Incirlik tower and RAPCON work together to keep skies safe

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Patrice Clarke
  • 39th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
Aircraft are always coming and going at Incirlik, despite the fact that the base doesn’t have any aircraft permanently assigned. In order to move aircraft in and out of Incirlik safely, they need the assistance of the 39th Operations Squadron and the air traffic controllers in the Radar Approach Control Center and the tower.

Together they control all the air traffic around the base. Like peanut butter and jelly or salt and pepper, the RAPCON and tower can’t do their job without each other.

“The most visual of the two entities is the tower,” said Senior Airman Zachary McFall, an air traffic controller working in the RAPCON. “When most people think of air traffic controllers, they immediately think of the tower, but the RAPCON is also essential.”

The tower looks out over the flightline, is more than seven stories in the sky and controls the runway, taxiways and parking spaces on the flightline. They also control five miles from the center of the runway and from the ground up to 3,000 feet.

“We talk to the pilots who come into our area no matter if they are landing, taking off or just passing through,” said Staff Sgt. William Ijames, control tower watch supervisor. “We are responsible for getting the jets off the runway and up in the air.”

Getting the jets off the runway requires a lot of coordination said Sergeant Ijames.

“Before any jet can depart, it has to be run through the Turkish Air Force who actually owns the runway,” he said.

The slowness of the air traffic, the frequency of the ground traffic and the difference in the aircraft makes this assignment different than the rest.

“Every base is different,” said Sergeant Ijames. “Controllers just have to adapt.”

All controllers who come here are able to control traffic on their own or are rated. Many of them come from bases where the air traffic is a lot heavier than Incirlik.

“When they first arrive they don’t automatically get to control traffic,” said Sergeant Ijames.

Many new controllers must get adapted to the area, the tower and even the type of jets the tower controls. They have to go through special training that is base specific.

“A controller who was working with KC-135s at their last base has a lot to learn about controlling traffic at a fighter base,” he said.

To the controllers in the tower, it’s really just a day-to-day job, said Sergeant Ijames.

“In our job there is always something different going on. Every day is different than the next,” he said. “You have to be able to think on your feet no matter what. If there are two jets coming at each other, a controller needs to know what to do and do it without hesitation.”

“When it comes to air traffic, the base isn’t that busy, but the traffic and construction make it challenging to a controller,” said Master Sgt. Stewart Williams, the tower chief controller. “But we love the challenge like a pilot likes to fly.”

Like a relay race, once a jet takes off, the tower hands off the controls to the RAPCON.

“Our main job is to take the hand off from the tower and help the jets get to their destination. The scenario starts with a pilot about to take off talking to the tower, once the jet has left the ground the RAPCON takes over from there and when the jet is coming back to land, they speak to RAPCON who hands it back to the tower.

Many of the same issues that face the tower also face the RAPCON.

“It is harder to go from a base with little traffic to a base with more traffic,” said Staff Sgt. Sharon Minney, an air traffic controller in the RAPCON.

Controllers who work in the RAPCON learn local issues before being allowed to control traffic on their own.

“We had our radar system go down,” said Airman McFall. “We had to control the skies in the dark using navigational aides, charts, and mathematical means. It was like controlling the freeway in a small dark closet. But we did it and will do it every time.”

Like that peanut butter and jelly sandwich, the tower would be incomplete without the RAPCON and vice versa.