QUESADA ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR FAA ASSIMILATION OF MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SERVICES

• Document Type: CREST
• Collection: General CIA Records
• Document Number (FOIA) /ESDN (CREST): CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
• Release Decision: RIFPUB
• Original Classification: K
• Document Page Count: 10
• Document Creation Date: December 15, 2016
• Document Release Date: May 25, 2004
• Sequence Number: 8
• Publication Date: October 8, 1959
• Content Type: PREL

App pyy F kR[lVseAVJ1R7,/1QyOCRA-RRPa1E0A99&F00040
FAA-59-#81
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
Irv Ripps
ST3-2100 Ext. 3801
FOR RELEASE: AM's Thursday, October 8, 1959
QUESADA ANNOUNCES PLAN FOR FAA ASSIMILATION
OF MILITARY AIR TRAFFIC CONTROL SERVICES
E. R. Quesada, Administrator, Federal Aviation Agency,
has announced that the FAA is now preparing to assume the operation of
about 2,095 military air traffic control facilities at 337 global locations.
To handle the job, the Agency will need an additional 9,000 air traffic
controllers and 6, 000 maintenance technicians.
He made the announcement in a major address last night before
the fourth annual meeting of the Air Traffic Control Association in
Oklahoma City.
Speaking on the theme, "Project Friendship," at the conference
kick-off banquet at the Oklahoma Biltmore Hotel, Mr. Quesada stated
that "Once in operation, the project will offer better service for all users,
increased safety through personnel stability, greater economy through a
savings in overall manpower, and increased combat capability for the
military."
The FAA Administrator said that certain air traffic control
facilities and functions relative to military tactical type operation and
air warfare training will remain under military control.
Military flight inspection of air navigation facilities as well as
military flight services and air traffic controller training functions will
also come under the FAA. Mr. Quesada said that some of the flight
inspection functions can be absorbed by the end of this year. Other
functions and facilities will be phased in at a later date.
The FAA Administrator summarized his address saying,
"Project Friendship makes military aviation a special partner in a common
venture for the better use by all users of the nation's airspace. In this
respect, it represents the most progressive step taken to date to attain an
air traffic control service that this country needs and deserves ."
Attachment Approved For Release 2004/07/09: CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
FEDERAL AVIATION AGENCY
WASHINGTON 25, D. C.
FOR RELEASE: AM's Thursday, October 8, 1959
ADDRESS BY E. R. QUESADA, ADMINISTRATOR,
FEDERAL AVIATION AGENCY, BEFORE THE AIR
TRAFFIC CONTROL ASSOCIATION, OKLAHOMA
BILTMORE HOTEL., OKLAHOMA CITY, 7:00 P. M.
OCTOBER 7, 1959.
This evening I would like to discuss with you an FAA project of
tremendous importance. The success or failure of it will have a major
effect on this nation's security and national welfare for years to come.
The project is called "Friendship. "
It is a plan for FAA
assimilation of a large number of military functions and facilities pertaining
to air navigation and air traffic control--both domestically and overseas.
This project is of particular significance to you because as the
air traffic controllers of the Federal Aviation Agency, you are the people
who will put this project into operation and make it work. You will be the
nucleus of it, and you and the FAA will grow with it.
How did Project Friendship come about? Quite simply, its origin
is in the Federal Aviation Act of 1958. the Act that was passed by Congress
just about 13 months ago and which outlines our course of action for the
foreseeable future.
(more)
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
- 2 -
The Act sets us up as an independent Agency with all the
management functions necessary to support the common needs of military
and civil aviation in the United States. In effect, this means that we are
the only agency in the executive branch of the government to which the
President, the Congress, the public, and the aviation industry will look
to for leadership in the development of major aviation policy in the
This places a most serious responsibility upon us in that we are
charged with the development: of plans and programs to implement such
policies. Project Friendship is one of these programs.
