Ground radar techs enable control of tactical air battlespace

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BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq: Precision and attention to even the slightest detail is crucial when you're responsible for maintaining ground radar systems.

Providing 24-hours-a-day support, Airmen in the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron's ground radar shop ensure Balad's ground radar systems work flawlessly.

“Our job is to maintain two full AN/TPS-75 ground radar systems on base,” said Staff Sgt. Tyler Hand, 727th EACS ground radar systems supervisor, deployed from Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. “Our radar is capable of detecting aircraft, both friend and foe, up to 250 nautical miles away. It is one of the only three-dimensional radar systems in existence, and can detect objects up to 99,000 feet above the earth.”

Typical work for the shop includes daily inspections, lubrications, alignments and other preventative maintenance for the radar systems, Sergeant Hand said.

“We are responsible for troubleshooting and repairing any malfunctioning part in the system, which includes more than 7,200 separate parts,” he said. “These range from coolant systems, high voltage lines, motors, high power amplifiers, fans, relays and many circuit cards and micro-electronics.”

Sergeant Hand said that the radar's identification-friend or foe feature enables operations crews to control and monitor aircraft over Iraqi airspace with pin point precision as well as detect enemy aircraft.

“Hostile aircraft that do not respond to our radar's interrogation are still detected and tracked using five megawatts of power radiating in 360 degrees of rotation. We can see any object in the air: aircraft, weather patterns and even solar radiation patterns,” he said. “The transmitted power reflects off of anything in the air and reflects off the object, and comes back to us at either a lower or higher frequency, depending on the direction of the target.”

Sergeant Hand said that the ground radar shop maintains the “eyes of the pilots and generals.” With such a big responsibility, mistakes can't be made.

“Our radar is the looking glass through which the air missions are coordinated. We can't afford to perform inspections and system alignments half-heartedly,” he said.

The daily responsibilities also give Airmen assigned to the ground radar shop here a sense of purpose, said Senior Airman Adrienne Samora, a 727th EACS radar maintenance technician also deployed from Mountain Home.

“Our job is surveillance maintenance. Without us, aircraft can fly wherever they want. There would be a 'mess' in the sky,” Airman Samora said. “We're the only ones who do what we do out here.”

No matter the challenge, Sergeant Hand takes his job seriously because of what is at stake.

“When troops are in contact and bombs are dropping, we cannot allow our system to falter. Our mission requires both urgency and quality. The consequences would be devastating if either is neglected.”