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RAF Lakenheath airfield operations gets "heavy"

U.S. Air Forces in Europe

Release Date: 6/2/2004

Story by 1st Lt. Ed Ekpoudom

48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

ROYAL AIR FORCE LAKENHEATH, England (USAFENS) -- Typically F-15C Eagles and F-15E Strike Eagles roam the airfield here. However, recently it's not unusual to also spot Stratotankers, Globemasters and Hercules.

The change to the local airfield landscape is directly tied to the renovation of the runway located at Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. Since the beginning of March, "heavy" aircraft like the KC-135 Stratotanker, C-17 Globemaster and C-130 Hercules, which have flown in and out of the airfield at RAF Mildenhall for many years, are taking a new approach - onto the RAF Lakenheath flightline.

With the additional aircraft come additional missions and concerns.

Coordinating the interaction between fighter and heavy aircraft hasn't been easy, said Lt. Col. Kevin McElroy, 48th Operations Support Squadron director of operations.

"It's been a challenge . based on congestion on the airfield, the diverse mix of aircraft, the differing speeds of the aircraft, and criteria for separation between aircraft," said Colonel McElroy. "From the airfield management perspective, we're having to focus on a number of missions to include fighter operations, refueling operations, special operations and the Air Mobility Command mission."

For Master Sgt. Thomas Murdock, chief of airfield operations, or "chess master" as Colonel McElroy refers to him, congestion translates into staying busy.

"If an airplane breaks, you have to juggle the whole flow - that is one plane comes in and one goes," said Sergeant Murdock, who's job requires him to field all requests from transient aircraft to land, making sure he can fit all the aircraft onto the airfield. "Parking space is very limited here, but requests always keep coming."

As a result of the added transient and mobility mission, the airfield here had to expand its hours of operation during the week to about 20 hours a day and is now open on weekends.

"The extra hours have placed added stress on a majority of troops out on the flightline," said Colonel McElroy. "Everybody from our security forces and maintenance personnel to our civil engineering and logistics support personnel are affected."

There's also more of an emphasis on loading and unloading cargo and equipment than you would normally see at a fighter base, said Colonel McElroy. And, the Department of Defense-chartered aircraft used by military personnel and their families for official travel is also currently operating out of RAF Lakenheath. However, because the base does not have an air passenger terminal, passengers still have to process through RAF Mildenhall.

"The 48th Fighter Wing's operations tempo is a challenge in itself," said Sergeant Murdock. "I'll be happy to get back to normal operations."

The RAF Mildenhall runway renovation is expected to be completed in August.