Air traffic controllers own Iraqi sky

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Chris Stagner
  • 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq (AFPN) --  From American and coalition aircraft to civilian airliners now traveling through the Iraqi airspace, the number of aircraft coming and going over Iraq has increased exponentially in the last year.

In southern Iraq, 19 Air Force air traffic controllers here are ensuring the safety of the aircraft that are coming and going.

There are about 50,000 square miles of airspace, from the ground up, with no ceiling, controlled by the Tallil Radar Approach Control, said Master Sgt. Kevin Crammer, 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron RAPCON chief controller, deployed here from Vance Air Force Base, Okla.

Newly opened airways have contributed to the increased operations in the Iraqi sky, Sergeant Crammer said.

“Many air carriers have taken advantage of the now-unimpeded travel through Iraq; an option unavailable for the past 13 years,” he said. “The air carriers benefit from direct routings, and the country benefits from assessing user fees.”

The primary mission of the air traffic controllers is to get aircraft from one point to another safely.

“[The controllers] interface with Kuwaiti controllers to the south and [Air Force] controllers at Baghdad to the north,” Sergeant Crammer said.

Stated simply, the controllers assign altitudes and routings to allow safe travel throughout the area of responsibility, Sergeant Crammer said.

That mission was altered for the RAPCON recently when the British Royal Air Force No. 1 Air Control Center left Tallil. This means the Tallil RAPCON is the only one in the area.

“Up until the first week in January, their responsibilities were limited to terminal control; aircraft departing and arriving [at] Tallil and en route control [of air traffic]; and aircraft transitioning north and south through the country,” Sergeant Crammer said. “Tallil RAPCON was tasked with assuming a portion of the 1 ACC duties. [It’s the only] Air Force RAPCON to assume a tactical role in the AOR.”

The change in mission required training on new communications security procedures, aerial refueling procedures and other tactical issues, Sergeant Crammer said.

“My controllers are not weapons controllers, so they don’t provide all of the services that the 1 ACC provided, but they have quickly adapted to the new mission and have essentially replaced a British unit of 100 personnel with 19 Air Force controllers,” he said.

The transition of operations did not happen over night.

“Our controllers worked with the British to do a type of [on-the-job training],” said Capt. Kirk Deitrich, 332nd EOSS Airfield Operations Flight commander, deployed here from Columbus AFB, Miss. “It helped that our controllers were already familiar with the [1 ACC] operation, a result of our facilities’ daily interaction and the fact that we used their RADAR facility as an alternate for Tallil.”

The change in mission at the RAPCON comes with an additional position of responsibility. The addition has not, however, been a cause of concern for the controllers.

“We have added a new sector without adding any additional manning,” Sergeant Crammer said. “This was just timing. With the departure of the A-10 [Thunderbolt IIs], our terminal operation has slowed down significantly. This has permitted us to take on the additional sector without the need of additional manning.”

“[The] mission control [position] takes care of refueling tracks,” said Staff Sgt. Patrick Ellis, 332nd EOSS RAPCON watch supervisor, deployed here from Travis AFB, Calif. “It’s offered some new perspective and has given us some interesting things to do.”