Australians deploy for first, last time with U.S. AWACS; U.S.-trained Aussies wrap up 6 years with Tinker’s Airmen

Published Nov. 10, 2008
By Tech. Sgt. Denise Johnson
380th AEW Public Affairs

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Two Australians assigned to the 965th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron are making their mark as the first and last to deploy on the Airborne Warning and Control System loan-officer program.

The unit, from Tinker Air Force Base's 552nd Air Control Wing, brought Australian, British and Canadian members who are assigned to the Oklahoma base into the area of operations with them.

Flight Lieutenants Nathan Yabsley, a senior director, and Troy Roempke, a mission crew commander, are capitalizing on their remaining time with the 552nd ACW's E-3B Sentry via real-world operations with the AWACS.

"We're super excited to be here," Flight Lt. Yabsley said. He and Flight Lt. Roempke are assigned to Tinker in preparation for their home country's up and coming venture with their own AWACS.

"The coalition forces we have assigned to us at Tinker are very much an integral part of our units," said Lt. Col. Andreas Forstner, 965th EAACS commander. "The experience they bring is balanced by the experience they gain from our operations and Airmen; it's a mutually-beneficial system."

The Australians have been assigned to the 552nd ACW for six years building a core cadre of fully-trained AWACS personnel. The time has allowed the Aussies to build their expertise as air-battle managers. This team will parlay the knowledge and experience they've gained with the Air Force into their home country's newly-adopted AWACS mission, Project Wedgetail.

"We've had seven or eight officers at Tinker for about three years at a time getting spun up on AWACS ops," said Flight Lt. Nathan Yabsley, senior director. "The USAF is kind enough to train us up on everything; in exchange they get additional bodies to fly around and do what they need. It works out very well for everybody."

The Australians are not only providing the Air Force with experienced officers, they're also providing an insight into the nuances of their native tongue.

"Most of the controllers are used to listening to my strange accent, so they have much less trouble understanding the Australian ground controllers than the last couple of squadrons that have come through, so that's handy," Flight Lt. Yabsley said.

Foreign-national programs are built to prepare the USAF and other coalition partners for interoperability. Joint exercises in areas such as Alaska and Canada also provide practice for the eventuality of combined efforts in real-world scenarios. But nothing seems to beat the operational experience gained in-theater.

"The operational tempo I've seen and the air battle management done for real ... it's an experience you dream about," said Flight Lt. Yabsley.

The 965th EAACS, while fulfilling the air tasking order, has flown missions close to the heart of their coalition crews.

"Of the two ground control units in Afghanistan right now, one's Australian which is my old squadron and one's British which is (Flight Lt. Matt Brunton's) old squadron," Flight Lt. Yabsley said. "So it's good to help out our American brothers with the few quirks in the language and the accents. We're also such a small career field, we usually know the folks on the other end of the radio by name."

He and the rest of Tinker's residents from down under will head home after this deployment. The Aussies, having shed their "fledgling" AWACS status, will be leaving the nest.

"The two of us who are here and a couple of guys left at home, we are the last Australians who are going to be at Tinker for awhile so we're wrapping up on a good note by getting an operational deployment," the senior director explained. "We're probably going to learn more in four months here than we could under any other conditions."

Meeting up with old friends in theater and saying farewell to new ones in Oklahoma have brought some perspectives to the forefront for some. The Australians' British counterpart in the unit, Flight Lt. Brunton, said the 965th benefits more than just U.S. endeavors. He said their efforts benefit the coalition as a whole.

"Some friends of mine gave me a send-off before I left Oklahoma for this deployment. They thanked me for fighting for a country I'm not even from," Flight Lt. Brunton said. "But I'm not just serving for America - which I'm happy to do for one of our greatest allies - I'm also fighting for my countrymen who're down there and for the Australians and the Canadians and all the coalition forces who've come together to support the effort."

Over the past several years, Australians have supplemented the 552nd ACW manpower roster while gaining the knowledge they need to make Project Wedgetail a success. But the E-3 Sentries are just one of the many American ideologies which have taken root in the hearts from down under.

"I've grown addicted to baseball and I've come to like American football," Flight. Lt. Yabsley said.

Though their redeployment brings the day closer when the last Australian will depart Oklahoma to return to their native land, it may not be long before they're back in the stadium eating hot dogs from the third-base line.

"It's the end of an era for now, but I assume once we get our Wedgetail flying we'll likely go to an exchange program because Tinker really is the hub of AWACS," Flight Lt. Yabsley said. "You gotta keep your finger in the pie. Ours might be a different plane but the mission's exactly the same."