First off, this isn’t Ground Control, it’s the tower at Hayward Airport. Second, this isn’t just Troop 612, but also Troop 2612, our girls’ troop. That said, Troop 612 and 2612 to Haward Tower doesn’t make for a catchy title. Or does it..?
Ok, now that we have that out of the way, let’s talk about what we did.
In lieu of our regularly scheduled Troop meeting, about 30 Scouts, Leaders, and a few siblings visited the Haward Airport Control Tower.
With so many participants, we had to go in shifts. Three groups of ten took turns climbing the four-story tower to learn why someone becomes an air traffic controller, what they do, and how they can learn to do it to.
They why is simple, they want to do their part to keep people in the air and on the ground safe. What they do is a little more complicated. It involves tracking planes, their speeds, altitudes, and direction. Comparing that to other planes in the area, and anticipating potential risks.
Of course, many of the scouts were more fascinated by the unofficial mascot, then the technology involved.
How to learn involves a few options. 1) learn in the military which may not be fast, but is very thorough and very common. 2) attend a school that trains Air Traffic Controllers. 3) get hired off the street. This third option may seem least likely but is rather common because the demand is greater than the supply. If hired off the street (and being thoroughly vetted) you would then be sent to training for about six weeks.
But in the end, the rewards can be amazing. Just look at that sunset.
