Control tower visit

Military members from Kazakhstan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan listen to U. S. State Department interpreter Alan French give the Russian translation about Tinker’s air traffic control tower simulator during a June 17 tour. Tinker’s tower simulator administrator Dave Melton, left, guided the tower tour. (Air Force photo by Margo Wright)

Foreign air traffic controllers visit Tinker's operations

Published June 27, 2008
By Brandice J. Armstrong
Tinker Public Affairs

TINKER AIR FORCE BASE -- Tinker enhanced allied relations with four foreign countries June 17-19.
   Twenty military air traffic controller officers from Kazakhstan, Turkmenistan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan visited three Tinker units to see how the U.S. Air Force operates its air traffic control tower and to compare operating styles.
   "We Want to build relations between Central Asian air traffic controllers and U.S. air traffic controllers," said Capt. Randal Allen, Kyrgyzstan and Lebanon desk officer at Shaw Air Force Base's U.S. Air Force Central in South Carolina, and organizer of the event. "We also wanted to give them an appreciation of the way the U.S. does air traffic control business, and we wanted our U.S. controllers to learn how the Central Asian controllers operate."
   During their three-day visit, the foreign air traffic controllers visited the 72nd Operations Support Squadron's Airfield Operations Flight, the Air Force Flight Standards Agency, the 3rd Combat Communications Group, and the Federal Aviation Administration in Oklahoma City.
   Capt. Takhmina Khayrulloeva with the Ministry of Defense for Tajikistan said she was impressed with the organization of the event.
   "I'm impressed with the level of detail we're acquiring," she said, after she had seen the 72nd OSS's Air Traffic Control simulator in use.
   The visit was sponsored by USAFCENT's military-to-military security cooperation engagement program.