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AWACS on the job, AWACS off to the fight

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. J.G. Buzanowski
  • U.S. AFCENT Combat Camera Team
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  No airplane in the world looks like the E-3 Sentry; no other plane does what it can do either.

The Sentry is also known as the Airborne Warning and Control System, or AWACS. With its 30-foot rotating radar mounted on top of the modified 707 airframe, the Sentry and its crews, deployed from Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., are the essential link between aircraft and headquarters.

Rows of computer terminals keep the crew in touch with everyone in the fight, whether it's the combined air and space operations center, an F-15E Strike Eagle over Afghanistan or a KC-135R Stratotanker waiting to refuel any aircraft that needs it.

"We manage air assets at the tactical level," said Lt. Col. Paul Oldham, the 960th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron commander. "If people on the ground request air assets, we find an aircraft to support their need. If that plane needs gas, we find them a tanker. It's all about coordinating everyone's efforts."

Colonel Oldham leads more than 140 Airmen at a deployed location in Southwest Asia. The Novato, Calif., native is himself a mission crew commander.

There are two distinct crews that fly on the E-3 - the flight crew and the mission crew. Depending on how many people are needed for a particular mission, around 22 Airmen fly on each mission. While the flight crew consists of a standard pilot, co-pilot, navigator and flight engineer, the mission crew has 12 distinct positions.

While certain roles are extremely specialized - like the airborne radar technician - some of the other aircrew have a certain amount of skill overlap. Further, the computer banks are modular and can be configured for use by almost any crew position, according to Senior Master Sgt. Brent Williams, a flight engineer and the senior enlisted manager for the squadron.

"Everyone fills a specific role onboard, but backs each other up," said Sergeant Williams, a Michigan native. "The redundancies are on purpose so if something happens to one person or one work station, we're still in the fight. Crews might only do one aspect of their job on a particular mission, but it means they're able to stay focused on the task at hand."

The trademark radar array that rests atop the Sentry is what gives coalition forces a distinct advantage in a place like Afghanistan. Ground radar station coverage may be limited because of terrain. But flying overhead means AWACS crews can see around an entire area, providing a more complete image.

The Sentry actually fills four battlefield necessities:

- Radio capabilities with a variety of models and frequencies
- Radar coverage unobstructed by terrain
- Passive detection systems so adversaries aren't alerted to monitoring
- Link 16, a system that lets the CAOC staff know exactly what assets are where

"By managing all of the assets available, it means we can get the right weapon system with the right capabilities to the right place at the right time," said 1st Lt. Kevin Mendel, an air weapons officer and Las Vegas native. "That's what command and control is all about."