An official website of the United States government
A .mil website belongs to an official U.S. Department of Defense organization in the United States.
A lock (lock ) or https:// means you’ve safely connected to the .mil website. Share sensitive information only on official, secure websites.

Squadron looks to the skies of Afghanistan

  • Published
  • By Maj. David Kurle
  • 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --  If it’s flying over Afghanistan, Airman 1st Class Kyle Neill will be the first one to notice it.
That is, as long as he is on shift as a surveillance technician with the 73rd Expeditionary Air Control Squadron here.

His job is to manage data as part of a two man team in an operations module, containing screens and computers translating data from a radar antenna, which is constantly monitoring the skies over Operation Enduring Freedom.

The other part of that team is an air surveillance officer, either an air battle manager or an enlisted weapons director, and together they direct strike aircraft where they are needed and make sure civil and other military traffic stay a safe distance from ongoing combat operations.

The air surveillance officer relies on surveillance technicians to identify then establish contact with any aircraft flying over Afghan airspace, Airman Neill said.

“Usually, the surveillance technician is the first one to find everybody,” said Staff Sgt. Rhiana Caldwell, the chief of all the surveillance technicians in the 73rd.

“If there’s a troops in contact right in the middle of an air route, we get the air support there to support the troops, then coordinate with the civil air traffic control to clear the airspace,” said Maj. T.J. Courtney, the 73rd EACS commander.

The controllers divide the entire country into grids. When airpower is employed they direct strike aircraft to the location and coordinate with civilian controllers to re-route other aircraft away from what becomes a restricted area.

The 73rd is a large squadron, designed to set up a working air traffic control system anywhere in the world. It boasts a whopping 24 Air Force specialty codes, the system that identifies career fields.

Despite the diverse career fields, the squadron’s unity of effort is focused on monitoring the airspace via radar and sending that information to the Combined Air Operations Center in Southwest Asia so decision makers and commanders get a clear picture of the situation in the air.

“We’re the only long-range radar for Afghanistan,” said Capt. Eamon Jordan, the squadron’s chief of maintenance. “We can tie into other air traffic control radars so we can also see their pictures.”

With all of the specialized communications gear, radar and computers, not to mention generators and other heavy equipment, it’s no wonder two-thirds of the people are dedicated to maintenance.

If equipment fails, the Airmen get it back on line as quickly as possible.

“When you’re dealing with air traffic control and people getting shot up on the ground and a communications link goes down, we’ve got to fix it immediately,” he said.

Equipment failures are the exception rather than the rule thanks to the constant, preventative maintenance performed by the Airmen of the 73rd.

Staff Sgt. Kyle Brock, deployed here from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, is a computer maintenance technician whose job is to keep the three operations modules, or “boxes,” running so the operators can do their job.

“It becomes kind of like our baby after a while,” he said. “As long as we can keep them cool and clean they run fine.”

The most dominating physical feature of the squadron is the large radar antenna, which rotates ceaselessly and is set apart from most of the equipment on top of a small hill.

According to Staff Sgt. Eric Haupt, a ground radar systems craftsman, it is the basis of everything the squadron does.

His task is to keep the radar functioning and make sure the high-voltage components inside stay dust-free, a daunting task in the Southwest part of Afghanistan, known for its dust storms.

“We provide the primary picture to the operations modules through fiber (optics),” he said. The radar is designed to filter out moving objects from stationary, background objects such as high terrain.

Everything is powered by generators that run on JP-8 jet fuel, and the 73rd has it’s own power production specialists to keep those running.

The squadron is designed to go anywhere in the world, set up a working air traffic control system and make it run in any environment. Their know-how includes convoy and ground defense training, and the squadron runs pretty much autonomously no matter what situation it finds itself in.

“Normally, a unit like this would be on their own, forward-deployed, then keep moving forward with the war,” Sergeant Brock said. “Everything is mobile.”

The 73rd is set up apart from the main part of the base here, and the biggest chunk of its Airmen come from the 606th Air Control Squadron at Spangdahlem AB with augmentation from the 603rd ACS at Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Air National Guard units all over the US.

Senior Master Sgt. Roger Bolish is the site chief here, which means he’s a kind of public works director and mayor all in one. His goal is to leave Camp Palomino, which is the area at Kandahar where the 73rd lives and operates, a better place to live.

“Our goal is continuous improvement, so when the next rotation comes in behind us, they find it better than when we got here,” he said.

Toward that end, Airmen in the squadron have formed their own morale committee, turned a defunct library into a first-class education center, organized intramural sports and even set up their own video-gaming network.

Every Airman in the 73rd considers their job vital to the war against extremists in Afghanistan, and rightly so. Producing situational awareness of the airspace doesn’t do anyone much good if it’s not communicated to decision makers.

“Even though I’m not in a plane fighting the war, I’m taking care of the communications and you’ve got to have comm,” said Tech. Sgt. Steven Hatcher, NCOIC of the tactical control systems.

The call sign for the 73rd ACS is “Trump Card,” and it’s a decisive, overriding factor in the air war here.

“We’re pretty much the only radios (talking) to the aircraft,” said Staff Sgt. Nathan Caldwell, a weapons director from Aviano.

“You take out Trump Card and no one’s getting where they need to go,” he said.