Controlling the tempo of the base

Published Aug. 26, 2011
By Airman 1st Class Jacob Morgan
436th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Their stage is a 20 foot by 25 foot room dimly lit by computer screens. The players are 65 members of Team Dover with about 13 on shift at any given time. The operations of the base dance to their rhythm.

Echoes of airplane tail numbers and the chiming of incoming phone and radio calls are anchored by the tireless clicking of keyboards, creating a dissonant clamor. It is the trademark sound of a well-trained group of musicians -- each playing their own instrument to create a dynamic harmony between perfection and practicality.

"If the mission planners at the 618th Air Operations Center from Scott Air Force Base, Ill., formally known as the Tanker Airlift Control Center, are the composers, the command post is an orchestra playing music," said Lt. Col. Kevin McGowan, the chief of the 436th Airlift Wing's Command Post. "Here at Dover Air Force Base, three unique sections come together as a single command post team to take the music from a murmur to a forte."

The sections are the command post, or CP controllers, the maintenance operations control center, or MOCC, and the air terminal operations center, or the ATOC. Working 48-60 hours weekly, these sections monitor daily operations, and serve as the eyes and ears for every commander.

"I don't like to assign instruments to any section," said McGowan. "Each section essentially has and plays a very unique sheet of music that must come together to make the concert sound perfect."

The CP controllers are responsible for receiving information, monitoring flightline operations, mission management, and notifying participating parties of ongoing operations or alerts, said McGowan. They're also responsible for ensuring the 618 AOC is notified of mission movements and mission impacting events.

This position is manned by only two controllers at a time, said McGowan. Most of the time the action is relaxed, but when it reaches its crescendo, it can be chaotic.

"Day to day is pretty steady," said Senior Airman Meagan Orebaugh, a command and control specialist with the 436 AW CP. "Sometimes, it can be completely hectic. We can go from doing almost nothing to phones ringing off their hooks almost immediately."

The MOC controllers monitor all operations regarding the aircraft themselves. This includes transient alert, parking, receiving and launching aircraft, coordinating what planes need work and their mission status.

"They are essential to ensuring all players from the aircrew up to the 618 AOC are kept aware of an aircraft's maintenance status," said McGowan.

Finally, the ATOC controllers match up cargo and passengers with planes. They monitor the cargo from the minute it enters the 436th Aerial Port Squadron until the time it leaves on an aircraft. This holds the same for passengers, either space available or troop transport.

"Each player not only has to know their own music, but they must also know the rhythm and beat of everyone else's part so that the music flows smoothly," said McGowan.

These three sections are conducted by the command post duty officer, who oversees and coordinates each section's part as they come together to play the music presented to them.

The duty officer monitors what is happening and helps resolve challenges as they emerge to have minimal impact upon the mission itself, said McGowan.

The ideal situation is to be proactive and find any problems on the sheet of music before it is played out, said McGowan. Because when one instrument plays off beat it sets off a chain reaction that affects all the other sections.

However, it is the conductor's job to monitor the operations and identify when something gets off-beat, to minimize the impact. Sometimes this affects everything down the road in operations and the command post must develop and execute a plan to help ensure the mission can continue as close to schedule as possible.

Soon the command post will be fitted with upgrades. New computers and new wall mounted TV screens with interactive displays showing flightline and maintenance operations will help the players with their music as the composer originally intended.

"There is a lot of responsibility in this room," said McGowan. "We are the eyes and the ears of the commander and the base and the concert must go on."