Displaced AFSS "controllers" heading for BIL and GRB

Well Newps,

The bids have come out for displaced Flight Service controllers to enter the
terminal ATC environment. Looks like KBIL is one of the places they will be
selecting into. I don't see a single ARTCC on the list, just ATC level 6,7
and 8 terminal facilities.

Good luck...

Chip, ZTL



FAA Bid announcement follows:

Open Date: Apr 04,2005
Close Date: Apr 25,2005
Position: Air Traffic Control Specialist,(CPC,ATC-7 Level),AT-2152-GH
Salary Range: $44,991 to $89,982
Duty Location(s): See NOTE for all Locations, United States
Organization Location: Central Region, This National Bid Announcement covers
ATCS position vacancies at the following ATC-7 Level Facilities (See NOTE
for all Facilities),

PCS: No PCS Expenses will be paid.

Area of Consideration: Surplus/Displaced FV-2152 AFSS and FSDPS employees

Duties: Serves as a controller in a Level 7 terminal facility responsible
for the safe, orderly, and expeditious flow of air traffic.

NOTE: ATC-7 Level Facilities EASTERN TERMINAL SERVICE AREA: Burlinton, VT
(BTV) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Morristown, NJ (MMU) Limited Radar -
Entry Level D3 Huntsville Tower, AL (HSV) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2
Nantucket, MA (ACK) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Lexington, KY (LEX)
Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Montgomery, AL (MGM) Up/Down - Entry Level D2
CENTRAL TERMINAL SERVICE AREA: Abilene, TX (ABI) Up/Down Facility - Entry
Level D2 Baton Rouge, LA (BTR) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Champaign,
IL (CMI) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Grand Forks, ND (GFK) Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Kalamazoo, MI (AZO) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2
Lafayette, LA (LFT) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Longview, TX (GGG)
Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Lubbock, TX (LBB) Up/Down Facility - Entry
Level D2 Muskegon, MI (MKG) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Omaha, NE
(OMA) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Palwaukee, Wheeling, IL (PWK) - Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Peoria, IL (PIA) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2
Roswell, NM (ROW) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Saginaw, MI (MBS)
Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Shreveport, LA (SHV) Up/Down Facility -
Entry Level D2 South Bend, IN (SBN) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2
Youngstown, OH (YNG) Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2 Amarillo, TX (AMA)
Up/Down Facility - Entry Level D2

WESTERN TERMINAL SERVICE AREA: Merrill Field, Anchorage, AK (MRI) Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Billings, MT (BIL) Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Brackett,
San Diego, CA (POC) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Burbank, CA (BUR) Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Camarillo, CA (CMA) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3
Chino,CA (CNO) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Eugene, OR (EUG) Up/Down -
Entry Level D2 Fairbanks, AK (FAI) Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Falcoln Field,
Meza, AZ (FFZ) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Hilo Int'l, Hawaii (ITO)
Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Kahului, Hawaii (OGG) Limited Radar - Entry Level
D3 Moses Lake, WA (MWH) Up/Down - Entry Level D2 McClellen/Palomar,
Carlsbad, CA (CRQ) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 N. Las Vegas, NV (VGT)
Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Montgomery, San Diego, CA (MYF) Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Palo Alto, CA (PAO) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3
Pasco/Tri-Cities, WA (PSC) Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Prescott, AZ (PRC) VFR -
Entry Level D3 Pueblo, CO (PUB) Up/Down - Entry Level D2 Santa Monica, CA
(SMO) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 San Diego/Gillespie, CA (SEE) Limited
Radar - Entry Level D3 Scottsdale, AZ (SDL) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3
San Jose'/Red Hill View, CA (RHV) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3 Torrance,
CA (TOA) Limited Radar - Entry Level D3

What is a "Flight Service Controller"?
-Robert, CFI

ATM says a lot of them have called. We won't be taking any as we are
overstaffed right now. Bozeman is getting radar. The city fathers want
it so bad they are buying the radar themselves. ZLC doesn't want
anything to do with it. It looks like we will be working it from here.
At that point we might need a couple more controllers. That would
probably make us level 9. There's also a possibility that Great Falls
will lose their TRACON and we would also work that too, as a level 10.
Imagine that, level 10 and able to get the day off whenever I need it.
We will be moving into our new tower Aug 2006 and the TRACON is huge.
Political pressure is already being applied from our end and from
ZLC's end. ZLC airspace guys are already drawing up the new approach
control airspace for BZN. So time will tell.

