Luke Airman enables combat airpower in Iraq

  • Published
  • By Courtesy of the 332nd Air expeditionary Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  When the battle smoke cleared, more than 200 enemy insurgents were dead and 100 were captured.
 
One of Luke's own, Chief Master Sgt. Kenneth King, 56th Operations Support Squadron radar approach chief controller, deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing, played a role during the decisive Jan. 28 battle of An Najaf. 

That Sunday, Chief King was supervising weapons directors in the Center Enroute Radar Approach Control. The wing received a call to provide close air support. It needed to be a joint, combined effort, to route a determined enemy. And that effort succeeded in spades. 

Chief King worked with weapons directors  at the 332nd AEW to help pilots obtain precise engagement of enemy targets by monitoring their location. They communicated codes to pilots about air tactics they should employ to intercept the enemy. They also kept pilotsinformed about airspace restrictions. 

"When we get the call to activate a 'killbox,' the controllers are put to the test immediately
ensuring all aircraft in the vicinity are kept clear so pilots can get in and do what they need to do," Chief King said. "Airspace designated as a killbox and controlled by air battle managersand weapons directors, is fighter-pilot talk for a 30-by-30-mile section of airspace the pilots can use to employ their weapons against enemy targets." 

The majority of Air Force combat airpower in Iraq launches from the busy runways of the
332nd AEW at Balad Air Base, 40 miles north of Baghdad. The airfield is the busiest runway operations in the Department of Defense and handles more than 10,000 aircraft each week to include cargo, fighter, rotary wing and unmanned aerial vehicles.
 
"I'm pretty darn proud of the operations, maintenance and combat support efforts of our Airmen team," said Brig. Gen. Robin Rand, 332nd AEW commander