RPT PERTAINING TO PROBS ASSOCIATED WITH COPE THUNDER 2 WK MIL EXERCISES INCLUDING FREQS; RADAR COVERAGE; PROCS; SPILLOUTS; AND COMMON USE AIRSPACE.

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COPE THUNDER IS A BIG MIL PRACTICE EVENT THAT HAPPENS 4-5 TIMES A YR; 2 WKS AT A TIME. COPE THUNDER SAFETY PROBS: THERE ARE MANY IMPORTANT SAFETY ISSUES THAT NEED TO BE ADDRESSED. THEY ARE AS FOLLOWS: 1) FREQS AND/OR LACK OF. WHEN THE RECOVERING ACFT ARE ABOUT 60-80 MI NE OF FAI VOR AT 12000 FT; THEY ARE REQUESTING CLRNCS THROUGH OTHER ACFT OR THE ROCC BECAUSE WE CANNOT TALK TO THEM. THAT IS A MAJOR SETBACK AND IS A HUGE BURDEN ON THE CTLR THAT IS TRYING TO SEPARATE THEM FROM OTHER RECOVERING ACFT. WE NEED A BETTER FREQ TO TALK TO THESE PLANES IN ORDER TO DO OUR JOB. 2) RADAR. WHEN 60 RECOVERING FIGHTER ACFT ARE IN A CONFINED SPACE LIKE THE ATC TRANSITION AREA; THE CTLR CANNOT DO ANY IMPLIED FUNCTIONS TO THE DATA ON THESE FIGHTERS BECAUSE OF POOR RADAR COVERAGE AND E-ARTS SPLIT TARGETS PROBS. THIS IS A MAJOR PROB SINCE WE RELY ON IMPLIED FUNCTIONS TO DO INPUTS ON ALTS; HDOFS; HDGS AND OTHER INFO REGARDING THE TARGETS. 3) PROCS. SECTOR 16 CTLR IS CONSTANTLY CALLING FAI APCH WITH HDOFS AT THE YUKAN GATE BECAUSE FAI APCH CANNOT SEE THEM YET. WHY DO WE HAVE A PROC THAT HAS US PUTTING RECOVERING ACFT AT THAT POINT IF WE CANNOT EVEN HAND OFF THE ACFT THERE? YUKAN GATE GIVES US ABOUT 5 MI TO DO A HDOF. THIS IS DANGEROUS TO RUN HUNDREDS OF FIGHTERS DOING ANYWHERE FROM 350-450 MPH OVER THIS POINT JUST HOPING APCH WILL TAKE A HDOF. IF THEY DON'T TAKE THE HDOF BY YUKAN GATE YOU HAVE JUST HAD A DEV WITH APCH; BECAUSE IT WILL BE TOO LATE TO TURN THE FIGHTERS AWAY FROM APCH'S AIRSPACE. FAIRBANKS AREA IS KNOWN FOR ITS VERY ACTIVE TSTMS DURING THE SUMMER MONTHS. WE HAVE HAD PROBS WITH RECOVERING ACFT RUNNING INTO BAD WX CONDITIONS ALMOST EVERY YR. HOW COME THERE IS NO ALTERNATIVE PROC FOR WHEN THERE IS TSTM ACTIVITY OVER THE ARR GATE? 4) MIL. THEY ARE CONSTANTLY OUT OF THE AIRSPACE. I HEARD THAT WE ONLY PROCESSED 5 MIL PLTDEVS LAST YR AND THAT THIS REGION IS PROUD THAT THE MIL DOES SO WELL HERE COMPARED TO OTHER REGIONS. IF WE WOULD PROCESS A DEV EVERY TIME A PLT OF A MIL ACFT WOULD NOT DO WHAT THEY ARE CLRED TO DO; THE NUMBERS WOULD BE IN THE HUNDREDS A YR. WE HAVE SO MANY SPILLOUTS THAT WE DON'T EVEN CARE ANYMORE. THIS IS A VERY BIG CONCERN WHEN A PLT CAN ABUSE THE ATC SYS AND NOT EVEN KNOW ABOUT IT OR CARE ABOUT IT. THIS PROB IS NOT JUST A COPE THUNDER PROB BUT AN EVERYDAY ONE. 5) AIRSPACE. ATC TRANSITION AREA IS AN UNSAFE SIT WAITING TO HAPPEN. THIS IS AN AIRSPACE THAT IS OUR CTL FOR ACFT WANTING CLRNCS TO RECOVER BUT ONLY FOR THE MIL TO USE. MIL ACFT ARE PLAYING WAR GAMES IN THE SAME AREA THAT WE CLR PLANES FOR ARRS INTO EIL ARPT. WE COULD CLR AN F15 DIRECT YUKAN MAINTAIN FL240 AND THERE COULD BE SOMEONE IN FRONT OF HIM; HEAD-ON; DOING 500 MPH AND WE WOULD NOT EVEN SEE HIM ON OUR RADAR TO GIVE THE ADVISORY. HOW ARE WE TO DO OUR JOB IF WE DON'T KNOW WHO IS IN THE AREA? THESE ISSUES ARE NOT UNSOLVABLE. MOST OF THEM CAN BE ANSWERED WITH BETTER PLANNING OF PROCS; BETTER TRAINING OF PLTS; AND UNDERSTANDING OF WHAT FAI APCH CAN AND CANNOT DO. THESE SAFETY ISSUES NEED TO BE ADDRESSED SOON SO WE CAN START PLANNING FOR NEXT YR'S COPE THUNDER.