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Orchestrating airpower: Pyramid decisively delivers

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nathanael Callon
  • 379th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Inside a dark room lit only by computer monitors and LCD displays, Airman 1st Class D'Angelo Sewell constantly scans each of his eight monitors for conflicts between air assets. At any one time, he is monitoring up to 90 aircraft.

Sewell had no idea that a little over a year after leaving for basic training that he'd play an integral role in monitoring the skies over Afghanistan.

"I was really excited to try something new. I didn't really know what the job would entail when I signed up for it, but I definitely feel that I contribute to a bigger mission," said Sewell.

While many of these Airmen from the 71st Expeditionary Air Control Squadron, or "Pyramid" are new to the Air Force, thousands of joint and coalition partners depend on their work.

"All of the different mission sets out there - close air support, counter air, surveillance, special operations missions, air refueling - are battle managed by us here at the Control and Reporting Center" said Maj. Donald Mammano, 71st EACS director of operations. "Each one of those mission sets requires air support. It is up to us to align these missions with the [Combined Forces Air Component Commander's] guidance and appropriate the air based on those priorities."

With the amount of traffic constantly in the skies, it is up to the weapons directors to de-conflict the air and keep everyone safe, said Staff Sgt. Esmeralda McKenzie, who has been a weapons director for the last four years.

"It's a very task-saturated environment," she said. "It gets really busy and it takes a lot of patience when there are 20 pilots trying to radio back to you at the same time."

In order to provide accurate tactical command and control at the CRC, there is another aspect of the 71st EACS that is just as critical as the operators communicating with the pilots.

"There are many different career fields that have to work together to keep the radars running," said Capt. Rachel Egley, 71st EACS director of maintenance.

The air control squadron is made up of twenty different Air Force Specialty Codes, including maintenance careers like aerospace ground equipment, communications, and radar maintenance.

Maintaining communications between different radar sites can sometimes be challenging, but not impossible, said Senior Airman Bradley Combs, who specializes in radio and satellite communications systems.

"There has to be constant contact with all of the radar sites in the AOR so that everyone is on the same page and the airspace picture is as accurate as possible," he said.

There are sensors across the AOR that are fed into the operations center for the big picture. From there, the operators can do their mission, Combs explained.

"Because all these sensors exist, there needs to be accurate communication so the operators can make safe decisions," he said.

In addition to communications links, preventative maintenance must also be accomplished on a regular basis to keep the radars functional.

"The weather has a profound effect on the equipment here," said Senior Airman Jessica Gibson, a 71st EACS air ground equipment technician who maintains the squadron's generators. "The dust can get into sensitive components and the temperature can make the systems prone to overheating."

In order to prevent a generator from breaking down, they are checked every four or five hours for oil pressure and functionality.

"Without a power supply, the operators can't get a feed off of that radar, so keeping our equipment in good working order directly affects the overall mission," said Gibson.

The aircraft in the skies of Afghanistan remain a choreographed aerial demonstration of the combined efforts of the Airmen, along with British, Canadian, Australian, and other joint partners.

"It's really a testament to the training these Airmen receive from technical school and the aptitude they bring to the fight," Mammano added. "This team we have is really incredible."

"It is a stressful job, but they always come in with a smile on their face."