Military ATC

[mhlarsen 2]

Can anyone point me to links or documents regarding Military ATC and comms?

[downscc 1,327]

Air Force controllers use 7110.65, same as FAA controllers: http://www.faa.gov/airports_airtraffic/air...c/publications/The differences are arcane, such as the "check wheels down" message they always give with landing clearance or the Navy calls the crosswind a "breakout." The comm freqs are UHF.. was that your question?

[mhlarsen 2]

Thanks for your reply and link Dan.I have read that Tower/Ground/Clrnce are called 'Dispatch', but does this mean that a single atc handles all functions and no handover takes place?Any more differences in 'names' like this?

[btacon 1,764]

Hi Michael..."Dispatch" is a term used for Base Ops. Base Ops handles taking flt-plans from the pilots and getting those inputed into the Air Traffic Control System among other duties. Pilots talk to Dispatch to amend or update thier clearance if there is time, but just as often, the Ground/Tower function will do that too.So to answer your question, in the USAF at least, Tower/Ground/Clearance functions exist and operate just like their civilian counterparts, and frequently USAF facilities handle civilian aircraft as well as military. Take for example the Minot AFB RAPCON, where I served for 4 years. We provided approach control services for Minot International as well as other local airports.Cheers,bt

[mhlarsen 2]

bt,Thanks for clarifying this.If you are going on a training mission, would you still file a flightplan? Lets say that this is an IFR flightplan and you plan to roam around a bit in the mission area. Would you then start IFR from base, cancel IFR at the mission area, and then take up the IFR flightplan again after mission termination?

[btacon 1,764]

Hi Michael. Yes, many training flights are filed in exactly this fashion. Most Round Robin flights I saw at Beale AFB, which was as much of a training base as a RECON base, used two flight plans for each mission. As you described, the pilot would zoom into the MOA under IFR, cancel and do the required turns and burns, then resume IFR once they left the MOA. Sometimes two flight plans were filed, sometimes there was a single flight plan with a prescribed delay, but the end results were still the same.Cheers,bt

[mhlarsen 2]

Thanks.Does this mean that continuos IFR is not obligatory?Lets say that you have non-VFR conditions in your mission area. Would you still be able to cancel the IFR flightplan? I have read that military aircraft can fly 'Due regard/Operational', but does this still apply in present day with traffic everywhere?If you cancel the flightplan and is in non-VFR conditions, under whose jurisdiction do you belong to?

[downscc 1,327]

Training flights in the CONUS remain with ATC under IFR separation and guidance unless they are in a designated training area such as a MOA or designated offshore airspace. I'm not sure, but I believe that when they are in the MOA not receiving ATC service they are still in contact with ATC for advisory service and must maintain VFR separation from clouds.Here in Corpus Christi, there are hundreds of Navy training flights a day transienting the different MOAs and runways they use but always in contact with the FAA. I hear them all the time when I fly. When I fly North through a MOA I use flight following and if it's active I can hear Center advising the Air Force flights of my position. This discussion has been regarding normal "peacetime" operations. During "operational" periods, the airspace may "chop" to military control. When I flew relief missions to Mississippi after Katrina control was with an airborne Navy controller who coordinated movements but did not provide separation or vectors, but pre-clearnance had to be obtained and a squawk assigned to go there. Every situation can be different, but there's always a system in place to handle it.