Days 17 and 18 are pretty sweet.

Day 17 and 18 are pretty much the same as the rest.. Went to school and came back to the hotel and did a lot of nothing and went to bed.

I've decided to show some pictures and try and explain a little more about the equipment and what I do, since about 99% of the people I know do not have a clue of what I do.




This is the inside of the equipment I am training on.


This is a pretty crappy picture, but the big rectangle van on the right is the equipment from the outside..


This is a radar that plugs into the OM via Fiber cable and gives us an Air Picture on the screens to show what Air places are flying around, and details about the planes, Altitude, Speed, Friend or foe.. Plus a lot more stuff.


This is the Screen or "OCU" (Operator Console Unit) inside the OM, It looks like a bunch of nothing on the screen to us, but to that guy, it's a lot of information..


Here is a good picture of a couple OM's linked together, you can see the Air/Heat behind them and the huge air ducts going to and from the OM, and the Radar in the background.


Here is another shot of the inside. Notice how small it is in there.
I am responsible for all the equipment on the inside, and Maintenance is usually done on the inside. You get 3 - 4 people in there, and it gets cramped!

I found a website that says exactly what the OM Does. They call it a TAOM though, which is the long name for it. Tactical Air Operations Module.



The TAOM may be employed singly, or in multi-TAOM configurations. It accomplishes the mission by performing the following functions:

* Detection, identification, and classification of all aircraft and missiles within the area of responsibility.

-Basically we see what planes are flying around, Make sure they are good, and if they are bad, we talk to the planes and let them know what is up.

* Track management of each aircraft, missile, and ship.

-Make sure they are doing what they say they are doing.

* Data transmission, reception, and forwarding with other agencies

-We can forward our radar to other OM's and receive information from other OM's, also, we have radios that can talk a great distance (the antennas on the roof help with some of that)

* Evaluation of the threat potential of enemy aircraft and missiles, and the selection and assignment of weapons to engage hostile threats

-This is the operators making sure the enemy aircraft get what is coming to them :)

* Engagement control of friendly interceptor aircraft and surface-to-air missiles against enemy threats

- Same type of stuff, but protecting us.

* Control of airspace and air traffic within the area of responsibility

-Basically same as #1, we control air space. After 9/11, my unit was activated for a full year and controlled all the airspace around Salt Lake, they also did this for the 2002 Olympics here.

Anyways, that is my life, learning the equipment. I do not talk to planes or anything of that nature, I basically learn what all the equipment does on the inside, learn why it does it, and if it breaks, How I can get it working again really fast, so that the OM isn't down for very long.

Any questions, just ask.

Hope everybody is great!!