Tower team concept keeps RF-A in the air

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Zachary Perras
  • 354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  Just as a jet needs fuel to function, pilots need guidance from air traffic controllers to safely complete a mission. Simply put, there is potential for chaos without someone monitoring the airflow of Eielson's aircraft.

Air traffic controllers ensure the mission flows efficiently, said Airman 1st Class Scott Larson, 354th Operations Support Squadron air traffic controller.

"We provide expeditious airflow through our airspace and through our traffic patterns to make sure it's safe as it can possibly be for pilots," said Larson. "We have to accommodate, regardless of aircraft number and type, pilots' proficiencies, approaches and flying patterns."

While the overall objective - safety - remains a key concern for the air traffic control tower, the mission becomes a broader spectrum of tasks and goals during RED FLAG-Alaska, said Staff Sgt. Danielle Skiles, 354th OSS tower watch supervisor.

"As a controller, it changes because you have a bigger mission at that point," she said. "In the tower, we know what's happening in the airfield - we understand the needs [of the pilots] ... and we contribute to the larger picture by helping everything between airfield management and the flying community to communicate and move a little more smoothly and effectively."

Standard procedures practiced throughout the year are the same used during RF-A, Larson said. The major difference rests in the increased amount of aircraft, which leads to a greater focus on the well-being of those involved.

Larson said that aside from safety, a main priority during RF-A is the precision required in correspondence between everyone taking part in the exercise. Due to possible language barriers with foreign participants, this communication is pivotal for a successful exercise.

"It's important for clarity over the radio to make sure pilots hear things in a way that's easy to understand so everyone is on the same page," Larson said. "If there's communication misinterpreted on either side, it could spell disaster - you have to have a lot of situational awareness."

This raised situational awareness makes RF-A unique for a controller, Larson added. Everyone in the control tower contributes to what is called the "tower team concept," allowing every individual to pitch in.

"The amount of situational awareness that needs to be increased during RED FLAG, when you have all of these different types of aircraft and flying patterns, is tremendous," said Larson. "You develop the ability to listen to two or three different conversations at the same time and you always have four or five people who are watching out for each other so that safety happens the best way it possibly can."

With the tower team concept in mind, controllers are able to become more effective at their jobs despite the increased stressors of RF-A, Skiles said.

"During RED FLAG, you're exposed to so much more traffic that you have to learn about sequencing and think about so many more things at once that it sets you up to be a better controller," said Skiles. "You always have to be ready to adapt, learn and change."

Any exercise has pieces and key players, and in the midst of everything is air traffic control. Because being a controller requires a certain skill set as well as a certain mentality for decision making, the job is not taken lightly.

"We're the middle man in all of it," Skiles said. "We really are part of a big mission and part of the joint effort to do the best and make it as smooth as possible for everybody."

With lives at stake, there is no room for error. But with a select group of individuals watching the skies, Eielson's flying mission continues to facilitate RF-A's success.