New infrared lights bring new training opportunities

Military officials say cooperation they've received from the local airport is impressive.
By ED RUNYAN
VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF
VIENNA -- The Air Force Reserve Command has installed infrared lights in two of the Youngstown-Warren Regional Airport runways to provide pilots at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station with night-vision training.
Using their night-vision goggles, pilots can land in darkness with no lights -- something of great tactical importance in battle zones.
"It gives this airport a unique capability not available elsewhere in the Air Force Reserve Command," said Col. Tim Thomson, commander of the 910th Airlift Wing at the Youngstown Air Reserve Station.
"Everything we do is at night now," Thomson said of military operations in hot spots like Afghanistan and Iraq. "We have everything here you'd need to practice a wartime mission."
For example, Baghdad International Airport in Iraq is about the same size as the main runway at the local airport, and American military aircraft regularly land at the Baghdad airport at night with night vision goggles, he said.
The Air Force paid for the $650,000 installation for both the main runway and the smaller one, known as the "assault" runway or "short-field" runway. The shorter runway, which is 3,500 feet long, is owned by the Air Force and was specially made in the 1990s for landings by the 12 C-130 Hercules aircraft that are stationed at the Air Reserve Station.
Benefits
Thomson explained that the infrared lights at the airport can be turned on with the flip of a switch in the air traffic control tower. The goggles magnify the available light and allow the human eye to see the light in a spectrum that is normally invisible, he said.
Consequently, Air Force reserve units from Niagara Falls, N.Y., Willow Grove, Pa., Pittsburgh, and an international guard airlift unit from Mansfield, among others, have been practicing their night-vision capabilities here.
"Others will routinely call and ask permission since we own the landing zone," Thomson said.
The airport, which is usually quiet at night, can be turned over to the training for several hours at night without any inconvenience to the airport, said Steve Bowser, the airport's director of aviation. In an emergency, the normal lights can be turned back on rather quickly, Bowser said.
Thomson said the night-vision capability, the specialized "assault" runway and the ability to practice air drops at the Ravenna Arsenal give the local air reserve station the training facilities it needs within a 25-mile radius. "It keeps crews ready. It's very convenient," Thomson said.
Thomson said his boss, Maj. Gen. Martin Mazick, commander of the 22nd Air Force, visited the local air reserve station July 15 and 16 for the first time and was impressed with the local facilities and the cooperation between the civilian and military components of the airport.
"You don't see that a lot of places either," Thomson said.
Thomson said it is good that such training opportunities are available at this time.
"We're in training mode now," Thomson said of the air base, which houses the 773rd and 757th Airlift Squadrons and the 910th Maintenance Squadron.
Those squadrons were on active duty during Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan and Iraq and in Operation Iraqi Freedom from February 2003 through November 2005.
runyan@vindy.com