57th OSS assumes radar control from 99th CS Published Sept. 3, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Thomas Spangler 99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. -- The 57th Operations Support Squadron assumed control of the Air Traffic Control and Landing Systems at Nellis from the 99th Communications Squadron. The deadline for Nellis Air Force Base to complete the transfer of responsibilities was September 1st. With the transfer of these responsibilities, everything related to managing Nellis AFB's airfield, airspace, flight scheduling and any repairs required to keep equipment functioning to keep those operations going, will now all fall under one squadron. "Maintenance of all ATCALS, equipment [will now be controlled by the 57th OSS]," said 2nd Lt. Chris Barnes, 57th OSS air traffic control and landing systems flight commander. "This includes all Nellis AFB navigational aids, radios and Air Traffic Control frequencies, ATC consoles, Micro En-route Automated Radar Tracking System and Standard Terminal Arrival Radar System, better known as ATC scopes." The 57th OSS is in charge of managing Nellis' diverse airfield, airspace and flight scheduling operations to enable units to conduct advanced operational, test and training missions. If any of the squadron's equipment goes down, flight operations are affected. "We in the [57th] OSS are impacted more heavily when ATCALS go down for scheduled and unscheduled maintenance," Barnes said. "These downtimes affect range time for pilots and even procedures for McCarran [International Airport] and some of the adjacent center's airspace, for which we are stewards." Having everything related to airfield operations management, including maintenance, fall under one squadron will allow the different work centers to set their priorities and determine what needs to be repaired first. This will ultimately save man hours and provide minimal equipment downtime. "We have a more vested interest in making [the equipment] higher priorities when they go down," Barnes said. "This relationship between ATCALS and [flight] operations enables us to better articulate impacts and justify spending to promptly fix issues as they arise." Barnes went on to say air traffic patterns will not be affected with the transfer of operations. This change is because of the evolving needs of the Air Force. The 99th CS is starting to work more in the cyber realm and less in airfield maintenance. "[The shift is happening because of] realignment, we're removing things that aren't inherently cyber away from the 99th CS," said Senior Master Sgt. Bryan Wilson, 57th OSS ATCALS maintenance flight branch chief. Having the operations and maintenance of ATCALS all under one squadron will allow the 57th OSS to set their own priorities, not require as much coordination between commanders to accomplish a task, and ensure the Air Force evolves with ever-changing threats.
