Commanding the Aircraft. . . What's it all about?

Mobility Forum, Mar/Apr 2004 by Meintel, Julie

To paraphrase a very famous quote from Abraham Lincoln, you can please some of the people some of the time, but you can't please all of the people all of the time...or something to that effect. As an aircraft commander, though, taking care of many assignments is at the top of your job description. You must not only fly the airplane, but you are ultimately responsible for the safe accomplishment of the mission and the welfare of the crew. That's a pretty tall order. There is even a five-week course taught by the 445th FTU at Wright-Patterson AFB, OH that is devoted to teaching pilots all the ins and outs of being an Aircraft Commander.

According to Lt. Col. Matthew Meintel, Chief Pilot for the 445th Formal Training Unit, the biggest hurdle facing most new aircraft commanders is learning to say no.

"Standing up to the pressure of the system to move the mission at any cost can be very difficult for a brand-new aircraft commander. They are generally so eager to prove themselves and prove that they are up to the challenge, they can sometimes forget to consider other factors that will affect the mission, as well as the crew."

A few of these other factors include long crew duty days, the adequacy of crew rest facilities, availability of crew meals, airfield operating hours, weather-most of which are within the control of the aircraft commander. Mission accomplishment is, of course, very important; it's the mission is the reason we are all here. But if it can't be done safely, then it only makes sense to find another way to do it. Safety helps ensure mission success.

Thorough planning is a key element to a successful mission, and the aircraft commander (AC) must be familiar with all the details of the mission. At the same time, the AC must be flexible enough to go with the flow when things change in the middle of a mission. Much of the planning is automated and computer-generated at this point, with computer flight plans that are automatically filed and weather reports that are printed out every hour or so. "Frags" (mission itineraries that are pulled from a computer database in advance) and NOTAMs are available on the Internet. Still, it falls to the AC to ensure the accuracy of all the data and to double-check things such as diplomatic clearances, which are required to enter foreign airspace.

The complexity of the air traffic control, or ATC, environment can be daunting to an inexperienced aircraft commander. It is almost a foreign language of its own, using call signs, acronyms and abbreviations...and it is very fast-paced. It can be difficult at times to understand what ATC is telling you and it is easy to miss an important instruction - and that's on a good day stateside! Throw in a language barrier, thick foreign accent or poor radio reception and it can be disastrous. Proper procedure dictates that the pilot not actively flying the aircraft will be the one communicating with ground agencies and ATC. But it is always wise to have a second set of ears to verify the instructions and clearances received, especially if there is any doubt as to what those instructions consist of.

In addition to dealing with and understanding ATC, another ground agency that AC's must work with is known as command and control, or command post. Command post is a central point of contact that disseminates information to crews and coordinates with all the other ground agencies that are involved with moving a mission, such as maintenance, life support, fleet service, passenger terminal and ATOC (Air Terminal Operations Center). ATOC is responsible for cargo load planning and working with aircraft loadmasters to get cargo loaded for transport. Special requests, such as an early takeoff, or a request to overfly a station on the itinerary when there is no need to stop there, must all go through command post. The aircraft commander is the one who must go to command post to ask for the changes, and tact and diplomacy will often serve him or her well.

While we're on the topic of tact and diplomacy, establishing and keeping credibility with the crew is absolutely paramount. Most airlift aircrews are comprised of at least four or five people and can be as large as twenty or thirty, if you count aeromedical crewmembers. When you are in charge of that many people, it is unlikely you will be able to accommodate everyone's wishes. So, the AC often acts as a mediator, trying to defuse potential hiccups before they have the chance to evolve into major problems. The AC ultimately must do what is best for the entire crew and for the mission, and unfortunately that sometimes means that someone is going to be unhappy with an AC's decision. The aircraft commander must make sound decisions, usually under a time crunch, and they are not always the popular choices. However, an AC that can articulate to the crew why an unpopular decision has been made will move a long way in the credibility arena. The job of the AC is to move the mission safely, while reasonably accommodating crew wishes when possible.