Sidebar: Iraqi citizen becomes first licensed radar center controller

Published March 8, 2010
By Capt. Byron B. Coward
U.S. Air Force Air Component Coordination Element, Public Affairs

BAGHDAD -- An Iraqi citizen became the first person to obtain his license as an air traffic radar center controller during the last week of February.

Mr. Fadhel Gaeta became the first Iraqi licensed radar center controller since the Government of Iraq established its sovereign airspace control network. As a licensed radar-center controller, Mr. Gaeta will be able to guide and monitor all categories of air traffic in Iraq.

"This is a special day for me and the country of Iraq," Mr. Gaeta said upon graduating.

Mr. Gaeta is the deputy director of the Air Traffic Services Division for the Iraq Civil Aviation Administration. He is the first, of what will hopefully be 200 controllers, to be awarded their licenses.

Mr. Gaeta is not new to airspace operations. Before the war began, he was a tower operator at Baghdad International Airport. With his previous experience, he was able to train and obtain his certification in one year.

"Right now, I have many jobs," Mr. Gaeta said. "I am the training manager and the Baghdad Area Control Center supervisor. However, I have one responsibility -- to my country."

The airspace traffic over Iraq was controlled by coalition forces from 2003 to 2009. The Government of Iraq regained sovereign control of their airspace Jan. 1, 2009, under the Ministry of Transportation's Iraq Civil Aviation Authority.

Rebuilding the Iraqi civilian airspace has been the MoT's and ICAA's responsibility. The U.S. Air Force's Air Component Coordination Element and the U.S. State Department have partnered with the MoT and ICAA to help bolster the country's communications and navigation infrastructure.

The ACCE's airspace planning group consists of Air Force officers who serve as liaisons between U. S. Forces-Iraq, U.S. DoS, Iraqi MoT, and ICAA. They are subject matter experts in airspace control and architecture. They also ensure that the U.S. military's airspace footprint, in Iraq, becomes smaller.

Since August 2007, The Washington Consulting Group of Bethesda Md., provided air traffic controllers and instructors. The WCG controllers, most with major U.S. airport experience, provide both classroom and hands-on instruction. Currently, 40 Iraqi citizens are enrolled in the program.

Many of the world's commercial air carriers have re-established service to six Iraqi airports. As more Iraqis are trained and certified to control the airspace, they will become capable of handling the already-increasing air traffic over Iraq.

"With the support provided from the U.S. Government and WCG, we will develop shortcuts for commercial aircraft to fly over Iraq," Mr. Gaeta said. "This will not only be convenient for commercial aircraft, but benefit our country economically."

As U.S. forces and advisors withdraw from the country, Mr. Gaeta and other Iraqi citizens will take on the role of controlling and directing all aircraft around and through Iraq. In the future, Iraqi air controllers will be training other Iraqis.