• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

Willow Grove Home to Military's 1st NASMOD

Navy NewStand

Story Number: NNS030401-08
Release Date: 4/1/2003 8:45:00 AM

By Senior Chief Journalist (SW) Doug Hummel, Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base Willow Grove, Pa., Public Affairs

NAVAL AIR STATION JOINT RESERVE BASE WILLOW GROVE, Pa. (NNS) -- The military's first National Airspace System Modernization (NASMOD) project officially went on line March 25 after a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the base's Radar Air Traffic Control Facility was held in the base's air operations terminal.

"The new radar system allows us to control our own launches," said Capt. S. Layne Smith, the base's commanding officer. "Having that control drastically reduces the amount of time that an aircraft waits on the runway before takeoff from about 30 minutes down to about three minutes. We can now get aircraft in the air immediately so that makes us more responsive.

The NASMOD package, which is part of the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) modernization project to update air traffic control equipment, came to Willow Grove thanks to a partnership formed by the FAA and DoD.

"We've been teamed on this for some time, and what we're giving you is the first example of a seamless system that will help all of us who share responsibilities for making sure the skies are safe, efficient and secure," said William Voss, director of FAA's terminal business service. "This is an example of the FAA and DoD working together well and delivering things that make sense to the American public."

"This is a big deal," said Pennsylvania Rep. Joseph M. Hoeffel during the ribbon cutting ceremony. "It will help your mission. It will help the radar surveillance at such an important part of our challenges in the air these days. It makes Willow Grove just a little bit more important. It's already important, but it makes your mission here even more important and more successful."

Six new and different radar units that work together to provide precise information to aid in the controlling of aircraft traffic is the strength of NASMOD.

Willow Grove was selected to be the first military installation to have the system because the terminal radar approach control in Philadelphia was scheduled to get the same system. Installing another system in nearby Willow Grove gave the installation team an opportunity to bundle several modernization products together, said Voss. Another key factor was the amount of air traffic flying around the base.

With Philadelphia being the busiest airport on the eastern seaboard and the area's airspace overlaid by flight paths to major airports in New York, Washington and Baltimore, this seemed like a good place to stress test the system, said Voss.

"This is extraordinarily complicated airspace," said Voss. "It's a very ambitious place to test this system, but it's also the right type of place to go because we need to put our new capabilities where they can help people deal with the complexities of their job and help people take away those complexities."

The installation of this modernization package gives the air traffic controllers at Willow Grove much greater radar surveillance capability than ever before. Together with the strategic location of the base, NASMOD enables Willow Grove to contribute much more significantly to training Reservists, keeping America's skies safe.