Keeping Luke in the air

  • Published
  • By Airman First Class C.J. Hatch
  • 56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. --  As Luke continues to generate sorties, the men and women of the 56th Operations Support Squadron Airfield Operations Flight work hard behind the scenes to ensure Luke's mission is accomplished at the end of the day. 

The more than 80 person flight composed of air traffic controllers and airfield managers are responsible for more than 157 acres of runways and taxiways, and more than 8000 cubic miles of airspace. Each job is essential to the flying operations at Luke. 

"I find this job tremendously rewarding," said Senior Master Sgt. Michael Baker, 56th OSS airfield manager. "We are intimately involved in flight operations, and given information about all the construction projects. If something's going on, we are there." 

Airfield Management is responsible for performing inspections of the runways, taxiways, aprons and lighting systems prior to, and during, flight operations. These inspections ensure the facilities are safe and ready to support operations. If Airfield Management Airmen find a problem, they coordinate with the appropriate agencies and monitor the situation to ensure its resolution. In addition to performing inspections, Airfield Management tracks lost/overdue aircraft, responds to aircraft emergencies, and ensures all aircraft have a flight plan prior to departing Luke.
 
Airfield Management also provides management oversight to ensure construction activities don't hinder aircraft safety. If there is construction scheduled anywhere on or around the base, they review the plans to ensure that any equipment will not interfere with aircraft operations. 

Whenever a hazard to flight safety is discovered, Airfield Management sends alerts called to Airmen through a system that announces current airfield conditions to aircrews. Without the system, pilots would not be aware of closures and outages that may affect their decision to fly safely. 

Airfield managers may be responsible for what happens on the ground, but once a jet takes off, its pilot works with the air traffic control tower and the radar approach control. 

The tower's control begins when they receive a flight plan from the airfield managers and a jet is ready to launch. The tower has six working positions monitoring the tight airspace around Luke. These positions do a variety of jobs. The coordinator works with the RAPCON and other airports in the nearby area to ensure the flow of aircraft into and out of Luke is smooth. Ground Control ensures safety for all aircraft on the taxiways and ramps. Local control separates and sequences traffic in the pattern, safely allowing planes to take-off and land. The watch supervisor is ultimately responsible for all tower positions and ensures operations run smoothly with the RAPCON, airfield management, and the Supervisor of Flying. The SOF is a pilot who works in the tower and represents the operations group commander in all matters concerning aircraft operations/emergencies. 

"It's a challenging job," said Staff Sgt. Michael Cox, 56th OSS air traffic control watch supervisor, "We have the ability to see and de-conflict a situation quickly, and get the reward and satisfaction when all of our planes have safely landed." 

The significant growth of the Phoenix area sparked increased operations at many local airports surrounding the Luke Air Force Base terminal area. There are 48 commercial, public and private airports/airfields, many of which have multiple flight training schools within 60 miles of Luke's airspace. The combination of aviation congestion in the Phoenix area, the forecasted growth of satellite airports surrounding Phoenix, and the growing flight activity at Sky Harbor International Airport have made the RAPCON's job more important than ever before. 

The RAPCON ensures all aircraft, military and civilian, in or around Luke's airspace, heading into Luke and more than 15 surrounding airports, are flying at appropriate altitudes and have a safe amount of distance between them. The RAPCON separates more than 170 sorties daily along with countless civilian aircraft, in congested airspace with a major international airport just 20 miles away. The RAPCON has been able to adapt to increased civilian aircraft operations as the West Valley continues to grow and aircraft operations steadily increase in all surrounding airports.
 
The Airfield Operations Flight keeps Luke's jets flying safely and aircraft operations running smoothly. They are a significant part of our mission at Luke; training the world's greatest F-16 fighter pilots while deploying mission ready warfighters.