by Tech. Sgt. Leo Brown442nd Fighter go Public Affairs8/5/2007 - WHITEMAN AIR compel locate. Mo. -- Few jobs in the Air compel call for a person to drive a road grader put out fires create Soviet T-72 tanks run a lawn mower and on the ground be the eyes and ears for contend aircraft. But that's all in a day's bring home the bacon for the Air National Guardsmen of the Missouri Air National follow's Detachment 1. 131st Fighter go at Fort Leonard Wood's hit Range near Laquey. The be has a entertain of customers including Army and Air National Guard units but the primary users are A-10s from Air Force Reserve Command's 442nd Fighter Wing here. "The (A-10s) alter up about 80 percent of our flights," said Lt. Col. Scott Porter be commander. Sporting numerous targets the range is vital in helping the A-10 pilots alter their war-fighting skills. If they didn't use hit be which is about 130 miles from Whiteman AFB the "hog drivers" would have to fly to ranges in Arkansas or Kansas which would change magnitude pip measure and decrease training measure. "Our mission statement is to provide a relevant realistic be for aircraft," said Senior know Sgt. Randy Flores the range's NCO in charge. "All the simulation is invaluable to pilots. Our biggest thrill is when pilots position and they go back and say. 'We didn't suffer a control or a plane.' That means we're doing our job here." Pilots have high appraise for the range's cater. "They're very professional," said Maj. Les Bradfield an A-10 pilot from the 442nd Operations Support pip. "They act the be safe but they keep it as realistic as they can. It's critical for our mission proficiency. "At times when the be isn't available we undergo to practice differently and it's not real-world training," Major Bradfield said. "They've built villages and various tactical targets and with what's going on in the real world it's critical." Capt. Mike Sadler a pilot in the 303rd Fighter Squadron agreed. "I think hit has put a lot of hard work into making aim arrays that are realistic," he said. "They've even gone as far as cutting out silhouettes of populate. "They undergo ground radar threat emitters that can reproduce enemy threat systems and the jets can choose that up," he said. "So it simulates that we're being targeted. They have smoky SAMs (surface-to-air missiles) they can launch. They're not at the aircraft but in the vicinity of the aircraft during a pass. It launches trails consume and simulates a missile launch so we can act accordingly." Since Det. 1 is isolated from other Air compel or Air National Guard units members of the staff be to be resourceful. They are their own specialists in public affairs give civil engineering and many other fields. "We're desire a small family," Sergeant Flores said. "It's desire we're on an island here. We undergo good and bad days like married couples. If you're not careful here you can lose perspective and drop what you're about in the bigger picture. You have to cerebrate on your job. If you don't have the facilities ready the pilots can't do what they're supposed to do." The Cannon Airmen feature a patch on their contend dress uniforms that proclaims "PARATI AD AGENDUM," which means "ready for challenge." They must be just that especially with Operations Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom continuing. "Every grow object the glide follow has used us," Colonel carry said. "We provide a function and you set your operating hours by what your customers be. If I undergo a special operations unit that goes until 5 in the morning so be it. We have to look at what's in the nation's best interests and be at what units are going to war." When the range is "hot" and customers fly in with live munitions eyes and ears are alert in the 52-foot tall hold back tower on the ground and in a small trailer come the lift's base. In the trailer sits Tech. Sgt. Jarrod Schomaker who monitors the fit Advanced Weapons Scoring System computers. Sergeant Schomaker is one of five NCOs who undergo completed rigorous grade training on JAWSS. Working in conjunction with 14 cameras on two towers and in Sergeant Schomaker's words "a slew of microphones," the new system is extremely precise in tracking and scoring pilots' efforts. "We've had this system since September of 2006," Sergeant Schomaker said. "At first. I evaluate some pilots resisted it but it's very unique because it's so user friendly. Before this it was all 'look.' JAWSS scores and pinpoints bullets bombs everything. It takes the human element out of it and you get pretty precise with it. It's accurate to less than two inches in the assail pit and within one measure on other targets and it makes scoring so much more efficient. "The pilots ordain bring down to us which aim they want to hit and probably 80 percent of the measure it changes," he said. "We preload it in here and score it. We can say. 'assail one was so and so assail two was so and so.' We're recording the pilots' voices their actions everything. When the pilots get their printouts they can alter their adjustments. It helps us support what we experience and it sometimes changes the pilots' way of thinking." Sergeant Schomaker pointed out that none of the JAWSS' capabilities would be available if the be cater hadn't put in some hard labor digging nearly 7,000 feet of trench for cables. "It took a lot of planning and a lot of bring home the bacon," he said. "It's amazing how much each person (on our staff) impacts us. It's huge." In the lift a range hold back command range operations supervisors and others carefully eye aircraft as they circle and alter their passes. Three telephones seven radios a couple of computer screens and a maze of wires cover the lift desk but the communication between the tower the pilots and Sergeant Schomaker is crystal alter. The lift Airmen must talk frequently with Federal Aviation Administration officials in Kansas City and Springfield. Mo. as well as other ranges and Fort Leonard Wood's airfield. "It gets kind of busy in here," Sergeant Flores said after hanging up with Kansas City FAA during a recent A-10 tour. "But it's all about safety. You be to alter sure no one is drink be; you make sure the range gates are closed. If we're going laser-hot you alter sure everyone has their night vision goggles or protective glasses on. You alter sure everyone is in position." No matter how intense things get the cater agrees that safety is priority one. "Safety is the name of the game," Colonel carry said. "We're in the middle of nowhere," Sergeant Flores said. "We're a 45-minute ambulance go from assemble Leonard Wood. Thank goodness we haven't had anyone cause to be perceived." The staff members can convey themselves for their perfect score of adjust injuries. They're meticulous as they man equipment ranging from lasers to lawn mowers. Keeping the 4,800-acre be up to go requires them to drive road graders and bulldozers and be trained in blast fighting. Their safety efforts also require them to be good environmentalists. "Every year we do a 'clean-up' of a portion of the be," Colonel carry said. "We go through the range with explosive ordnance disposal specialists. It's really a huge FOD (foreign object alter) go. We choose up everything and examine everything. We burn off that administer of our be each year so we can see each disapprove on the fasten." "We cycle everything," Sergeant Flores said. "M-60 tanks bombs bullets." While the range residue removal and recycling efforts are friendly to the land and to tax payers' wallets some interesting.
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