Deployments keep air operations squadron on the go

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  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
SULLIVAN BARRACKS, Germany --  Directing airstrikes in Afghanistan and Iraq might be easier for the 4th Air Support Operations Squadron than finding enough Airmen to meet deployment commitments.

With a workload that rivals any in the Air Force, a third to a half of the unit’s Airmen “are gone all the time,” said Maj. Mike Abair, the squadron’s operations officer.

“That’s pretty consistent -- we send folks to a lot of places,” he said.

There are only 95 people in the unit here. This small U.S. Army post is located in Mannheim, Germany. Their job is to support the Army’s 5th Corps on the front lines of the war on terrorism, so the unit is frequently on the road, the major said.

That includes a yearlong commitment to support 5th Corps at Heidelberg, Germany, when it deploys to Iraq. In addition, the squadron supports the Southern European Task Force in Afghanistan, as well as supporting NATO exercises.

“Two-thirds of our operators could be gone when we support both locations at one time,” said the major, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot from Houston doing a stint as an air liaison officer.

To compensate, the squadron deploys its Airmen for six months every two years. The Air Force deploys Airmen under the air and space expeditionary force system on 120-day rotations once every three years. The fact that the major’s Airmen deploy more comes with the job, he said. The squadron deploys longer because it has fewer people, the major said.

And its people are in high demand. They provide 5th Corps a liaison with Air Force units and help control the “air war” over the battlespace. Normally represented by tactical air control parties and air liaison officers, the Airmen also run an air support operations center collocated with the corps commander’s tactical operations center.

“We bridge the gap between the Army and ‘air,’” the major said.

The Airmen control close-air support missions. They also help prevent friendly fire incidents and collateral damage. And “we help keep all those bombs hitting the battlefield away from the friendlies,” Major Abair said.

The squadron consists of enlisted terminal attack controllers, air liaison officers and support troops.

There is no relief in sight for their services, the major said. The Army depends on the unit’s sought-after services, so the constant deployments will continue.

That is fine with Staff Sgt. Dan Bardell, a joint terminal attack controller from Freeport, Ill. He lives to deploy to the front lines “where the action is.” He spent more than eight months in Iraq with Army special forces where he “called in air” in hot spots like Karbala and Najaf.

“The enemy is putting insurgents into Iraq and Afghanistan,” he said. “We must stop them from doing that. I can’t do that from Germany. I have to deploy to do my job downrange.”

Major Abair said the future holds more of the same for the squadron. It will have plenty to do.

For example, providing support to NATO is another squadron duty that is evolving. The unit is already providing the organization, on a day-to-day basis, an air support operations center like it would in wartime, the major said.

The squadron briefs NATO partners about the coordination and interaction between the unit and 5th Corps, based on their Iraq operations. At a joint seminar in Poland earlier this year, the major said, the topic was about NATO standing up a combination air support and air operations center.

“The focus of the seminar was on getting ready to go to Afghanistan in another year,” he said.

Capt. Johanna Ollerich, the squadron intelligence officer, said her unit is already supporting the European air support operations center. It provides maps, imagery and current intelligence briefings. But with only half her troops in garrison, it means pulling 24-hour shifts.

Being ready to deploy to Iraq and Afghanistan is foremost on the captain’s mind.

“Wherever the Army corps is, we’re going to sitting right next to them -- giving them details of threats and targets in the area,” said Captain Ollerich, who is from Sioux Falls, S.D.

Her main concern is that her troops know what they are doing in Iraq and Afghanistan. First, they must find the bad guys. They must also gather collateral damage estimates, get precise target coordinates and coordinate with the people who provide them intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information.

“Targeting is an intelligence function,” she said. “So we must know the effect a weapon will have on a target. We don’t tell the pilots what to drop, but we can recommend.”