Airmen help Army control fighting

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Andrew Gates
  • 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Public Affairs
BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan (AFPN) --  With operations in Afghanistan moving toward supporting increased voter registration and election security, coalition forces regularly travel throughout the countryside.

Those forces count on aerial support from A-10 Thunderbolt IIs and other in-theater close-air support aircraft in theater for protection and reconnaissance. The A-10s, in turn, rely on certain Airmen embedded within the ground forces to help accurately conduct missions and protect friendly forces.

These embedded Airmen, called joint terminal attack controllers, help provide the Army with close-air support, said Senior Airman Adam Taylor, an attack controller deployed from the 3rd Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Wainwright, Alaska. He has been here since March with other squadron people, working closely with the 355th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron to help protect ground forces from attack.

“The majority of the close-air support we get is for (reconnaissance),” said Airman 1st Class Steven Kingsbury, another attack controller. “We bring the A-10s in during troop movements to check for possible ambush -- they can fly overhead and look in front of us. They can let us know if they see anything.”

Having air support is vitally important to ground commanders, as the aircraft can see a great deal more from the air than the team can on the ground, said Airman Kingsbury. “They pretty much plan their missions around the air support.”

Additionally, the aircraft provide a certain amount of deterrence to anti-coalition forces, he continued. “Many times, if enemy forces hear an aircraft, they hightail it and run. Frankly, we’d rather not have our forces attacked.”

The A-10 pilots and the attack controllers greatly support each other, said Airman Taylor. “They can tell us what they see, and we can tell them what to expect as they are flying the mission.”

Each attack controller is attached to an Army task force and is assigned to various companies in the course of a tour in Afghanistan. Each company will usually have nearly 20 vehicles and a few dozen people, said Airman Taylor. “Every mission will also have a good number of heavy weapons vehicles, carrying a 50-(caliber weapons) or something similar.”

Currently, most of the missions are counter-insurgency, where the teams are getting out inthe Afghan villages and registering voters or bringing goods or supplies to the village.

“Every time I entered a village, the entire town emptied into the streets,” said Airman Taylor. “We usually passed out candy and toys, so the kids are always asking for something. I have gotten nothing but great reactions from folks in a village.”

Airman Kingsbury agrees.

“I went into one village that we thought had a large number of anti-coalition forces. (It) turned out to be the friendliest village that I have every been to in Afghanistan.”

Since the two Airmen are from Alaska -- as are the A-10s currently deployed here -- they have had an opportunity to work with the Thunderbolt II pilots there.

“When we were back in Alaska, we went out twice a week to train with the (A-10 aircrews),” said Airman Taylor. “We would set scenarios for various types of conflict. It was extremely helpful to work with them at home and here. We work well together.”

Part of this is because the JTACs taught some of the A-10 pilots how to be attack controllers as well, said Airman Kingsbury.

“We taught at least half of the A-10 pilots how to do our job,” he said. “This helps a lot. We know what to expect from them and they know what to expect from us.”

Because of the close interaction between ground and air forces, the coalition has been able to go into villages and help introduce elements of democracy, said Airman Taylor.

“I’ve been on a few voter registration sites, and anyone who is eligible to vote comes out to sign up,” he said. “I met one child in a village -- the only English he could say was “George W. Bush” -- and he gave me two thumbs up. Every village we visit seems to embrace the voting process and look forward to it.”

Villagers are also interested in democracy, said Airman Kingsbury.

“When I went out in March, when I first got here, there were few schools. Now, every village has about 10 to 15 kids who know a little English, and the people there want to know how things work in our government,” he said. “They are very curious about democracy.”

Seeing firsthand the impact of coalition efforts have made, the two Airmen are extremely proud of what they have been doing here.

“I think we’ve been doing a great job,” said Airman Taylor. “We have helped the Afghans improve their living conditions by leaps and bounds. We’ve done something good.”

“We went to one area that had a dam the Russians blew up 20 years ago,” said Airman Kingsbury. “It’s been that long since a number of villages there had running water. I am proud of the fact that these people don’t have to live in fear of anyone -- whether it be the Soviets, Taliban or even drug lords -- anymore.”