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SULLIVAN BARRACKS, Germany — Members of the 4th Air Support Operations Squadron, along with members from the U.K. Air Support Operations Center and the 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano Air Base, Italy, participated in a weeklong exercise March 7 to 11 in preparation for an upcoming deployment.
The 4th ASOS, which is part of the 435th Air Ground Operations Wing, supports ground forces by tasking, coordinating and controlling close air support, air interdiction and tactical air reconnaissance sorties.
“We stood up an air support operations center for this exercise,” said Capt. Mathew Starck, 4th ASOS fighter duty officer. “The job of the ASOC is to allocate all the close air support aircraft in theater out to the joint terminal attack controllers.”
In the spirit of “train as you fight,” the 4th ASOS invited some of its British counterparts to participate.
“Downrange we work with those guys all the time, but it seems like we never train with them,” Captain Starck said. “So what we wanted to do is get some pre-deployment training with the guys we are going to be working with. These are the very guys our squadron is going to be working with downrange, so this is good spin-up training.”
The British airmen welcomed the opportunity to train with their American colleagues.
“For two countries that are so close, we are so different,” said Flight Lt. Phil Druce, U.K. ASOC tactical air director. “This exercise is a great opportunity to train alongside our American colleagues whom we’ll actually be working with in theater.”
Another unique focus of the exercise was a relatively new technology called Link 16.
Link 16 is a secure, high-speed digital data link enabling military aircraft and ground forces to exchange information in near-real time. Participants gain situational awareness by continuously exchanging data, allowing them to see the battle space electronically, including the exact location of aircraft, ships, and friendly and enemy forces.
“It’s been about a year since I was downrange last, and the digital technology was just starting to come into play,” Captain Starck said. “Historically, air and ground forces relied on radios to communicate, which isn’t always reliable and can be time consuming.”
The digital link can also be used to send secure instant messages.
“The controller types in a message of where a particular plane needs to go, who the pilot needs to contact and what type of mission it is going to be,” he said.
Seconds later the message pops up on a display in the cockpit and can even be saved for later viewing, instantly giving the pilot valuable information, he added.
“From (the pilot’s) perspective, it gives us an enhanced situational awareness,” said Maj. Michael Roberson, 555th FS assistant director of operations. “This way we don’t have to wait for radio relays or chance possible poor communication to pass time sensitive information. We get the information displayed inside the cockpit, and instead of us having to roll over frequencies and talk to someone on a radio that may or may not work, we now immediately have the information we need.”
This also enhances the JTAC’s effectiveness.
“I’m now able to send the aircraft the target location and all of the specific information needed for the attack without even talking on the radio,” said Master Sgt. Timothy Ryan, 4th ASOS JTAC. “From 20 to 30 nautical miles out, (the pilot) can then queue his sensors to these locations and begin building situational awareness before he even gets into the area. And using some of the targeting pods they have he can be looking at the lay of the land as he’s flying in.”
Practicing this technology in a joint environment will prove valuable in the theater, Lieutenant Druce said.
“With this digital technology, we are saving vital seconds and minutes in theater when ultimately the people we are there to support, the forces on the ground, are getting shot at,” he said. “We can get an aircraft there quicker, be it a couple of seconds or a couple of minutes, but a couple of seconds can be the difference of someone’s life.”
