AROUND TINKER: Wildcatter Award Published June 12, 2015 By 72nd Air Base Wing TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Tinker Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems Team, with the 72nd Operations Support Squadron, recently received a team Wildcatter Award. Team members are Dave Kellam, Bill Welsh, Tracey Hogan and Ken Snow. The ATCALS Team directly enables and assists the 72nd Air Base Wing's Strategic Plan Goal to "sustain 24/7 operations and 100 percent airfield systems availability." They accomplish this goal through diligent maintenance and management of more than a dozen critical aircraft navigational aids and meteorological systems. This includes maintaining those systems vital to supporting continuous airfield operations despite Central Oklahoma's ever-changing weather environment. They were the first ATCALS Team in the U.S. Air Force to take ownership and maintain the fiber optic based SMART Blade Radio System for the Air Traffic Control Tower. Moreover, they uphold a strong working relationship with HQ Air Force Flight Standards Agency's Remote Maintenance Center, and remain on call round the clock for response to any outages or to apply "hands-on" maintenance to any system in need. The team aced a recent ABW/IG inspection. In March, the IG determined that all ATCALS related checklists, AFI requirements and volumes of technical order mandates were in full compliance without annotating a single discrepancy. This inspection provided further evidence of this seasoned Team's expertise and dedication to maintaining a safe operating environment for all Team Tinker flying units and transient aircraft customers.