MARINE CORPS AIR STATION IWAKUNI, Japan -- With approximately 60 Marines in their detachment, many station members have never even heard of Marine Air Control Squadron 4 Detachment B.
Off in their own little section of the station by the port, MACS-4 Det. B provides Iwakuni with all-weather, non-radar and radar approach, departure and en route air traffic control services to friendly aircraft.
“We’re the deployable side of air traffic control,” said Master Sgt. Thomas Kopp, the staff noncommissioned officer-in-charge for MACS-4 Det. B. “We’re the ones who go out to Afghanistan and set up air traffic control services to provide to our coalition partners and us for wartime services.”
MACS-4 Det. B is unique because they do not have a permanent command on station. Their headquarters is located in Okinawa.
“We get some support from (Marine Aircraft Group 12), but we do 95 percent of our work with our squadron down south,” said Kopp. “That’s why a lot of people don’t know about us.”
The detachment has five sections that contribute to air traffic control services that keep aircraft in the air.
The operations section covers everything needed to conduct day-to-day operations, training exercises and deployments.
The radar shop makes sure that all spinning and final approach radars are up and running.
“We fix all the electronics so we can land aircraft in bad weather and at long ranges,” said Cpl. John Dykhuis, an air traffic control radar maintenance specialist. “We have a very interesting and unique job. There are only about 150 of us in the Marine Corps.”
MACS-4 Det. B also consists of a communications section that keeps all assets ready for use so air traffic controllers have the ability to communicate with aircraft and other agencies, a navigation section that puts out distance signals which allows aircraft to navigate to and from fields, and a utilities shop that keeps up equipment such as generators and air conditioners.
“We’re such a small group, and we rely on each other so much,” said Dykhuis. “Without our utilities section we don’t have power, without power we don’t have radar, without communications we can’t talk to anyone. So we have to rely on each other for the mission to be accomplished.”
Controllers attached to MACS-4 Det. B keep their military occupational specialty current by working with the station in air traffic control positions, while maintainers receive training during support missions, exercises and deployments.
“That’s where we get the time to actually train for our mission like we would in a wartime situation in Afghanistan,” said Kopp.
Some station members may wonder though, why MACS-4 Det. B is needed when air traffic controllers are already assigned to the station?
Kopp said that they are important to the air station because of the relationship they have with MAG-12.
“If MAG-12 got the call something happened, we would pick up our gear, and we would mobilize with them,” said Kopp. “The critical importance of us for the air station is providing that support to MAG-12 so their aircraft can put bombs on target.”