Above: SSgt. Jacobson is hunkered down in a defensive fightin position during the Amedee exercise. She is an air traffic controller. Photo by TSgt. Nick Choy, Oregon Air National Guard.

Above: SSgt. Kimber Swift peers through binoculars at an approaching aircraft. Swift spent several months performing air traffic control duties in Afghanistan in 2001-2002. Photo provided by the 173rd Communications Flight, Oregon ANG, Klamath Falls, Ore.

Above: SSgt. Justin Wright uses a signal gun to communicate with an aircraft on final approach. During 2002, Wright spent several months in Pakistan operating out of a field air traffic control tower. Photo provided by the 173rd Communications Flight, Oregon ANG, Klamath Falls, Ore.

Above and below: SrA Crystal Thornton talks via the radio to a pilot of an approaching aircraft. Thornton deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan in 2003 for eight months in support of air traffic control field operations. She was also the Airman of the Year for the Oregon Air National Guard in 2003. Photos provided by the 173rd Communications Flight, Oregon ANG, Klamath Falls, Ore

Photo provided by the Oregon ANG.

There’s a group of national guardsmen who tower above their military counterparts. That’s because the members of the 270th Air Traffic Control Squadron (ATCS) of the Oregon Air National Guard, work out their mission by staffing and operating the Kingsley Air Traffic Control Tower and the Kingsley Radar Approach Control Facility in Klamath Falls, Ore. The professionals of this group hover above runways making sure that aircraft landing and leaving airport facilities do so safely and efficiently.

The 270th includes 80 members that make up of two separate units. One section is the air traffic controllers; the other is the maintenance section which cares for the equipment that goes along with the unit so the guardsmen can do their jobs. The equipment includes generators, mobile towers and a ground control approach radar system housed in a semi-truck.

“You either hate this job or you love it,” said Senior Airman Pablo Sanchez, 22, a four-year member of the 270th. “There’s no middle ground. There is nothing else I would rather do. As a matter of fact, when I joined (the Air National Guard) I planned on pursuing a psychology degree. Once I got into air traffic I scrubbed those plans. I don’t know how to explain it, because it is something that you have to experience for yourself. Yes, it can be stressful, and events do happen, but overall it is a very rewarding career.”

Fellow Senior Airman Crystal Thornton loves her career as well.

“It can be stressful at times, but there is just something about it,” Thornton explained. “You are in control of the situation and making everything work. I like things to be challenging and air traffic control is challenging every day. Sure, there are times when you get nervous, but I love it, although I can’t really put into words why I love it so much.”

Both airmen attended school for approximately four months. After the formal in-classroom training ended, Sanchez and Thornton participated in on-the-job training.

The on-the-job training can take anywhere from six months to a year and is completed with formal certification.

“There’s a lot of training,” Thornton noted. “Actually I don’t think it ever stops.”

Lt. Col. Timothy Halderman, 47, who is doing his second stint with the Oregon Air National Guard, explained that the 270th’s reputation as a group of well-trained professionals preceded them.

“Our unit was formed in 1995 and almost before we stood up we were out the door and deployed in support of missions in the Kosovo conflict,” Halderman noted. “We were one of the first units there to work with the air traffic. Why did I come back? Because I respected all the people who were here. And I wanted to be a part of that again.”

When called upon, the 270th takes their mission — to provide allweather air traffic operations from a fixed facility or bare base — on the road. Members of the group have been deployed for a variety of missions in the last two years both stateside and abroad.

Here in the United States, the 270th’s air traffic controllers filled manning shortfalls during increased military operations, post 9/11, at Travis AFB in California as well as Grand Forks AFB, N.D.; Shaw AFB, S.C., and others.

The squadron, which is combat-ready, also set up and operated deployed air traffic control and landing systems at three sites in Afghanistan and Pakistan, in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. The length of their deployments varied from 120 to 180 days.

Halderman noted that the 270th is vital to the day-to-day transportation needs of their corner of this country as well as to military operations domestically and internationally. The 270th’s latest deployment, though not as a group, is for OIF.

“You gotta get stuff, things and people there (to the Middle East),” Halderman said. “These aircraft have to land and they have to land safely and we’re the ones that help them do that. The best way to stay true to our mission is to stand up existing airfields, no matter where we are, and operate what is already there.”

Both Sanchez and Thornton were both deployed in support of Operation Iraqi Freedom. Both looked at it as an opportunity to improve their skills as air traffic controllers.

“In Iraq, the airspace was considerably larger than what we deal with here,” explained Sanchez, who is on the radar side of the tower. “To put it into reference, here in Klamath Falls, we have about 50 operations a day on the radar side of the house in about an eight hour period. When I was deployed, we would have anywhere from 75 to 150 operations per hour. Planes going in, planes flying over, planes flying out. Some of them, of course, were being fired on. Basically, it wasn’t air traffic in the United States. The learning curve over there is pretty steep and you just have to do the best you can.”

“There are different stress levels over there,” Thornton added. “There, aircraft are different. The airport is different. You are working with a different group of people because it’s possible that you could deploy with a few people from your unit or no one at all. It’s the same job, but a totally different outlook over there. And you need to learn all of this new, different stuff as quickly as possible.”

“Being deployed is just part of the job and I think 99 percent of the guys and gals see it that way,” Halderman added. “You may not think it is going to happen (deployment), but you signed on the line and just about everybody will say ‘yes, sir’ when asked to serve.”

“I am pretty excited to go back,” Sanchez said about his pending deployment. “Duty has a lot to do with it and so does (gaining) experience. The more places you have been, the more you’ve experienced, the less likely something down the road is going to catch you off guard (with your job). You know if you can do it overseas, then you can do it anywhere because the environment is so dynamic.”

Sanchez, who was deployed last year for only a month, and Thornton, who recently spent a little over a year in the Middle East, felt that their positive experience had a lot to do with the fact that they are both in their early 20s and unattached. They also viewed their time away as an adventure, another opportunity, to grow as a guardsman and as a person.

“Being there was much more stressful for my married counterparts with kids than me,” said Thornton, who was named 2003 Airman of the Year and 2003 Air Traffic Controller of the Year. “I was afraid when I first left, but once I arrived I was okay. Once I was there, I just looked at it as an extreme adventure and if I was asked to go back I would. While there, I worked with some of the best people. It was awesome. Plus, I learned things over there that no one can take away from me, both professionally or personally. My deployment was an eye opener in so many ways.”

When not deployed, members of the 270th stay true to their mission through continuous training at Kingsley Airfield. Members of the Oregon Air National Guard as well as civilian employees of the 270th, are always training to sharpen their skills or learn the latest in technology. The learning curve, according to Halderman, is steep.

“This is a pretty stressful job,” Halderman noted. “You have a lot of people’s lives in your hands. And when the guys are deployed they get even sharper.”

“This is our business, this is what we do,” Halderman said.