Controllers handle a third of Iraqi airspace

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Jon Hanson
  • 407th Air Expeditionary Group Public Affairs
ALI BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  With more than 10,000 aircraft flying through their airspace each month, the Airmen of the 407th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron stay busy.

“We are responsible for one third of Iraq -- any aircraft coming in or going through,” said Senior Master Sgt. Troy Hammond, 407th EOSS chief controller, who is deployed from the South Carolina Air National Guard. “We are the second busiest radar in the (region), with Balad being busier.”

Air traffic control at Ali Base is managed by controllers in two sections -- the air traffic control tower and area control center.

The controllers in the tower are responsible for all aircraft within five miles of the airfield and all aircraft landings and takeoffs here.

When the aircraft are five or more miles away, they are controlled by the ACC which tracks the aircraft within a 200-mile radius from the surface to 40,000 feet.

The sheer number of flights coming through the airspace makes the job challenging.

“I consider it fast-paced,” said Staff Sgt. Chuck Wichert, a controller in the tower. “You have to stay on your toes no matter where you’re at or what you are doing."

Being an air traffic controller in Iraq is similar to being one in the United States, except that the tower and radar controllers experience a language barrier. While they say all the countries coming through the airspace speak English, still it can be difficult.

“Everything is pretty much standard,” said Sergeant Wichert, who is deployed from Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska. “The only thing is getting used to the language barrier. Other than that, phraseology is almost uniform. They all speak English, but with heavy accents. They are asking for the same thing and all come in doing pretty much the same thing.”

In the tower, controllers are responsible in getting the aircraft safely on or off the ground.

But before the aircraft gets to Ali Base the ACC crew ensures each aircraft maintains the proper altitude, direction and distance between other aircraft.

An average day for a radar controller in the ACC is looking at a large radar screen for hours at a time controlling numerous aircraft transiting through their airspace.

“We are constantly busy 24 hours a day,” said Senior Airman Andrena Guerra, a radar controller from the South Carolina ANG. “We have lots of missions at a time. We are at the heart of the whole mission, at least with the traffic coming in and out. If it wasn’t for us here, people would be stranded.”

“It gets real busy,” said watch supervisor Staff Sgt. Jesus Reyes, deployed from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. “We will get anywhere between five and 25 aircraft at a time. It is real different because a lot of these (controllers) come over here and aren’t used to working traffic like that. They have been doing excellent the whole rotation.”

Having a lot of aircraft traffic doesn’t bother them though.

“I love air traffic,” Sergeant Reyes said. “I love getting busy. There is a stereotype of air traffic control being a real stressful job. But, for the guys who do it and do it well, they love getting busy and talking to as many aircraft as they can.

“That’s why I love coming over here. Back at your home station you don’t really get to talk to that many guys. It can be slow at times. When you come over here it’s busy and you know what is going on with the mission."

Staff Sgt. Scott Williams agreed.

“The radar facility has faster traffic. You get to be more creative directing traffic," he said. "When it gets really busy the adrenaline starts pumping. It’s not like anything I’ve ever experienced.”