Canadian Forces master corporal, Powassan native, flies on combat AWACS missions as senior surveillance technician

Published Feb. 15, 2010
By Master Sgt. Scott T. Sturkol
380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- In 1999 in his hometown of Powassan, Ontario, Canada -- a town that's a few miles south of Lake Nipissing on Highway 11, Master Cpl. Mark Keown was in high school trying to figure out what he was going to do. So to help figure it all out, he asked a friend.

"One of my friends in high school decided he was going to join (the military) and I had no intention of or idea of what I was going to do," Master Corporal Keown said. "So I went down to the recruiting center with him and took the aptitude test. I decided that I would go to this trade. They told me only that it was going to be on the air traffic side. I had no idea that I would be doing the air defense side of the trade."

Master Corporal Keown's "trade" now is as a senior air surveillance technician deployed with the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron at a non-disclosed base in Southwest Asia. He flies aboard an E-3 Sentry Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft regularly supporting combat command and control missions for overseas contingency operations. He described what his job entails.

"As an air surveillance tech, my job is to set up all the data links on our combat sorties so that we can make sure we get a valid picture back to the ground for the commander," said Master Corporal Keown, a nine-year veteran of the Canadian Forces. "After that, I support all of our back row surveillance guys to make sure all of our identifications are correct."

According to the Air Force fact sheet for the E-3 Sentry, the radar on the airframe has a range of more than 250 miles. It's in that range where the "valid picture" is established. The radar combined with an identification friend or foe, or IFF, subsystem can look down to detect, identify and track enemy and friendly low-flying aircraft by eliminating ground clutter returns that confuse other radar systems.

The fact sheet also shows the radar and computer subsystems on the E-3 Sentry can gather and present "broad and detailed" battlefield information. This includes position and tracking information on enemy aircraft and ships, and location and status of friendly aircraft and naval vessels. The information can be sent to major command and control centers in rear areas or aboard ships. In time of crisis, this data can also be forwarded to the president and secretary of defense. In support of air-to-ground operations, the Sentry can provide direct information needed for interdiction, reconnaissance, airlift and close-air support for friendly ground forces. It can also provide information for commanders of air operations to gain and maintain control of the air battle.

Deployed from the 965th AACS at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., Master Corporal Keown is one of five Canadian Airmen deployed from Oklahoma. At Tinker AFB, Master Corporal Keown and nearly 50 other Canadian Forces members serve as co-manners as part of the North American Aerospace Defense Command agreement. For the past several years, Canadian Airmen like Master Corporal Keown have been able to deploy with units from Tinker's 552nd Air Control Wing.

The master corporal said his tour with U.S. Airmen, both in the U.S. and deployed, has been a good experience.

"The training system I went through in Tinker was a challenge at times, but once we got through that, and once we got to the squadron, they really accepted us and picked our brains to get any info that we had from our past experiences. It's the same out here. We're always talking to make sure that all information is passed. We integrate very well."

Master Corporal Keown is on his first deployment to Southwest Asia. He said it's also his first time out of North America. "The only other time I've been outside of Canada was I went to augment the Northeast Air Defense Sector after Sept. 11, 2001," he said.

As far as his high school friend is doing these days, Master Corporal Keown said, "He is in our trade as well. We both joined the same trade and he is now in Colorado working with the Americans down there at Cheyenne Mountain. He's doing the space side of things and he's going back to Canada this year."

The 965th EAACS is an attached unit of the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing. The 380th AEW is comprised of four groups and 12 squadrons and the wing's deployed mission includes air refueling, surveillance and reconnaissance in support of overseas contingency operations in Southwest Asia. The wing supports operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom and the Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa.