In this the second of two interviews with Major Carlos Goveo reference his two separate Operation Iraqi Freedom deployments, he discusses his October 2005 through October 2006 tour as the operations officer for 1st Battalion, 58th Aviation Regiment - an air traffic services (ATS) battalion. Before taking this job, Goveo had no experience with or specific knowledge of ATS units, thus, as he said, his learning curve was "pretty steep." As he explained, the battalion's "main function [was] airspace and flow of aircraft below 3,000 feet. We had six or seven towers, and every tower on an Army airfield was one of our towers that our battalion had control over. The battalion was in Balad. We had folks at MNC-I in Baghdad, Washington Helipad, FOB Speicher, Mosul, Tall Afar, and many more." Goveo talks in great detail about the principal ATS systems that they used, chief among which was the Air Traffic Navigation, Integration and Coordination System (ATNAVICS), and the inherent in-theater difficulties they faced in terms of its operations. He also discusses his work with field service representatives and members of the State Department. Looking back on his yearlong deployment, Goveo said that his single biggest challenge was ensuring that there weren't any mid-air collisions in the airspace above Baghdad, which he called "the most crowded piece of airspace in all of Iraq." "We probably spent half the year trying to figure out how to manage the flow of aircraft, UAVs and everything else around Baghdad," he said, "how to make it safer." Related to that, Goveo added, his battalion's most significant accomplishment was that "we didn't have a single fatality or a mid-air because of anything we did. That speaks volumes of the battalion and the work we did there, especially when you have units at eight different locations" - and, he added, that on occasion a staff sergeant would be the highest-ranking ATS soldier on site. In closing, Goveo also talks about the impact that Army transformation is having on air traffic units.

Approved for public release; distribution is unlimited