GFAFB partners with UND to train student pilots

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Bonnie Grantham
  • 319th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
GRAND FORKS AIR FORCE BASE, N.D. --  For more than 15 years, Grand Forks AFB has worked closely with the University of North Dakota in training student pilots.

The partnership existed when the B-52 Stratofortress bomber called GFAFB its home, but has become crucial to the training of air traffic controllers stationed here since the switch to the RQ-4 Block-40 Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial system.

"Since we have no military aircraft here, our tower doesn't get as much traffic," said Tech. Sgt. LeMario McPhaul, 319th Operations Support Squadron NCO-in-charge of air traffic control standardizations and evaluations. "They help our tower guys stay proficient because we can actually mix them with our UAS's now."

UND is home to the number one piloting school in the nation, and the majority of their students are international students. The student pilots have to log hours in different aspects of flight, such as instrument approach and departure procedures, in order to attain their license, and the help GFAFB provides helps make this possible for them.

"Without the support we currently have with GFAFB, we would not be able to operate in the way we do," said Nick Weiss, a lead flight instructor and the ATC committee liaison at UND. "As an example, our students from Japan require practice of certain maneuvers in order to obtain their Japanese Commercial and Instrument Pilot certificates. One such maneuver is an Instrument Departure Procedure. No such procedure exists for the Grand Forks International Airport (KGFK), so with the help of GFAFB, we were able to make our own JCAB departure procedures to satisfy this requirement, as well as ensure safety and traffic flow remained unaffected."

The process is not always smooth sailing for each party involved, however. With the heavy population of international student pilots at UND, the language barriers have been difficult for the GFAFB air traffic controllers to hurdle over.

"We weren't used to many language barriers when it comes to our pilots," said McPaul. "We told them if they don't understand our air traffic control instructions or we don't understand their instructions after the second transmission, have the instructor pilot take over. They also said they're spending more time in the mornings and afternoons just working on their English, so that's helping, too."

The ATC committee (which includes UND flight instructors, KGFK airport tower controllers, and Sergeant McPhaul) meets once a month to discuss such issues and work out solutions together.

"Like any relationship, we might do something that the other finds annoying or makes the job more difficult, but we are able to come to a resolution through monthly meetings with each other," said Weiss.  "Utilizing this meeting, we are able to discuss current issues or 'hot topics,' and develop strategies to help reduce or prevent the occurrence from happening in the future.  If a more serious issue occurs, we also are able to communicate outside of this monthly meeting through email or telephone to come to a quick resolution."

One of the stipulations of the agreement, however, is that UND aircraft cannot land on the GFAFB flight line because it is not considered a joint-use flight line, said McPhaul. If we get the enhanced use lease connected to our runway, then we might be able to be considered a joint base and they'll be able to touch our runway, which still won't allow them to do a stop-and-go, where they stay on the runway, but they would at least be able to touch the runway and depart. Then we'd be able to get even more traffic from training.

The relationship between UND and GFAFB is not only significant for training purposes, but also to show that service doesn't just take place overseas.

"Our mission isn't always overseas," said Airman 1st Class Cartier Aquino, 319th OSS air traffic control apprentice. "We provide a good service to UND and to the city of Grand Forks. We signed up for service and we still serve the local population wherever we're based, even in the remote part of North Dakota."