Members of the USS Bonhomme Richard (LHD 6) air traffic control (ATC) team wrapped up two weeks of simulation training at Naval Air Technical Training Center (NATTC) Aug. 23.

While the amphibious assault ship, homeported in San Diego, is undergoing a dry-dock planned maintenance availability period, it is being outfitted for the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter. The ship’s ATC Sailors are training for the transition.  

Lt. Cmdr. Mitch Deshotel and his team come to Pensacola two to three times a year to engage in training while not out at sea.

“Pensacola is a vital place for training,” said Deshotel. “Not only do the controllers come here for ‘A’ school, simulation rooms like these are how the team stays up-to-date on the latest technology.”

ATC and tactical air control squadron (TACRON) teams with a range of experience levels train at NATTC. The simulator training can range from basic to more advanced runs depending on what the team leader requests.

“The scenarios in the simulation are demonstrating amphibious air traffic control and what we could potentially see when we are out on deployment with an amphibious ready group,” said Deshotel.

NATTC ATC training’s main objective is team building. The teams are often the same division of about 15 personnel, and each trip serves to make the members more proficient and cohesive.

The team Deshotel brings is usually the same, attempting to keep the core group of those controllers who have been in the division the longest.

“We also bring anyone who has just recently reported to the ship in our division so we can build that group continuity, where we train just as we would operate as a team on deployment,” said Deshotel.

Air Traffic Controller 1st Class Bridgett Penate, the leading petty officer who has been working with the simulator program for one and a half years at NATTC, talked more on the actual evaluations and examinations the teams go through.

“While the teams are here for training, they get interim qualifications for using the simulators, which helps make up for the time they cannot get out to sea,” said Penate. “The teams do 60 runs and are graded by the type commanders. The entire team also takes a test of 100 questions, with 80% of questions depending on if they are from TACRON or ATC and the other 20% on the opposite command.”

The certification awarded from NATTC lasts 120 days.

NATTC is part of the Center for Naval Aviation Technical Training and graduates approximately 15,000 Navy, Marine Corps and international students annually. The largest part of this student body is comprised of enlisted personnel attending "A" schools designed to provide them with the knowledge and skill levels required to perform as technicians at the third class petty officer level.

CNATT develops, delivers and supports aviation technical training at 27 sites located throughout the continental United States and Japan. CNATT is a training center under Naval Education and Training Command, and is a technical training agent for the Naval Aviation Enterprise, an organization designed to advance and sustain naval aviation warfighting capabilities at an affordable cost.

Get more information about the Navy from US Navy facebook or twitter.

For more news from Naval Education and Training Command, visit www.navy.mil/.