53rd CAOS staff reflect on mission, community partnership

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE —  Formerly the 53rd Air Traffic Control Squadron, the 53rd Combat Airfield Operations Squadron was redesignated in June 2023, and has the unique role of developing ready airmen who provide airfield operations solutions in a variety of places, turning any flat surface into a runway.

“Any field, anything that an aircraft can land on. It could be a grass field, or it could be a dirt strip, it could be an old runway. There’s talks about, if there’s a clear enough freeway section, we can section that off and have them land on that. Anything that is big enough for an aircraft to land, it doesn’t have to be an airfield,” TSgt. Adam Morgan explained.

Morgan works for the 53rd’s Landing Zone Safety Officers section, who work to ensure a potential surface is prepared for landing, measure the area to ensure it is big enough to land, and ensure no obstacles are impeding landing and takeoff.

“Once we do that, then we set up a controlling point so we can actually talk to the aircraft and keep overall safety of all the personnel running around the [landing zone] and make sure everybody’s in compliance with the safety,” Morgan said.

MSgt. Marcus Allen-Hall is a section chief for the CAOS’s tower work center, leading a group who troubleshoots the groups mobile air traffic control tower.

“What we do, day in and day out, is we train to deploy, mobilize, set up and operate in these hostile environments. But besides that, we also have the additional duty of responding to any humanitarian requests from natural disasters or any other operations from airfields that their systems might be down for any reason,” Allen-Hall said.

Another aspect of Allen-Hall’s team is the ability to brainstorm new ideas.

“Our job as maintainers is always unique when something breaks or goes wrong. For example, your car radio, if it all of a sudden has static, it’s easy to just replace it and buy a new one. Well, our job is to figure out why it has static and then see how we can fix it. That way, you’re not paying a bunch of money just to replace a part. And especially for the military, those parts can be very expensive,” Allen-Hall said.

Morgan and Allen-Hall said the CAOS is the only active duty squadron, working primarily with C-130 and C-17.

“That’s mostly the aircraft we talk to, getting equipment and everything that people need to operate in those austere environments. Whether that’s troop movement or bringing in equipment or supplies, we make sure that everybody who’s already out there gets everything they need,” Morgan said.

A community partnership has become a catalyst for the squadron’s training. In June 2022, The Perry-Houston County Airport was certified for C-130 aircraft operations after a two-year long process. 

Part of the certification involved the airport eliminating drainage culverts and resurfacing their runways. The airport’s close proximity to Robins made it an ideal place for certification. 

Now, the airport is a valuable place for training. Morgan explained the airport allows them to use their CTAF frequency once a month, an advisory frequency aircraft use to talk to each other.

“That helps us a lot, because if we were to do that without them, we’d have to coordinate with different guard bases or active duty bases around. That’s all [temporary duty] costs, and it gets really expensive. But having those partners only 20 minutes away, that allows us to go do that. It really helps us get those extra reps,” Morgan said.

The squadron can also set up equipment and practice for a real landing.

“We can practice how we want to perform when we get the call and make sure that we are ready and able to really facilitate any of those missions. They’ve worked with us on everything that we’ve asked for, and because of that, we’ve gotten invaluable training that allows us to stay proficient without having to rely on larger scale exercises or huge financial costs,” Allen-Hall said.

Community partnerships and outreach, like a recent flyover at the Houston County and Perry High School football game, are of utmost importance to the 53rd.

“It’s extremely important for them to know that we’re here and what we do. It just builds that community strength. They know who we are. We know who they are. We do more for the community than just go out there and work,” Morgan said.

This also fosters a sense of pride within the community, as Allen-Hall explained.

“You can see that in Perry. You can see that in Robins, in all of Houston County. You can see that community that’s been built up, and honestly, it makes it one of the best places to live as a Armed Forces member.” Allen-Hall said.

In turn, Allen-Hall thanked the community, especially the airport, for their continued support.

“Training is so important here. What a lot of people don’t realize is, as people are trained, they’re not only protecting themselves and the equipment, but they’re protecting the lives of so many others that we don’t really get to see their faces, all across the world,” Allen-Hall said. “The impact of the community, the impact of Perry Airport, their staff and their management team is worldwide, and we couldn’t thank them enough.”