BAGRAM AIRFIELD, Afghanistan --
Members assigned to the 430th Expeditionary Electronic
Combat Squadron, Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, recently exceeded 10,000
flight hours for 2014, an accomplishment which has only been done twice since
the Battlefield Airborne Communication Node (BACN) mission’s inception in 2008.
The BACN program fills a Joint Urgent Operational Need and
is facilitated by Air Force E-11A pilots in the air, and supported by both
military and civilian personnel on the ground.
“The E-11A provides an airborne data relay and gateway that
allows real-time information exchanges between different tactical data link
systems,” said. Lt. Col. James Caplinger, 430 EECS commander. “It also enables
voice relay and bridging between tactical voice systems, both in line of sight
and beyond line of sight situations.”
The BACN program delivers the flexibility required to
conduct communications operations in hostile conditions and austere locations,
making it an indispensable command and control asset.
BACN provides communications channels and channel
conversions in a geographic area where terrestrial services are either
restricted or unavailable. BACN offers three service categories: Tactical Data
Services, Voice Services and Inter Protocol Services. In general, BACN provides
value to users by either extending the range of an external interface, or by
converting external interface data from one format to another.
Because of its unique capabilities, the BACN program is in
high demand. Even so, reaching 10,000 flight hours is a laudable achievement
for a fleet of four aircraft. According to Caplinger, the squadron is on track
to break the program’s current flight-hour record of 10,878, which was achieved
in 2011.
“Ten thousand hours is a lot for four aircraft,” Caplinger
said. “I am really proud of our team, both Air Force and contractors alike.”