Continued...
Controlled
descent
By
FLTLT Christine Bradley
 |
|
Sergeant
Glenn Nelson, an Army Ground Liaison Officer at RAAF Base
Williamtown, discusses mission planning with two No. 3 Squadron
F/A-18 pilots.
|
|
Photo
by CPL Mark Eaton
|
| |
 |
|
Squadron
Leader Andrew Bryant and Leading Aircraftwoman Courtney
Nottle share a joke while working in the medical tent at
St Lawrence Airfield.
|
|
Photo
by PTE John Wellfare
|
ASK
anyone to jump out of a perfectly good aircraft and they’d
say you were crazy.
Not so for two Air Traffic Controllers (ATCs), Flight Lieutenant
Paul Murphy and Flying Officer Nick Leseberg, who jumped from
the safe confines of a Hercules alongside paratroopers from 3RAR
during Croc 03.
FLTLT Murphy and FLGOFF Leseberg formed the Mobile Airspace Element
(MACE) for the Parachute Battalion Group, which included more
than 350 paratroopers, a formation of eight Hercules, A Field
Battery with Hamel guns, Signal Squadron, and surgical and resuscitation
teams.
No. 44 Wing maintains at least four ATCs as parachute qualified,
with two of these ready to be called in at any time.
With stiff competition for the positions the pair reflected on
what it was that made them take the plunge.
“I like it because it is something really different –
a long way from the environment that we usually work in,”
FLGOFF Leseberg said. FLTLT Murphy added: “It has its moments
and it’s pretty intense during the lead up.”
Once into the drop zone the ATCs went straight in to action to
set up radio contact with other control agencies and aircraft
in the area.
FLGOFF Leseberg said the pair had input into how the airspace
was set up for the exercise so that the artillery, fast jets,
helicopters and tactical air transport were “kept well out
of each other’s way”.
Jumping as part of a Parachute Battalion Group wasn’t something
to be taken lightly.
“We started planning the airspace management and briefings
a few months ago but it also takes a while to prepare all your
equipment and make sure you’re in physical condition for
something like this,” FLTLT Murphy said.
While the MACE team mainly provided airspace control for the exercise,
the Air Force’s ATCs have also become well known for their
role as Mobile Air Operations Teams, running remote airfields
in East Timor and Iraq.
BACK
