Out with the old, in with the new: COMM changes

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jenay Randolph
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  Members of 6th Communications Squadron airfield systems at MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. are embarking on a new journey. Not only are they moving from the 6th CS to the 6th Operations Support Squadron, but they are also beginning to modernize maintenance equipment, which is being done Air Force wide.

Lt. Col Marlyce Roth, 6th CS commander, turned off the instrumental landing system, which symbolized two things: the discontinuation of the old ILS and the releasing of members of airfield systems to the 6th OSS.

"Members of the communications squadron are cyber based, while the operation squadron is more maintenance and that is what we as members of airfield systems do, maintenance," explained Staff Sgt. Scott Phillips, 6th CS airfield systems technician.
"They have finally made the decision to move us, and this move makes a lot of sense regarding our job requirements."

As a result, all members of the airfield systems under 6th CS are scheduled to be completely under the 6th OSS by August 2014.

Along with this move, comes the modernization of an ILS, which is used by pilots to assist in precise landing in situations of limited visibility and maintained by members of the 6th CS airfield systems technicians.

"The new system will save the Air Force money, by cutting cost for technicians and maintenance parts," stated Phillips. "The system is also easier to maintain, provides more uptime and less maintenance requirements."

The new system is being monitored by the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center, which has recently become the remote maintenance center for all stateside bases. The modernization is scheduled to be completed by May 22, 2014, where the commander of the 6th OSS will turn on the new ILS equipment.