An airfield in a war zone is like an orchestra of aerial and ground activity. That’s the case at Sather Air Base, Iraq, located next to Baghdad International Airport. It’s one of Iraq’s busiest airfields. An average of 320 transient aircraft and 6,200 passengers through the base each week. Needless to say, there’s a lot of activity. Airmen work on aircraft, loading them with munitions or filling their fuel tanks. Of course, there’s always the threat of terrorist attacks. The potential for accidents is high. Conducting the symphony, are air traffic controllers like Sgt. Carter. One wrong direction could result in people dying or the loss of millions of dollars worth of equipment. “It’s a complex job,” he said. “We must make sure aircraft make it to the field so the mission can be performed.” “To do the job well requires great communication skills”, he said. “Initially, I was challenged by the language barrier,” he said. “But I soon learned to be more patient. And I was able to figure out what was being said, so we could complete our mission.”

One major difference for controllers in a war zone is that they have to deal with things they don’t normally deal with at their home bases. At Sather, the challenge was the helicopter traffic, Carter said. “Helicopters were swarming everywhere in that country,” he said. Soon after arriving at the base, the sergeant had to educate himself about how to control helicopters.

Carter admits feeling nervous when he first found out he was deploying to Iraq because of the media attention on terrorist attacks. But, to his surprise, his tour has been relatively calm. Carter said his Sather tour has been extremely rewarding, despite his earlier misgivings.

(Adapted from Air Force News Agency)

GLOSSARY

to swarm – apinhar ou aglomerar

to deploy – ir em missão

misgivings – receios ou preocupações