LAUGHLIN NAMED BUSIEST AIRFIELD IN AIR FORCE

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Scott Saldukas
  • 47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AETCNS) --  Laughlin was officially announced as the busiest airfield and combined air traffic control tower in the Air Force for 2011. The Air Force Flight Standards Agency deemed them so for having a total of 337,439 operations last year.

Controlling the busiest airfield in the Air Force is the 47th Operations Support Squadron radar approach control section and tower. The RAPCON was identified as the busiest of 39 facilities with 266,591 operations, and the tower was ninth out of 98 towers with 70,848.

"I'm very excited for and at the same time proud of the men and women in Laughlin's RAPCON and tower who daily dedicate themselves to ensuring the safe execution of Laughlin's flight training mission," said Chief Master Sgt. Howard Teesdale, 47th Operations Support Squadron RAPCON chief controller.

The tower and RAPCON are made up of 69 controllers who control 62 airfields, 10,000 square miles of airspace within 100 miles of Laughlin.

Teesdale noted that Laughlin has been his busiest and most complex assignment to date.

"When your main customer is student pilots, the operating environment we try to provide them is ever changing," the chief said.