Air Mobility Command air traffic controllers lauded for excellence

Published Nov. 19, 2008
By Airman 1st Class Amber Kelly-Woodward
375th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. -- The Air Traffic Control Association presented AMC's Terminal Instrument Procedures team with the Earl F. Ward Memorial Award at its 53rd annual conference and exposition held in Washington, D.C., Nov. 4.

This international award is presented annually to the air traffic control group that demonstrated the most outstanding achievement during the year, including contributing to the quality, safety or efficiency of air traffic control.

Col. Bill Malec, chief of airspace and airfield operations division under headquarters AMC's Air, Space and Information Operations directorate, accepted the award on behalf of his team.

"'TERPs is not a very glamorous job, but it's very critical," said Colonel Malec. "About every 90 seconds a mobility aircraft lifts off or lands somewhere in the world providing America's Global Reach. Since we frequently fly into some rather austere locations, many of those approach procedures require a review."

Colonel Malec 's team is composed of 13 air traffic control TERP specialists located both at Scott Air Force Base, Ill., and at MacDill AFB, Fla. He said the benefits of their work are seen globally.

The team is responsible for managing all foreign instrument procedure requirements for the White House, 618th Tanker Airlift Control Center, 89th Airlift Wing, and other Mobility Air Forces missions.

The team is composed of military and civilian employees, with more than 200 combined years of air traffic control experience.

The importance of TERPs became critically evident after April 3, 1996, when the Honorable Ron Brown, then U.S. Secretary of Commerce, and 34 others were killed when their military plane crashed into the side of a mountain while attempting to land in bad weather at Dubrovnik Airport in Croatia. The cause of the accident was attributed to pilot error and a poorly designed approach procedure.

Since 1996, AMC and other Air Force major commands have combined to review more than 75,000 approach and departure procedures.

The TERPs team is also responsible for major command guidance for instrument procedure development, base-level TERPs program management, airfield obstacle databases, waivers to TERPs criteria with the air staff, bare-base airfield surveying, mobile air traffic control system installation, and contingency/exercise instrument procedure developments. The information is used for flying operations at 13 AMC bases, as well as international airfields in Central and South America, and the Caribbean.

"This is a 24-7 mission. There is always someone available to support any short notice missions," said Matthew Rush, TERPs branch chief, who has more than 28 years of air traffic control experience. "This is the most effective team that I have ever worked with, and I have worked with some great people during my career. Our success has been a collective effort."

"I am very proud to serve with these warriors," added Colonel Malec, "While they work largely in the trenches, they're a key ingredient in making our global flying mission a success day-to-day."

An example of the TERPs team at work occurred during a recent overseas Presidential support mission. In less than a week, 75 foreign instrument approach and departure procedures at eight airfields were reviewed. Deviations were identified in 20 percent of the procedures, and alternatives had to be created to provide for a safe landing.

"Working with less developed countries is the hardest, because their information is not as readily available or in the same format as ours" said Mr. Rush.

The TERPs uses a Web site on the Global Decision Support System to post approach and departure procedure information real time that are valid for up to seven days. This allows almost instant access to airfield information and approach and departure procedures for all U.S. Air Force aircrew no matter where they're flying around the world.

To further the TERPs team's influence, they are formulating plans for a centralized foreign TERPs cell to be located at Scott AFB that will serve flying customers across the entire Air Force.

"It will be a much more efficient, one-stop shop," added Colonel Malec.

ATCA's Earl F. Ward Memorial Award is named in honor of Earl F. Ward, a pioneer airmail and airline pilot who recognized the need for aircraft separation as air traffic increased. As a pilot for American Airlines, he saw the need to have America's radio operators exchange traffic information between all American Airline flights in and out of Chicago. He also implemented mandatory procedures and routes assigned by the adherence to altitudes and routes assigned by a central control group.

ATCA was created in Washington, D.C., in 1956, by air traffic controllers interested in the progress in the science of air traffic control and the preservation of a safe-flight environment. Currently there are more than 2,500 members, both individual and corporate, in 38 countries.