ZAB CTLR DESCRIBED SHIFT WITH LIMITED STAFFING THAT RESULTED IN EXTENDED TIME ON POSITION.

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I FEEL IT IS VERY IMPORTANT TO BRING TO LIGHT THE STAFFING ISSUE AT ZAB (ALBUQUERQUE AIR RTE TFC CTL CTR). I WAS ASKED TO CHANGE MY REGULAR SHIFT DUE TO A SHORTAGE OF CTLRS. I AGREED BECAUSE I KNEW MY COWORKERS WOULD SUFFER A GREAT DEAL IF THERE WASN'T SOMEONE ELSE WILLING TO HELP THEM OUT. I HAD COME INTO WORK AT XA40 TO BEGIN MY DUTIES OF ATCS. I FELT VERY GOOD AND WAS DOING WELL KEEPING WITH THE TFC SITUATIONS. AFTER 1 HR AND 55 MINS ON POS; I WAS TOLD IT WAS IN MY BETTER INTEREST TO TAKE A BREAK SINCE AROUND XD00 THE STAFFING WAS GOING TO 'GET SLIMMER.' I TOOK A BREAK; AND CAME BACK TO WORK. AFTER RETURNING FROM A BREAK; I COULD SEE THE WX OVER NORTHEASTERN NM AND THE PANHANDLE OF TX HAD GROWN. I TOOK OVER A SECTOR AND BEGAN TO WORK. IT GOT PRETTY BUSY. I WAS DEALING WITH NUMEROUS REQUESTS TO DEVIATE FOR WX; ALONG WITH ACFT LOOKING FOR SMOOTHER RIDE CONDITIONS REQUESTING ALT CHANGES. AFTER ABOUT 40 MINS OF CONTINUOUS TFC; I WAS RELIEVED FROM THE POS TO ALLOW AN INSTRUCTOR AND HIS TRAINEE TO TRAIN. I WAS THEN UTILIZED TO PROVIDE A BREAK FOR A CTLR WHO WAS NEXT IN LINE FOR A BREAK. I SAT ON THIS NEW SECTOR FOR AN ADDITIONAL 1 HR AND 50 MINS. THIS SECOND SECTOR WAS BUSY; SITTING ADJACENT TO THE PREVIOUS SECTOR. THERE WERE MANY REQUESTS FOR WX DEVS; AS WELL AS NUMEROUS ALT REQUESTS. THE TFC LEVELS WOULD SLOW DOWN SOME AND INCREASE OVER TIME. THE TFC COMPLEXITY SEEMED TO COME IN WAVES EVERY 10 MINS OR SO; LASTING FOR ABOUT 20-30 MINS EACH 'PUSH.' AFTER WORKING FOR CLOSE TO 1 HR AND 50 MINS WITHOUT A BREAK; I BEGAN TO QUESTION THE SUPVR ABOUT THE STATUS OF THE BREAK LIST. I WAS ASKED 'WHY?' I TOLD THE SUPVR THAT I WANTED A BREAK. THE SUPVR STATED THAT I WAS THE FIRST ON THE LIST; AND THAT I WOULD GET RELIEVED WHEN THE 1 PERSON ON BREAK CAME BACK. DURING THE FINAL 35 MINS OF MY TIME ON POS; I WAS FEELING MENTALLY SPENT. I CALLED ACR XX; ACR XY ABOUT 6 TIMES; BEFORE THE PLT SAID 'CTR; DO YOU MEAN ACR XX?' I FOUND MYSELF USING WRONG FREQS. I CAUGHT THE READBACKS; BUT NONETHELESS; I WAS FIGHTING JUST TO KEEP NUMBERS FROM BEING TRANSPOSED. AFTER A TOTAL OF 2 HRS AND 33 MINS ON POS I WAS FINALLY RELIEVED AND WAS AFFORDED THE OPPORTUNITY TO TAKE A BREAK. FOR MOST OF THE NIGHT; THERE WAS ONLY 1 CTLR ON BREAK AT A TIME; OUT OF 8 WORKING CPC'S; WORKING 7 POS. THE AVERAGE TIME ON POS WAS JUST OVER 2 HRS ON POS PER CTLR FOR THE REMAINDER OF THE NIGHT. 1 HR AND 30 MINS INTO THE 3RD SESSION; THE SUPVR TERMINATED TRAINING; AND PUT 2 PEOPLE ON THE BREAK LIST AT A TIME. ON MY 3RD WORKING SESSION; I SKIPPED 3 BREAKS; KNOWING THAT I WAS GOING HOME AND THAT OTHER CTLRS WERE STAYING LATER WITH THE POSSIBILITY OF HAVING NO BREAKS. I SKIPPED MY 1ST BREAK 1 HR AND 45 MINS INTO MY 3RD SESSION. AFTER A TOTAL OF 2 HRS AND 20 MINS ON POS; I WAS RELIEVED TO GO HOME. INSTEAD OF COMBINING SECTORS AND UTILIZING TFC MGMNT INITIATIVES; THE SUPVR KEPT SECTORS OPEN THAT COULD HAVE BEEN COMBINED. THIS FORCED THE BREAK LIST TO MOVE VERY SLOWLY; WEARING OUT THE WORKFORCE FOR THE EVENING. I AM FEARFUL OF WHAT CAN HAPPEN DUE TO SHORT STAFFING. I AM TRULY CONCERNED NOT ONLY FOR THE FLYING PUBLIC; BUT FOR THE SAFETY OF THE CTLRS AS WELL.