support or other national security interests."
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