Nighttime operations face vision, communication challenges

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Shaun Emery
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs Office
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE,Calif. --  On television, operating through the green veil of night vision looks glamorous, but through Phase III night vision goggle training members of the 60th Aerial Port Squadron and 615th Contingency Response Wing are realizing the challenges that come with working under the cover of darkness.

Limited visibility, communication hurdles and dangerous work environments are just some challenges for Airmen putting high-value cargo on higher-value aircraft with no room for error.

"Working with NVGs on is like trying to work while looking through a paper towel role," said Buck Buchannan, 60th APS Ramp Operations flight chief. "You go from having a 200-degree field of vision to 40 degrees so you really have to learn to adapt."

The NVG training is becoming a requirement for many aerial port positions downrange. And according to Mr. Buchannan it is vital not only to the success of cargo operations but also to the safety of ground crews, aircrews and aircraft under threat of enemy attack.

"The Army conducts a large number of operations at night," said Mr. Buchannan. "The Air Force is no different. We are sending personnel to forward operations locations in support of our sister services. Our armed forces own the night, so we need to be prepared."

So it has been Mr. Buchannan's goal to get his APS Airmen trained up.

The NVG training is broken down into three phases. Phase I training includes academic instruction, phase II teaches students how to operate vehicles with NVGs on and upon completion of phase III, students are certified to work aircraft.

Even with all the training he received, Senior Airman Mitchell Drummer, 60th APS was a little nervous before going through his phase III training on the flight line. As the load team chief, his responsibilities include the pre-mission safety briefing, spotting the vehicle, whether it be rolling-stock or a loader with pallets and knowing where everyone on his team is at all times.

During daylight hours, all of those things have become second nature for Airman Drummer, but throwing a set of NVGs into the mix quickly took him out of his comfort zone. So Airmen Drummer fell back on his training.

"You're depth perception is affected and you have to constantly be turning your head and scanning. It makes you slow down and think about what you're doing. There's a lot of pressure," he said.

Add in that the plane's engines are running, pushing up temperatures and sending a steady stream of hot air onto the load team and the outside conditions alone are enough to take someone out of their game. That's where the instructors step in.

Tech. Sgt. Steven Sigley, 60th APS Air Tactical Operations Center senior controller, is well versed in NVG operations. During phase III training it's his responsibility to see that students are conducting safe operations. Usually that means slowing things down.

"Slow is steady and steady is fast," Sergeant Sigley explained. "You have to have situational awareness. It's the key to successful operations, especially with so many moving pieces."

Getting all those pieces to fit, literally and figuratively could be the difference between success and failure. When it comes to loading equipment onto an aircraft, being off as little as an inch can have negative repercussions.

"If we load a pallet and it's an inch off it could stop the whole load," said Airman Drummer. "We may even have to reconfigure the load, which takes up valuable time."

That time becomes more valuable with the threat of the enemy always lurking.

"We want to get the aircraft loaded or unloaded with minimum exposure to any possible threats," said Mr. Buchannan. "That is why this training is so important. It is a learning process and the better we can prepare our folks here, the better they will perform in a real-world scenario."