Found in translation

By Corporal Simone Liebelt

FLGOFF Nick Bird (standing) and FLGOFF Nigel Coey watch the skies from the RAAF Base Tindal control tower during Exercise Southern Frontier.

Photo by CPL Simone Liebelt.

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* Air traffic controllers at RAAF Base Tindal had to adapt to some different terminology when communicating with US aviators during Excercise Southern Frontier.

FOR the air traffic controllers at RAAF Base Tindal, there was no Top Gun jargon to contend with while working with the US Marines during Exercise Southern Frontier.

“The Marines do use different lingo to us; theirs is more conversational at times,” said Squadron Leader Alan Cooper, No. 44 Wing Detachment Commander.

“However, because their operations are similar if not the same as ours, we were able to easily adapt to their lingo and control them safely.”

Junior controllers Flying Officers Nick Bird and Nigel Coey – who were working 10-to-12-hour days to support the extra flying operations – explained what it was like on the other end of the line.

“This was the second time for us that we’d seen the Marines operate here, so we’re pretty used to them now,” Flying Officer Bird said.

“It helps that they were operating the same kind of aircraft, because we get used to hearing certain things and understand what’s going on.

“Some of the things they said were a bit non-standard, but we spoke the same language and our communication was pretty good, so generally we understood each other and wasn’t a problem.”

Flying Officer Coey said, “Last year I heard a lot more of [their terminology]. For example, instead of saying ‘base’, they would say ‘at the ninety’,” he said.

“Also, the use of the term ‘numbers’ was a bit unusual, but then I picked up that it meant two things, depending on what they were doing at the time.

“This year, it seemed like they were trying to do exactly what we do, but blending it in [with their own way of operating]. You worked it out eventually, so it was all good.”

Squadron Leader Alan Cooper added, “they were always very polite, including ‘thank you ma’am or sir’ in their calls, depending on the voice, and when they weren’t sure of something that we said, there was a silence followed by ‘say again please’.”

He said one of the more interesting terms they used was, ‘good gear’, or ‘boots on and laced’, as one pilot put it, meaning the wheels are down and locked.

Despite the differences, the Marines adapted well to our way of business, according to Flying Officer Bird.

“They flew in from Japan on the Thursday after operating in Japanese airspace, and then wanted to operate in our airspace on the Monday, so we asked them to change a lot of their procedures in a very quick timeframe, so they did pretty good,” he said.

“The traffic density only went up slightly, but it certainly lengthened our day.”

 

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