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Air Traffic Control Tests Helicopter Radio Frequencies

Navy NewsStand

Story Number: NNS090409-25
Release Date: 4/9/2009 10:08:00 PM

By Airman 1st Class Benjamin Stratton

USNS COMFORT, At Sea (NNS) -- Air traffic control specialists tested radio frequencies April 7 for the helicopter operations aboard hospital ship USNS Comfort (T-AH 20) as it prepares for upcoming operations in Haiti during Continuing Promise 2009 (CP09).

Providing humanitarian assistance requires not only top-notch medical treatment facilities and personnel but clear communications.

"With our radios up to speed, we ensure the helos can safely and successfully bring cargo and personnel to and from the ship," said Air Traffic Control Specialist 3rd Class Ethanial Hall.

Hall and his coworker, Air Traffic Control Specialist 3rd Class Will Smith, were performing the tests with their deployable units. These units come ready in a backpack for easy transit from location to location.

CP09 combines U.S. military and interagency personnel, nongovernmental organizations, academic and partner nations to provide medical, dental, veterinary and engineering services afloat and ashore alongside host nation personnel.

Logistics and security are important factors of the CP09 mission, which affords an opportunity not only to provide humanitarian aid but also to learn from host nation partners and train a diverse team of experts who are able to respond to a regional crisis.

"We will be deployed to the ground prior to the helos actually landing," Smith said. "We work the landing zone to make sure the area is secure."

Comfort is the platform from which this four-month deployment will operate. During CP09, Comfort is scheduled to visit seven countries in Latin America and the Caribbean. These seven countries include Antigua and Barbuda, Colombia, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Haiti, Nicaragua and Panama.

"Testing our frequencies and making sure our equipment is ready to go has always been an important step to continued mission success," Smith said.

For more news from USNS Comfort (T-AH 20), visit www.navy.mil/local/tah20/.