TACPs: Supporting troops anytime, anywhere

  • Published
  • By Lisa Terry McKeown
  • 43rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Under the cover of night, he maneuvers through the brush, getting just close enough to spot his target. He takes his measurements … triple checks them … and calls in the strike. If his measurements are correct, the troops who called in for help should have the relief they need in the form of a close air strike on the enemy. 

Their missions sometimes sound like scripts out of "Mission Impossible." But their importance continues to be proven through their everyday assistance in the war on terrorism. They are few in numbers, but large in impact.

They are tactical air controllers.

Tactical air control parties make a living working with the Army, Marines, Navy and other coalition troops needing their support. Many of those TACPs, part of the 18th Air Support Operations Group or the 14th Air Support Operations Squadron, call Pope Air Force Base, N.C., home. One of those TACPs is Staff Sgt. Robert Callaway of the 18th ASOG. 

Sergeant Callaway is also an instructor working with young Airmen as they come into the career field. 

“There really aren’t too many jobs out there like ours where you can go out there and do what we do,” he said. “I like knowing that if the Army calls on me and I get clearance from the commander to take out a building, blow up a car or whatever it is, that when I start doing the mission, it’s just me -- there’s no one else, period. When you maneuver in a squad, there are guys watching your back, your front, everything. When it comes down to executing the mission, it’s me, my radio and the aircraft to get that bomb on the target.” 

Sergeant Callaway knows firsthand how the missions TACPs complete every day can affect the overall mission of the Air Force, the Army or any other service they may be working with.

On a recent deployment to Balad Air Base, Iraq, Sergeant Callaway helped neutralize enemy mortarmen. In doing so, he helped keep all of those within the walls of the base safe. 

Sergeant Callaway described the incident: 

“We thought it was going to be a boring night,” he said. “I wasn’t out with the Army unit. I was actually back watching the video feed from the Predator that was up in the air. The unit was doing a raid and this guy kept running out in different directions. They wanted us to watch over him with the Predator’s thermal sights.

"The Army unit did the raid and got their guy. Next thing you know, we had incoming mortars. The other TACP I was working with flipped right to the computer and was ready to put coordinates in," he said. "I was getting coordinates from the fire support element on the ground. We put the coordinates in, gave them to the Predator and flipped it over to the field.

"From the time the rounds impacted the base to the time we had sensors on the target was a minute or a minute and a half. We watched them run across the field with the mortar tube on their back. We were getting tired of getting shot at, so we did it. I picked up the microphone, told the Predator guys to get hot and they dropped it," he said.

“Then six more guys started to attack us. They were about two miles south of the first guys that shot at us. We watched them and flew one in there as well. We took out 11 of them within three minutes. For the next 10 days there were no mortar attacks.” 

Sergeant Callaway said he never thought twice about what they had to do. There was a threat and they were able to assist in eliminating that threat. 

“It really didn’t sink on me what we had done until I was sitting in the chow hall and people were walking up thanking me,” he said. “It makes you feel good -- you get to see benefits.”

Close air support has been around since pilots came in close and worked the muddy trenches that stretched from Flanders Fields to the Pyrenees Mountains during World War I. In World War II, air support communications squadrons provided air support to infantry divisions. Their job was a relatively new idea, but their importance was not overlooked.

Some air support parties jumped into Normandy with the 82nd Airborne Division on D-Day. They were known as “Rover Joes.” Since that time, TACPs have become an integral part of military operations. 

Ever-improving technology continues to change the way the TACPs do their jobs. They have one radio that combines the functions of the three radios they used to carry. Laser-targeting technology is progressing as well as video technology and unmanned aerial reconnaissance systems. 

More than 280 close-air-support missions were conducted by coalition aircraft in a five-day period last week, according to U.S. Central Command. The missions included support to coalition troops, infrastructure protection, reconstruction activities and operations to deter and disrupt terrorist activities. 

It is thanks to the skills and efforts of the TACPs that close-air-support missions are successful.

While many career fields in the Air Force are decreasing in size, their career field is adding 1,000 Airmen. 

“Somebody has to call in the air strike,” said Sergeant Callaway. “You have to have someone who knows how to do the integration, get the aircraft there and get the bombs on target.” 

Whether it’s rolling into a combat situation in a convoy or jumping into one from a C-130 Hercules, Sergeant Callaway and his fellow TACPs don’t skip a breath when there’s a job to be done. 

“We can get in by helicopter, convoy, aircraft -- however the Army’s getting to the fight,” said Sergeant Callaway. “If it needs to get done and has to be done, we’re there.”