SAVANNAH, Ga. - Mention "air strike" these days and many might think you're talking about Call of Duty, a combat-style video game in which players "call in" virtual air strikes on opponents as a reward for a certain number of "kills."
For Air Force Staff Sgt. Kenneth Walker, there's nothing pretend about it – calling in air strikes is what he does for a living.
He's a tactical air control party member with the 116th Air Support Operations Squadron, an Air National Guard unit out of Camp Murray, Wash.
TACP are specialists assigned to combat units. They advise ground forces on aircraft employment and capabilities and direct combat aircraft onto enemy targets.
"We're the liaison between ground forces and aircraft," Walker said. "We communicate with the infantry guys and the guys in the air to get bombs on target and where they're needed."
Being a TACP means being a highly trained, highly skilled Airman who is adaptive, quick on his feet and great at multi-tasking.
Just to become a TACP and earn the coveted black beret, Airmen must pass an initial skills course, combat survival course, basic parachutist course and advanced special tactics course. In all, 32 weeks of rigorous, down-and-dirty training.
"It's definitely a lot," Walker said. "But it's all stuff we need to know when we're out there doing this for real."
When TACP aren't deployed, they participate in exercises to practice their skills and stay certified.
The latest was the National Guard Bureau's Joint Quarterly Training Exercise at Fort Stewart, Ga. TACPs from the 116th ASOS practiced working with the Army and calling in close air support aircraft, ranging from A-10 Thunderbolt IIs to F-18 Hornets and HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters.
"It's great to work with real aircraft and see live rounds hitting targets," said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Benjamin Santiago, a TACP with the 116th ASOS. "Simulations are fine, but the real thing is always better."
Other than giving the TACP hands-on training, the exercise also lets them check a very important box.
"We have requirements to control aircraft every 90 days and direct the release of ordnance every 180 days to stay current on our certifications," Santiago said. "Participating in exercises like this lets us meet those requirements."
Meeting these requirements is a challenge for the 116th ASOS. Being a Guard unit, its Airmen must balance their day-to-day jobs with their military commitment.
"We have to meet the same requirements as our active duty counterparts, but we're doing it part time," Walker said. "So we only get half the time to do what the active duty guys are doing, and that is challenging at times."
TACP are in high demand in Afghanistan, and the 116th ASOS routinely sends its tactical air controllers over there.
"We've got some guys slated to go here soon, so we'll make sure they get priority when it comes to staying certified," Santiago said. "The training will pay off over there, too."
In one six-month period in 2009, Walker's three-man team called in over 300,000 pounds of bombs in the Kunar Province of Afghanistan.
"It was about a battle every day," he said. "Sometimes two or three."
The 116th ASOS's TACP may not be very good at playing video games – but they are at protecting real troops by calling in real air strikes that keep Soldiers out of real danger.