Airman 'Scrappy Doo' brings brilliance to RPA flying operations

Published April 7, 2013
By Master Sgt. Leisa Grant
U.S. Air Forces Central Command Public Affairs

KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- He ran a 4 minute, 21 seconds-mile in high school, played on multiple soccer teams each year, ran track and field, played in the jazz band and the marching band. He did all this while accomplishing four years of academic courses in just three years to graduate as a junior.

So it should not be surprising that Airman 1st Class Alexander, a cyber transport specialist assigned to the 62nd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, continues to stay busy.

Within the first week of landing for his first deployment, his coworkers assigned him the nickname Scrappy Doo, for a famous cartoon character well known for his tenacity, high energy and small size.

"Ever since he arrived here, he's been all over the place getting a lot of things done that needed to be done," said Staff Sgt. Sean, a 62 EMXS crew chief.

This same energy helped Alexander single-handedly research, plan and present an operational improvement to RPA leadership here.

"Alex took a holistic view at how we do our operations from the ground in a critical phase of flight to passing the aircraft," said Maj. Tim, director of operations at the 62 ERS.

He looked at everything from frequency spectrums to times at which RPA crews were launching and recovering aircraft, and analyzed how the architecture works to communicate with the aircraft, Tim said.

"Alex put together a plan that drove our interference levels to essentially zero, fixing potential interference between the aircraft and their launch and recovery periods."

This had not been accomplished in the last ten years of RPA operations at this location, Tim said.

"This enabled us to continue our mission safely and increase our capacity 25 to 30 percent," he added.

It was a unique upbringing that brought Alexander to this point with an insatiable desire to learn about cutting-edge technologies and constantly solve problems.

"My dad always challenged us to fix things on our own," said Alexander, adding that technology was always present in their home and while his parents gave guidance for solving problems, they allowed him and his siblings to find the solution and fix the problem on their own.

"I absolutely love mysteries and troubleshooting," he said.

With only their minds, hands and available resources around the house, the four kids would more often than not learn exactly what was wrong, and in a matter of minutes, hours or days.

With such an outstanding accomplishment early is his career and just one month into his deployment, Alexander has set his goals high to advance in his current career field as an enlisted member, and eventually commission as an officer.

Alexander challenges himself equally in his personal pursuits as his professional. He is currently training to finish a 72-mile relay later this year - solo.

Tim sees a bright future for Alexander.

"The Air Force permits ordinary people to do extraordinary things," he said. "Alex is an extraordinary person doing above and beyond extraordinary things."

* Editor's note: Last names of Intelligence Reconnaissance Surveillance operators are withheld for security reasons.