JSTARS team always training for battle

  • Published
  • By Lanorris Askew
  • Warner Robins Air Logistics Center Public Affairs
As military action continues in Iraq, coalition ground troops are in many ways counting on their guardian angels to guide the way.

Those guardians, crewmembers from the 116th Air Control Wing here, are always ready. They are armed with the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System.

Tech Sgt. Jim Anderson, an airborne intelligence instructor, said whether or not members of the 116th ACW deploy, they always train as if deployment was moments away.

Dozens of 116th ACW airmen sit poised and ready at operator workstations where they train on mission simulators to sharpen their skills. They also monitor ground movement to keep coalition troops one-step ahead of the game.

"JSTARS, as we speak, is performing a very important role in detecting enemy ground movement and then passing that information on to both forces on the ground and our other airborne assets so forces on the ground can be forewarned of possible surprise attacks," said Lt. Col. George Riebling, 128th Airborne Command and Control Squadron commander. "They can be given real-time information on enemy ground movements and support possible attacks."

Helping to make this possible is a crew of many.

Airman 1st Class Will Highsmith, a communications systems technician, said it is seldom he looks at the radar screen.

"What I do is monitor radios," he said. "I provide a service for the people who use the tactical employment of the weapon system. If someone in the back of the plane needs to talk to someone in another aircraft, I can change the radio frequency to allow that connection."

Highsmith also monitors emergency calls from aircraft in distress.

Without communications, receiving information from the jet is impossible, said Highsmith.

"You have voice communications and data communications," he said. "As far as data communications, it is very important to have data links ... up so we can get this information out to our combat commanders in the region and other aircraft so they know where the threats and targets are."

Maj. Michael Mras, sensor management officer, keeps his eyes on the radar.

"I monitor jobs that come in and juggle the different requirements and requests as they come in so the radar is not over-tasked at any one time," he said. "We want to make sure that everyone who has a requirement to see the ground picture gets what they need to do their job, both on and off the jet."

While flying in friendly airspace, JSTARS can look deep behind hostile borders to detect and track ground movements. It has a range of more than 150 miles. Those capabilities make JSTARS effective for dealing with any contingency, whether actual or impending military aggression, international treaty verification or border violation.

First Lt. Mark Valdez also makes sure the troops get what they need. His job is to talk to the aircraft, aid in aircraft check-in and pass information from other members. He also assists in the surveillance aspect of missions. In that aspect, if there are no fighters in the air, he looks for tracks of movements to identify potential threats.

"There are a lot of things that we all do as a team to make the mission happen," he said.

There is no punch-in clock set to achieve the mission, said Valdez.

"Whatever needs to be done at any given time, even (if) it means working 24 hours a day, seven days a week, we make sure it gets done correctly and safely," said Valdez.

"It lets the people on the ground know what is coming," he said. "What we do is very critical to the warfighter because of the things we can see and the information we can provide to help commanders make those big decisions. I love it, I wouldn't trade the feeling I get from knowing I've saved lives for anything in the world."

Feedback from the field has been favorable, according to Riebling.

"When you hear comments like 'Thank God for JSTARS,' it makes you feel good to know our brothers in arms from the 116th ACW are doing their jobs, and doing (them) well."

Riebling said crewmembers left behind are going through initial qualification training. Wing instructors will continue to train to the best of their ability so when troops deploy, "they will be ready. Those deployed to theater are combat mission ready, and crewmembers have been through extensive training," he said.