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Airfield Operations Specialists Occupation Detailed Description

Airfield Operations Specialists career

General Job Description and Education/Training Levels for Airfield Operations Specialists

The main tasks and work activities of Airfield Operations Specialists are to plan flight operations, plan work operations, coordinate flight control or management activities, monitor vehicle movement or location. In general, for the Airfield Operations Specialists, active Listening, reading Comprehension, critical Thinking, speaking and other 14 skills are required.
Airfield Operations Specialists Job Description
EducationMost occupations in this zone require training in vocational schools, related on-the-job experience, or an associate's degree.
Related ExperiencePrevious 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.
Job TrainingEmployees 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.
ExampleThese occupations usually involve using communication and organizational skills to coordinate, supervise, manage, or train others to accomplish goals. Examples include hydroelectric production managers, travel guides, electricians, agricultural technicians, barbers, court reporters, and medical assistants.
The following chart shows the education/training levels for Airfield Operations Specialists jobs. 14.01% of Airfield Operations Specialists have High School Diploma (or the equivalent) and 12.76% of Airfield Operations Specialists have Post-Secondary Certificate.
Less than a High School Diploma
0.00%
High School Diploma (or the equivalent)
14.01%
Post-Secondary Certificate
12.76%
Some College Courses
8.03%
Associate's Degree (or other 2-year degree)
20.78%
Bachelor's Degree and Above
44.42%

Tasks and Work Activities of Airfield Operations Specialists

  • 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.
  • Identifying Objects, Actions, and EventsIdentifying information by categorizing, estimating, recognizing differences or similarities, and detecting changes in circumstances or events.
  • Getting InformationObserving, receiving, and otherwise obtaining information from all relevant sources.
  • Evaluating Information to Determine Compliance with StandardsUsing relevant information and individual judgment to determine whether events or processes comply with laws, regulations, or standards.
  • Communicating with Supervisors, Peers, or SubordinatesProviding information to supervisors, co-workers, and subordinates by telephone, in written form, e-mail, or in person.
  • Making Decisions and Solving ProblemsAnalyzing information and evaluating results to choose the best solution and solve problems.
  • Operating Vehicles, Mechanized Devices, or EquipmentRunning, maneuvering, navigating, or driving vehicles or mechanized equipment, such as forklifts, passenger vehicles, aircraft, or water craft.
  • Interacting With ComputersUsing computers and computer systems (including hardware and software) to program, write software, set up functions, enter data, or process information.
  • Establishing and Maintaining Interpersonal RelationshipsDeveloping constructive and cooperative working relationships with others, and maintaining them over time.
  • Communicating with Persons Outside OrganizationCommunicating with people outside the organization, representing the organization to customers, the public, government, and other external sources. This information can be exchanged in person, in writing, or by telephone or e-mail.
  • Documenting/Recording InformationEntering, transcribing, recording, storing, or maintaining information in written or electronic/magnetic form.
  • Plan flight operations.
  • Plan work operations.
  • Coordinate flight control or management activities.
  • Monitor vehicle movement or location.
  • Communicate with others to coordinate vehicle movement.
  • Train transportation or material moving personnel.
  • Record operational details of travel.
  • Meet with coworkers to communicate work orders or plans.
  • Pilot aircraft.
  • Review work orders or schedules to determine operations or procedures.
  • Assist others during emergencies.

