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380AEW Article

727th EACS keeps watch over Southwest Asia's skies

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Amanda Savannah
  • 380th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
SOUTHWEST ASIA --  Whether friendly or not, aircraft flying over the countries and waters of Southwest Asia are watched from the ground at all times.

The 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron here is responsible for the surveillance and identification of all aircraft in the area of responsibility.

"We're the primary tactical command and control in this region," said Lt. Col. William Neri, 727th EACS commander. "We report directly to the (Combined Air and Space Operations Center)."

Ground radars and radios throughout the AOR feed data into the Battlespace Command and Control Center, or BC3, here. Air surveillance officers and technicians then use the BC3 to monitor aircraft and generate the air picture that feeds to the CAOC.

The CAOC provides operational command and control for coalition and joint air and space operations across the U.S. Central Command AOR.

"Without that picture, the CAOC isn't going to have the real-time awareness of what air activity is within the (region)," said Neri, a Southbridge, Mass., native. "There are also Navy ships (in the area) that do the same thing -- we fuse those pictures (with ours) and provide them to the CAOC. The difference with us is that we're persistent, we're established, and it's a 24-hour-a-day operation in a fixed site so we have a stable and consistent ability to provide the air picture to the CAOC."

The squadron currently consists mainly of Airmen from the Connecticut Air National Guard's 103rd Air Control Squadron. Nearly a self-sufficient unit, the squadron consists of weapons directors, air battle managers, generator mechanics, air conditioning mechanics, radio maintainers, computer maintainers, supply and support Airmen, the BC3 operators and more.

"We have all those pieces in place because there are times when we can be tasked to go to a location where there aren't those support infrastructures in place," Neri said. "Because of the nature of what we do, being able to immediately respond to an issue when it occurs is important."

In addition to having several specialties in one unit, the Guardsmen have the added benefit of working with the same Airmen here that they do at home.

"The biggest thing with the guard is it's almost like a family," Neri said. "Because you've been with people for so long, there's a real comfort factor."

Senior Airman Michael Tutko, 727th EACS surveillance technician, is on his first deployment with his home unit.

"I like that I get to experience the area and watch the air traffic from another part of the world," said Tutko, an Ellington, Conn., native.

He said he also enjoys knowing how important his job is here.

"We are the premier ground-based weapons platform in the Air Force," Tutko said. "I'll be one of the first people to see if (enemy aircraft) start flying. It's a little stressful but if I'm doing my job right, it shouldn't be too bad."

Neri said his Airmen are doing a great job here.

"They've all got great attitudes, they're all involved outside of the squadron," he said. "They're doing great work, I'm proud of them. Since 2001 this is our fifth mobilization. These guys have answered the call every time."