Airfield managers protect runway, lives

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Brigitte N. Brantley-Sisk
  • 23rd Wing Public Affairs
MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. --  It's vital to ensure Moody's aircraft have a safe flightline to land on-- especially in support of the "Attack, Rescue, Protect" mission.

The safety of Moody's airfield depends upon the coordination and expertise of an 11-man team of airfield managers who serves here.

The members of the 23rd Operations Support Squadron airfield management team not only ensure everything on the 580-acre flightline is mission-ready, they also provide similar support downrange.

"When Moody was being built in the 1940s, the airfield was one of the first construction projects," said Lee Walters, 23rd OSS deputy airfield manager. "Because of that, the rest of the base was actually built around it. If you look at it that way, airfield managers are responsible for the heart of the installation."

Since the flightline is the hub of aircraft activity here, maintaining a high level of safety is paramount.

"Our goal is to provide a safe airfield to make sure the mission can be accomplished," said Master Sgt. Kerry Miller, 23rd OSS airfield manager. "We are aware of everything that happens on the flightline, which we refer to as the 'world's largest aircraft carrier.'"

In addition to safety, the airfield managers are also ready to respond to emergencies that may happen. Although they don't conduct operations 24 hours a day, they are always on standby.

"With any aircraft mishaps, we are one of the first responders," said Mr. Walters. "Also, in any weather conditions, we are in charge of making the call of whether the runway is wet or dry.

"This simple decision is completely responsible for how the pilot lands the aircraft," he added. "Making a wrong decision may cause the aircraft to slide off the flightline, possibly leading to injuries or worse."

To help prevent any kind of mishap, a full inspection is done every morning before the airfield is open.

"Our inspections are extremely in-depth and even go as far as checking that every light is operational," said Staff Sgt. Bryan Masters, 23rd OSS airfield management operations supervisor. "If we weren't effective at our jobs and failed to help the pilots maintain situational awareness of our airfield, there could be catastrophic results."

Maintaining the airfield is as equally important when it comes to working in deployed locations. Airfield management Airmen who are slated to deploy participate in the Air National Guard-sponsored Contingency Operations Workshop in order to better prepare to operate downrange.

"Both while deployed as well as at our home base, we can encounter lots of different situations in this job that sometimes require life or death decisions," said Sergeant Masters. "The course will expose us to unfamiliar scenarios and provide a wide variety of training about what may be expected. This helps us meet the demands of whatever airfield we manage when we deploy."

In addition to making the Airmen more effective while deployed, the knowledge is also beneficial to them while at home station.

"This course will help them expand their horizons and help them look at things with a different perspective," said Sergeant Miller. "It's proving more and more valuable as we are opening and sustaining bases in the Middle East. This new knowledge is being applied to real-world situations and is making a difference."

There are only approximately 750 individuals in the Air Force's airfield management career field and they are often assigned to forward operating bases with the U.S. Army.