Chip Jones wrote:
Well Newps,

The bids have come out for displaced Flight Service controllers to enter the
terminal ATC environment. Looks like KBIL is one of the places they will be
selecting into. I don't see a single ARTCC on the list, just ATC level 6,7
and 8 terminal facilities.

Good luck...

Chip, ZTL

"Chip Jones" wrote:
Up/Down Facility -

What's that? Sounds like an elevator.
--
Dan
C172RG at BFM

Dan Luke wrote:
"Chip Jones" wrote:

Up/Down Facility -


What's that? Sounds like an elevator.

We don't have an elevator here at BIL. That'll be one of the upgrades
when we move into the new tower. An up/down is a tower whose
controllers work both in the tower and in the radar room.

"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...
What is a "Flight Service Controller"?
-Robert, CFI


The FAA specialists who worked in Flight Service Stations were air traffic
controllers by government job title (GS-2152). Thus, they called themselves
air traffic controllers, although they didn't control air traffic. The
Flight Service Station "controller" jobs (2500 of them) have been
privatized, given to Lockheed Martin in a huge money grab. LockMart pays
the salaries, and your tax dollars pay for everything else in the deal. FSS
will now be a "for profit" business and Lockheed will reap a profit at the
expense of their employees, who stand to lose their pensions, benefits etc
after years and years of government service. The FSS "controllers" who are
eligible to remain in the FAA (about 250) have been offered tower jobs at
the smaller FAA terminal facilities.

Chip, ZTL

Chip Jones wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

What is a "Flight Service Controller"?
-Robert, CFI



The FAA specialists who worked in Flight Service Stations were air traffic
controllers by government job title (GS-2152). Thus, they called themselves
air traffic controllers, although they didn't control air traffic. The
Flight Service Station "controller" jobs (2500 of them) have been
privatized, given to Lockheed Martin in a huge money grab. LockMart pays
the salaries, and your tax dollars pay for everything else in the deal. FSS
will now be a "for profit" business and Lockheed will reap a profit at the
expense of their employees, who stand to lose their pensions, benefits etc
after years and years of government service. The FSS "controllers" who are
eligible to remain in the FAA (about 250) have been offered tower jobs at
the smaller FAA terminal facilities.

But every one of these guys knew this was coming. Twenty years ago
everybody going into FSS was told that it was forseeable that technology
would eliminate their jobs. Personally I think the new FSS will be many
orders of magnitude better than what we have now.

Newps wrote:

Chip Jones wrote:
"Robert M. Gary" wrote in message
oups.com...

What is a "Flight Service Controller"?
-Robert, CFI




But every one of these guys knew this was coming. Twenty years ago
everybody going into FSS was told that it was forseeable that technology
would eliminate their jobs. Personally I think the new FSS will be many
orders of magnitude better than what we have now.

It certainly has the potential of being better.

The old rumor around the flight line was that many FSS specialists were controller
initial-hire trainees who couldn't complete the course at OKC or perhaps at their
first ATC facility.

Newps wrote:

Dan Luke wrote:
"Chip Jones" wrote:

Up/Down Facility -


What's that? Sounds like an elevator.

We don't have an elevator here at BIL. That'll be one of the upgrades
when we move into the new tower. An up/down is a tower whose
controllers work both in the tower and in the radar room.

Help me with this Bozeman deal. You say the city fathers are buying the
terminal radar. I presume this will be an ASR-9? I gather there will not
be a tower TRACON. Did you say it has been finalized that ZLC will
provide the approach control services via the new ASR-X as opposed to
center radar, which I presume to be spotty in that area, at least for
terminal services.

Why wouldn't they pipe this new Bozeman ASR to a nearby TRACON, like MSO
goes to Spokane and KMFR goes to Eugene?

And, Great Falls TRACON is going to shut down? Is that because it is a
USAF facility? I know that USAF TRACONS have been known to shut down but
I have never heard in recent years of an FAA TRACON shutting down.

Do you know of any other instance where a center provides approach control
services using an ASR local to the airport, as opposed to using center
radar?

Thanks for the info.

wrote in message ...

The old rumor around the flight line was that many FSS specialists were
controller
initial-hire trainees who couldn't complete the course at OKC or perhaps
at their
first ATC facility.


That's not a rumor, many FSS specialists are ATC washouts. Back when there
were ATC washouts, that is. The pattern was if you washed out on manual
control you went to a FSS, if you washed out on radar you went to a VFR
tower.