OPERATION FALCONER
Masters of communication

By CPL Ben Wright
“Hi mum, it’s me” – words that many love to hear, but very few realise just what goes into making it possible.

1CCS technicians work on the TACAN in 45-degree heat in full combat body armour required at BIAP. The control tower is in the background at right. Photo by FLTLT Anna Walmsley

Leading Aircraftman Daniel Fisher inspects the 1CCS Fibre Optic Modem installed in a battle-damaged room in the air traffic control tower at Baghdad International Airport. Photo by CPL Ben Wright

Corporal Simon Arnold unloads a 1CCS 16 KVA Generator after its arrival at Baghdad International Airport. Photo by CPL Ben Wright

Mail makes day Apart from the phone, a vital line of communication is the bag loads of mail that arrive from home, as shown here. Mail day at Baghdad is a very high morale day that everyone looks forward to. Photo by LAC Steven Gaudie

The Royal Australian Air Force-led Air Traffic Control element at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) is yet another operational theatre in which members of No. 1 Combat Communications Squadron have deployed.

As usual they have displayed their expertise and professionalism when delivering a communications capability.
The communications flight at BIAP is tasked to provide and maintain six independent systems each comprising numerous circuits and networks.

These not only include the tower and the more traditional communications centre and telephones, but high-tech satellite links for the Defence network, as well as the TACAN.

The TACAN is a RAAF-provided navigational aid, without which civilian aircraft would not be able to land in Baghdad. If the airctaft could not land, it would cut the supply of humanitarian aid to the Iraqi people.

	Welcome back and well done
	CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston attends the 381ECSS welcome home event at RAAF Base Williamtown where personnel deployed on Operation Falconer were thanked for their contributions. Here he congratulates Sergeant Michael McDonnell, watched by Corporal Andrea McDonnell.
	Flight Sergeant Andrew Briant is interviewed by a journalist. Photos by LAC Steven Duncan

Although the air traffic control tower could not function without these systems, perhaps the most valued service to the troops is the ability to be able to pick up a telephone and call home to Australia – a luxury one only begins to appreciate when it’s not there.

Throughout Operation Falconer, 1CCS has had almost 50 per cent of the squadron deployed at any one time. Before too long it is likely that almost 75 per cent of the squadron would have done a tour of duty in the Middle East.

Often at short notice, 1CCS has been able to answer the call and bring personnel and systems on-line for deployment to four different operating locations across the MEAO.

The squadron’s high operational readiness status has without doubt paid dividends for the Air Force.

Since September 2001, 1CCS has continually had members deployed in support of ADF operations including Relex, Slipper and Bastille. And there are still squadron members serving in East Timor.

On his recent visit to the MEAO, CAF Air Marshal Angus Houston congratulated members of 1CCS for their high rate of effort and level of performance during the operation. Squadron members pointed out to CAF that their unofficial unit motto is “No comms, no bombs”.
The 1CCS detachment in Iraq is made up of communications electronics technicians, communications and information systems controllers and a ground support equipment fitter under the command of an electrical engineer.

In April, 1CCS was presented with its Governor-General’s Banner in recognition of 25 years of continuous service to the Air Force.

 

Engineers on the job

By FLTLT Christine Bradley
THE Air Force’s airfield engineers are no strangers to the challenges of deployments, however the facilities at Baghdad International Airport (BIAP) have certainly kept them busy.

Corporal Paul Kurmass, a plumber with the Air Traffic Control Detachment in Baghdad, does his routine checks in the service tunnels underneath the air traffic control tower.

Electricians Leading Aircraftman Aaron Denmeade and Corporal Dave Clews, above, work on an airconditioner from the operations building and, below, Leading Aircraftman Ben Adams, a carpenter, provides shelving for essential medical equipment.

When they arrived in April the air traffic control tower and the adjacent multi-storey operations building were in an advanced state of disrepair with many years of deterioration having taken their toll. There was limited power running and very little else – a job to make the most determined renovator’s hair curl.

However, this is where you need to bring in the specialists such as the airfield engineers.

Flight Lieutenant Danny Cusack, along with his team of electricians, plumbers and a carpenter, have been putting their skills and ingenuity to the test to turn the tower and the operations building into a place of both work and “home” for the Air Traffic Control Detachment.

The improvement has been gradual but as one air traffic controller said, “Day by day there is another step forward that makes it a bit easier for everyone.”

The job was not only large, but also complicated by the fact that when the engineers went to work the contingent was already in location.

As Leading Aircraftman Aaron Denmeade, an electrician with the AFENG section, said, “The family was already in the house before it was built!”

The tradesmen have also had to work around the challenges of tools and materials. In most cases replacement parts or fittings simply don’t exist and many tasks require specialist tools.

However, they say adversity is the mother of invention and there has been a lot of that.

For instance, valves and taps which were frozen open risked being broken if they were turned too hard and if this happened there were no replacements. Instead the plumbers, Corporal Paul Kurmass and Leading Aircraftman Wayne Hohn, isolated one half of the building and salvaged the parts from the area to reconstruct the remaining half.

Power is another basic service that isn’t normally noticed day to day – except when it isn’t there. The electricians worked their magic to restore the supply.

Corporal David Clews, an electrician with the ATC Detachment, said, “We really are dependent on electricity. It’s a given at home that when you turn on a light switch or your computer, that it works. We can’t go to war or away on deployment without computers or communications equipment now, and they need power.”

With temperatures climbing by the day, combined with shift workers who need their sleep and electronic equipment that needs a cool operating environment, the airfield engineers have worked to restore airconditioning to as many areas as possible.

The carpenter, Leading Aircraftman Ben Adams, has also been in much demand to adapt or mend the facilities and furniture. Broken windows, doors and airconditioners have all required his attention, and equipment from the medical officer’s oxyviva to the operations room rifles have needed safe storage racks and shelving.

The work of the airfield engineers with the ATC Detachment is far from over and much is still uncertain about the rebuilding of Iraq post-Hussein and his regime, but one thing is certain – every day the air traffic control facilities at BIAP will be improved thanks to the work of the airfield engineers.

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