Details for Airfield Operations Specialists
Description
Ensure the safe takeoff and landing of commercial and military aircraft. Duties include coordination between air-traffic control and maintenance personnel; dispatching; using airfield landing and navigational aids; implementing airfield safety procedures; monitoring and maintaining flight records; and applying knowledge of weather information.
Tasks
- Implement airfield safety procedures to ensure a safe operating environment for personnel and aircraft operation.
- Plan and coordinate airfield construction.
- Coordinate with agencies, such as air traffic control, civil engineers, or command posts, to ensure support of airfield management activities.
- Monitor the arrival, parking, refueling, loading, and departure of all aircraft.
- Maintain air-to-ground and point-to-point radio contact with aircraft commanders.
- Train operations staff.
- Relay departure, arrival, delay, aircraft and airfield status, and other pertinent information to upline controlling agencies.
- Procure, produce, and provide information on the safe operation of aircraft, such as flight planning publications, operations publications, charts and maps, or weather information.
- Coordinate communications between air traffic control and maintenance personnel.
- Perform and supervise airfield management activities, including mobile airfield management functions.
- Receive, transmit, and control message traffic.
- Receive and post weather information and flight plan data, such as air routes or arrival and departure times.
- Maintain flight and events logs, air crew flying records, and flight operations records of incoming and outgoing flights.
- Coordinate with agencies to meet aircrew requirements for billeting, messing, refueling, ground transportation, and transient aircraft maintenance.
- Collaborate with others to plan flight schedules and air crew assignments.
- Coordinate changes to flight itineraries with appropriate Air Traffic Control (ATC) agencies.
- Anticipate aircraft equipment needs for air evacuation and cargo flights.
- Provide aircrews with information and services needed for airfield management and flight planning.
- Conduct departure and arrival briefings.
- Use airfield landing and navigational aids and digital data terminal communications equipment to perform duties.
- Post visual display boards and status boards.
- Check military flight plans with civilian agencies.
- Assist in responding to aircraft and medical emergencies.
- Manage wildlife on and around airport grounds.
Interests
- Realistic - Realistic occupations frequently involve work activities that include practical, hands-on problems and solutions. They often deal with plants, animals, and real-world materials like wood, tools, and machinery. Many of the occupations require working outside, and do not involve a lot of paperwork or working closely with others.
- Investigative - Investigative occupations frequently involve working with ideas, and require an extensive amount of thinking. These occupations can involve searching for facts and figuring out problems mentally.
- Enterprising - Enterprising occupations frequently involve starting up and carrying out projects. These occupations can involve leading people and making many decisions. Sometimes they require risk taking and often deal with business.
- Conventional - Conventional occupations frequently involve following set procedures and routines. These occupations can include working with data and details more than with ideas. Usually there is a clear line of authority to follow.
Education, training, experience
- Education - Most occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
- Training - Employees in these occupations usually need one or two years of training involving both on-the-job experience and informal training with experienced workers. A recognized apprenticeship program may be associated with these occupations.
- Experience - Previous work-related skill, knowledge, or experience is required for these occupations. For example, an electrician must have completed three or four years of apprenticeship or several years of vocational training, and often must have passed a licensing exam, in order to perform the job.
Knowledge
- Personnel and Human Resources -Knowledge of principles and procedures for personnel recruitment, selection, training, compensation and benefits, labor relations and negotiation, and personnel information systems.
- Mathematics -Knowledge of arithmetic, algebra, geometry, calculus, statistics, and their applications.
- Mechanical -Knowledge of machines and tools, including their designs, uses, repair, and maintenance.
- Geography -Knowledge of principles and methods for describing the features of land, sea, and air masses, including their physical characteristics, locations, interrelationships, and distribution of plant, animal, and human life.
- Law and Government -Knowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
- Administration and Management -Knowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
- English Language -Knowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
- Clerical -Knowledge of administrative and clerical procedures and systems such as word processing, managing files and records, stenography and transcription, designing forms, and other office procedures and terminology.
- Computers and Electronics -Knowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
- Education and Training -Knowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
- Public Safety and Security -Knowledge of relevant equipment, policies, procedures, and strategies to promote effective local, state, or national security operations for the protection of people, data, property, and institutions.
- Transportation -Knowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
- Customer and Personal Service -Knowledge of principles and processes for providing customer and personal services. This includes customer needs assessment, meeting quality standards for services, and evaluation of customer satisfaction.
Skills
- Reading Comprehension - Understanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
- Monitoring - Monitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
Related careers
None found.