Skills and Abilities for Airfield Operations Specialists

  • Active ListeningGiving full attention to what other people are saying, taking time to understand the points being made, asking questions as appropriate, and not interrupting at inappropriate times.
  • Reading ComprehensionUnderstanding written sentences and paragraphs in work related documents.
  • Critical ThinkingUsing logic and reasoning to identify the strengths and weaknesses of alternative solutions, conclusions or approaches to problems.
  • SpeakingTalking to others to convey information effectively.
  • CoordinationAdjusting actions in relation to others' actions.
  • MonitoringMonitoring/Assessing performance of yourself, other individuals, or organizations to make improvements or take corrective action.
  • WritingCommunicating effectively in writing as appropriate for the needs of the audience.
  • Complex Problem SolvingIdentifying complex problems and reviewing related information to develop and evaluate options and implement solutions.
  • Active LearningUnderstanding the implications of new information for both current and future problem-solving and decision-making.
  • Judgment and Decision MakingConsidering the relative costs and benefits of potential actions to choose the most appropriate one.
  • InstructingTeaching others how to do something.
  • Systems EvaluationIdentifying measures or indicators of system performance and the actions needed to improve or correct performance, relative to the goals of the system.
  • Service OrientationActively looking for ways to help people.
  • PersuasionPersuading others to change their minds or behavior.
  • Social PerceptivenessBeing aware of others' reactions and understanding why they react as they do.
  • Time ManagementManaging one's own time and the time of others.
  • Systems AnalysisDetermining how a system should work and how changes in conditions, operations, and the environment will affect outcomes.
  • Oral ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in speaking so others will understand.
  • Oral ComprehensionThe ability to listen to and understand information and ideas presented through spoken words and sentences.
  • Problem SensitivityThe ability to tell when something is wrong or is likely to go wrong. It does not involve solving the problem, only recognizing there is a problem.
  • Written ComprehensionThe ability to read and understand information and ideas presented in writing.
  • Deductive ReasoningThe ability to apply general rules to specific problems to produce answers that make sense.
  • Inductive ReasoningThe ability to combine pieces of information to form general rules or conclusions (includes finding a relationship among seemingly unrelated events).
  • Speech ClarityThe ability to speak clearly so others can understand you.
  • Far VisionThe ability to see details at a distance.
  • Near VisionThe ability to see details at close range (within a few feet of the observer).
  • Written ExpressionThe ability to communicate information and ideas in writing so others will understand.
  • Information OrderingThe ability to arrange things or actions in a certain order or pattern according to a specific rule or set of rules (e.g., patterns of numbers, letters, words, pictures, mathematical operations).
  • Speech RecognitionThe ability to identify and understand the speech of another person.
  • Selective AttentionThe ability to concentrate on a task over a period of time without being distracted.
  • Perceptual SpeedThe ability to quickly and accurately compare similarities and differences among sets of letters, numbers, objects, pictures, or patterns. The things to be compared may be presented at the same time or one after the other. This ability also includes comparing a presented object with a remembered object.
  • Flexibility of ClosureThe ability to identify or detect a known pattern (a figure, object, word, or sound) that is hidden in other distracting material.
  • Speed of ClosureThe ability to quickly make sense of, combine, and organize information into meaningful patterns.
  • Category FlexibilityThe ability to generate or use different sets of rules for combining or grouping things in different ways.
  • Time SharingThe ability to shift back and forth between two or more activities or sources of information (such as speech, sounds, touch, or other sources).
  • OriginalityThe ability to come up with unusual or clever ideas about a given topic or situation, or to develop creative ways to solve a problem.
  • Fluency of IdeasThe ability to come up with a number of ideas about a topic (the number of ideas is important, not their quality, correctness, or creativity).
  • Security or access control systemse.g. Airfield access control systems
  • Area lightinge.g. Airfield lighting equipment
  • All terrain vehicles tracked or wheelede.g. All terrain vehicles ATVs
  • Animal control trapse.g. Animal traps
  • Articulating boom lifte.g. Bucket lifts
  • Joint cleaning or refacing machinese.g. Crack sealing equipment
  • Desktop computerse.g. Desktop computers
  • Dump truckse.g. Dump trucks
  • Fire or rescue truckse.g. Emergency response vehicles
  • Fire or rescue truckse.g. Fire vehicles
  • Multi function printerse.g. Identification card printers
  • Lawnmowerse.g. Lawn mowing tractors
  • Two way radiose.g. Mobile radios
  • Fire extinguisherse.g. Multipurpose fire extinguishers
  • Power sanderse.g. Paint stripping equipment
  • Safety glassese.g. Protective glasses
  • Flarese.g. Pyrotechnic pistols
  • Alarm systemse.g. Security alarm systems
  • Sporting shotgunse.g. Shotguns
  • Sporting trapse.g. Snares
  • TransportationKnowledge of principles and methods for moving people or goods by air, rail, sea, or road, including the relative costs and benefits.
  • Public Safety and SecurityKnowledge 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.
  • Customer and Personal ServiceKnowledge 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.
  • English LanguageKnowledge of the structure and content of the English language including the meaning and spelling of words, rules of composition, and grammar.
  • Administration and ManagementKnowledge of business and management principles involved in strategic planning, resource allocation, human resources modeling, leadership technique, production methods, and coordination of people and resources.
  • Education and TrainingKnowledge of principles and methods for curriculum and training design, teaching and instruction for individuals and groups, and the measurement of training effects.
  • Computers and ElectronicsKnowledge of circuit boards, processors, chips, electronic equipment, and computer hardware and software, including applications and programming.
  • Law and GovernmentKnowledge of laws, legal codes, court procedures, precedents, government regulations, executive orders, agency rules, and the democratic political process.
  • ClericalKnowledge 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.