Balad: three players, one goal: forces work together for common mission

Airman, Sept, 2004 by Chuck Roberts

At Balad Air Base, jointness isn't a concept explored by Pentagon planners. At this hotbed in the middle of Iraq, where mortar attacks have become almost commonplace, Airmen and Soldiers live and work alongside each other--and have discovered it's not only a better way of doing business, but they like it, too.

"Here at Balad, we are just a speck of blue in a sea of green," said Col. William "Goose" Changoose shortly before his deployment ended in June as commander of the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Group, Balad. Also known as Logistics Staging Area Anaconda by the Army, the base is home to approximately 2,000 Airmen and more than 20,000 Soldiers, plus a small contingent of Marines.

The operations group combines Airmen, Soldiers and Marines who control a mix of aircraft--F-16 Fighting Falcons, the MQ-I Predator, Army and Air Force helicopters, Army C-23 Sherpa aircraft and the steady flow of cargo aircraft that feed this primary logistics hub for Iraq.

"None of us could do it by ourselves," the colonel said.

"You kind of leave the services at the door and bring the mission forward," said Staff Sgt. Chris Floyd, an air traffic controller with the 332nd Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron. "We're like two pieces to a puzzle that make up the whole and get the mission done."

Operating without the benefit of radar while having to contend with Army helicopters for the first time, Sergeant Floyd said he was fortunate to work alongside Army counterparts such as Sgt. Terry Homer, an air traffic control specialist from the 3rd Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment at Katterbach Army Airfield, Germany.

"There are so many complexities here," Sergeant Floyd said of unexpected Army occurrences such as flares that can light up the sky during night-time blackout conditions. "My reaction was, 'Mg God!' until Sergeant Homer told me 'It's just the Army shooting flares so they can see.'"

And when the base is under attack by mortars or rockets, Sergeant Homer puts his Soldier skills to work to help Airmen in the tower identify whether they're incoming or outbound. Another benefit of the Army sergeant is that he'll be on duty for a year to provide invaluable continuity to Airmen rotating in and out on 90- and 120-day deployments.

For his part, Sergeant Homer said he was impressed with the structured Air Force training that allows controllers to quickly acclimate to their jobs, and by the professionalism displayed by wholeheartedly embracing joint duty in the tower.

In addition to working together, Sergeant Homer and approximately 20 other Soldiers live in the Air Force tent city where he said life is "nice and neat" and features a few more amenities than typically found on the Army side. Their presence has drawn a few double-takes and salutes from younger Airmen, as well as the usual jokes such as, "Are you ready to step into the blue?"

Another "purple" operation, as joint endeavors are often referred to, can be found at the 332nd Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron. Its Airmen work alongside Soldiers and Marines, downloading cargo from arriving flights and trucking or flying it to other locations. Sometimes they arrive with an added surprise.

Soon after learning about a short-notice shipment of ammunition arriving for the Marines in April, a Marine Air Cargo Handling Team unexpectedly showed up on the doorstep of the Air Force aerial port flight, said Maj. Sue Harris, logistics readiness squadron commander. After a few days of unsuccessfully trying to work out procedures, such as who would handle aircraft offload, "we finally got in one room for two hours and hashed it out. We were singing kumbaya by the time we walked out the door," she said laughing.

But in the field, those situations are to be expected and Major Harris said she loves working with her sister services and being forced to "think outside the box."

"You've got to sometimes let go of doctrine and say, 'OK, let's get this done and agree on a way to do the job," the major said.

That was the case with Tech. Sgt. Michael Russell, dayshift flight chief for the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Flight. After a mortar attack, impact areas must be quickly located to determine the point of origin. Only Soldiers were crater analysis certified, but they weren't In a good position to respond as quickly as Airmen to incidents occurring on the runway. The solution--an impromptu Army crater analysis class for Air Force security forces.

The joint effort paid off. After one attack, an Airman responded to the impact site within a minute, determined the point of origin, and provided the information to Soldiers, who quickly apprehended a suspect. The man tested positive for traces of explosive compounds on his body.

Sergeant Russell said he has developed a better understanding and appreciation for the Army way of doing business, where he sees a stricter adherence to the manual. But he sees the value of living and working with the Army and the sheer number of people and equipment it deploys with. And he's happy to be living with Soldiers who are "more acclimated to live in the dirt" where they've learned an abundance of survival skills they're ready to share.