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BACN all the time, Airmen keep communications open 24/7

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jack Sanders
  • 451st Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  Communication is a key aspect to air and space dominance, which is why Airmen assigned to the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node mission fly continuous operations providing lines of communications for NATO forces throughout Afghanistan.

The BACN mission is to provide radio connectivity and unified network operations to service members in the area of responsibility.

"The history behind the E-11A, why we have it in theater, is that because of the mountainous terrain in Afghanistan it was difficult for airplanes trying to talk to people on the ground, airplanes trying to talk to other airplanes and Soldiers trying to talk to each other," said Maj. Jacob Hammons, 430th Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron director of operations. "They weren't able to talk to each other so the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node became a joint, urgent-operational need requested by the combatant commander and developed by the Air Force to meet that need."

BACN Airmen are responsible for 24/7 flying operations that allow for open communications throughout the area of responsibility. They accomplish this by relaying encoded signals through the E-11A, enabling them to accomplish the radio connectivity portion of their mission.

"For example, you could be an Army Soldier on the ground talking on a low-frequency radio to an Air Force airplane that's talking on UHF or ultra-high frequency radio," Hammons said. "So, the Air Force airplane is on its radio frequency, the Soldier is on his radio frequency, and they're both talking to each other like they were on the same radio. That's what BACN does."

When the E-11A receives and sends messages it also protects the sender and receivers by providing a bubble of secure coverage, Hammons said.

"The other thing (we do) is unified network operations; basically unifying data link operations for the Air Force," Hammons said. "This allows aircraft to have precision locating information in their cockpit so that say an A-10 (Thunderbolt II) pilot can see where an F-16 (Fighting Falcon) pilot is, and they can push digital messages without having to use voice communications the same way (other capabilities) can push digital tasking messages to an A-10 or an F-16. We basically take that radius, and we expand it because of BACN coverage."

Because of BACN's expanded coverage warfighters are able to connect with each other at times when it normally wouldn't be feasible. As they continue to accomplish this mission 430th Airmen are constantly trying to find new ways to meet the mission requirements, Hammons said.

"The biggest thing that we've had happen is the introduction of our fourth aircraft," Hammons said. "We just received it a few weeks ago, and we've been flying it. We actually got it flying two days after it arrived in theater, which was a huge accomplishment for us. It's a beautiful airplane that increases our capability to generate sorties."

The extra aircraft helps to ensure the BACN mission is there to support the warfighter, he said. The addition of another aircraft also opens the 430th EECS to the potential of additional missions.

BACN offers a persistent presence in the sky, Hammons said. That presence ensures wherever the warfighters are, they have the communication tools to accomplish the mission.