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Air Force planners keep world’s premier airlift competition flying

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Nick Przybyciel
  • Air Mobility Rodeo 2007 Public Affairs
MCCHORD AIR FORCE BASE, Wash. --  On a grey Pacific Northwest morning in the middle of July, McChord Air Force Base resembled a European airfield at the height of the Berlin Airlift. 

While the operations tempo for McChord has been high for the last several years, the influx of competition aircraft dwarfs the normal pace. 

"As far as an Air Force base goes, nothing comes close to this," said Lt. Col. Scott Lavigne, the head operations planner for the competition. 

Nearly 50 aircraft representing airlift and tanker planes touched down at a rate of one every five minutes for more than four hours Saturday as American teams joined international competitors for Air Mobility Command's Rodeo 2007 competition here. 

Managing the aircraft arrivals as well as the flying operations during the next week of competition is a monumental feat of planning and logistics. First, the C-17s stationed at McChord were assigned missions outside the local area., so there would be room on the ramp here. International competitors arrived last week for orientation to the Pacific Northwest air space. Then months of planning came together when the C-17 and its McChord 62nd Airlift Wing aircrew arrived at 8 a.m. Saturday as the first of 44 American teams arrived. 

In an office not too far from the arrival action, some of the Air Force's sharpest logisticians coordinated the effort, staring intently at the cryptic, rainbow-colored matrix printed on a sheet sprawled across three desks. When the last aircraft were parked, the group of planners finally got a break from the onslaught. However, it will prove to be only a temporary reprieve. As Air Mobility Command's Rodeo 2007 kicks into high gear, there will be no rest for the weary. The group will coordinate 147 missions during the competition week which runs through July 27. 

"There are 50-plus teams flying missions every day, 24/7. We're the nexus of all the coordination for both the flying and ground portions of the competition. The secret is getting lots of smart captains working for you," Colonel Lavigne said. 

At Rodeo, teams from all over the world compete in events to see who has the best combat airlift capabilities. Nearly every aspect of flying and support is tested. Aircrews are put through a litany of tests - including a low-level airdrop - to see who is best of the best. Keeping everything running with clock-like precision is the job of Colonel Lavigne and the rest of his team. There is no leeway built into the scoring system for an error made by the planners. 

"Since everything relies on the previous time, it can create a snowball affect," Colonel Lavigne said. 

The competition extends past the gates of McChord. Civilian airports - Seattle Tacoma International Airport being the largest - sharing airspace with the competition also have to coordinate flights around Rodeo. Months ago, a planner from McChord began coordinating flight planning with the various agencies involved. 

"There's a tremendous amount of communication with the Federal Aviation Administration and area airports. They need to know the rules of our competition so they don't delay our competitors' flight times and get them 'dinged' on points," Colonel Lavigne said. Tracking such a unique mission requires specially designed software, created specifically for Rodeo. Since the system AMC uses to track tactical missions is geared strictly towards tracking air operations, a new one had to be developed to cover both the ground and air events that happen at Rodeo. 

At the 2005 Rodeo, the one of McChord's Rodeo coordinators, Lt. Col. Mike Mattinson, decided that it was time to develop a system specifically for the competition. A C-17 instructor pilot by trade, Colonel Mattinson said he has spent the better part of the last ten years tinkering with his office software, teaching himself a bit of programming along the way. As a result, he has become a point-man for the command's top brass when it comes to figuring out office technology. For this year's competition, Colonel Mattinson crafted new software from scratch. New features, such as a "rainbow" summary that gives coordinators an effective visual of all assets, missions and flight times are included. 

"It's a good system. There's a lot of versatility," said Capt. Lisa Pierce, one of the people Colonel Lavigne recruited to be part of his team. 

The fact that Captain Pierce has no complaints bodes well for her. For the duration of the week-long competition, Captain Pierce and her fellow planners will spend at least 12 hours per day working to keep the sky and ground organized here.