This project bears on our responsibility to develop a unified air
navigation and traffic control system. . .one that will take into full account
both military requirements for our national defense and the needs of
civil aviation. In this principle, all users of the airspace -- the air
carriers, the military, and the general aviation interests, concur.
This philosophy of a unified system is not, of course, a brand-
new idea and should surprise no one. Ever since the law has provided
for air traffic control services in this country there has been considerable
joint activity between civil interests and the military. The very nature of
the air missions of both make it absolutely necessary that cooperation
between the two be complete. Without such cooperation and understanding
in such a complicated business as aviation there would be absolute chaos
in the air, and perhaps at a time when the nation could afford it the least.
The participation of military personnel in the operation of the
Agency is an example of such. cooperation. As of July 15, 1959, the
Agency had 132 military personnel on duty with thevarious Bureaus and
Offices in the headquarters and at the National Aviation Facilities
Experimental Center in Atlantic City, N. J. Ten vacancies remained
to be filled. Of the 132, 70 are Air Force officers, 39 are Navy
(including Marine Corps) officers, and 23 are Army officers. We are
also thinking about detailing a small number of military personnel to
the Regions and Centers.
The present system of radar flight following and traffic advisory
service for civil jets is another example of civil-military cooperation.
It started as a crash program to provide increased high altitude safety
to the first civil jets that began carrying passengers in late 1958. The
service would not have been possible without the use of the Air Force's
long range radar.
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
The Air Force and the FAA joined hands- last year to improve
safety in terminal areas, by expanding their control procedures to
provide radar traffic advisory service to all pilots, whether operating
VFR or IFR.
We have worked out arrangements with the military on the use
of climb-corridor restricted areas which have not affected air defense
requirements and have made it possible to free large blocks of airspace
for civil use.
In the same way, we have worked out with SAC, TAC and other
military commands satisfactory agreements for the use of reserved air
refueling areas, both to reduce the potential for collision and to provide
additional airspace for routine operations.
We have an arrangement with the military to operate RAPCONs
(Radar Approach Control) for the Air Force and RATCCs (Radar Air
Traffic Control Center) for the Navy.
Several months ago we signed an agreement with DOD and the
Air Force to establish nine! FAA centers for enroute air traffic control
at Air Force SAGE super combat centers. Some of the functions found
to be common to air traffic control and air defense are identification,
flight following and radar surveillance. We felt that joint use of
facilities would contribute to the identification capability of the air
defense system and to centralized control of air traffic in the event of
an emergency.
There have been many other cases of fruitful cooperative
programs with the military. These have resulted in improved air traffic
control service, better facility operation, and in better maintenance
standards. We have had a number of successful exchange training
programs. We have trained military air traffic controllers at our
Oklahoma City center and more recently the Air Force has helped prepare
a number of our flight operations inspectors to meet jet requirements by
providing them a full course of training in the SAC jet KC-135 program
at Castle Air Force Base, California.
These cooperative programs represent a great economy in the
use of manpower and money by avoiding the duplication of facilities,
equipment and functions. They have provided and will continue to provide
savings to the government of hundreds of millions of dollars as well as
provide a greater assurance of .safety in the jet age. Wherever we can
use the same equipment, facilities, techniques, and people--without
compromising the mission of either agency- -everyone is better off,
including the taxpayer, who foots the bill.
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
These joint activities represent the beginnings of a unified
air traffic control system--one that will provide for the safe and
efficient use of the airspace and be compatible with civil and national
defense requirements in peace and war.
To this end, the Federal Aviation Act of 1958 provides for the
transfer to the FAA of functions, facilities, and activities of other
executive agencies of the government which, and I quote Section 304
of the Act: "relate primarily to selecting, developing, testing, evaluating,
establishing, operating and maintaining systems, procedures,
facilities or devices for safe and efficient air navigation and traffic
control. "
The President is empowered by this.section of the Act to
effect such a transfer at his discretion.
It is clear that the intent of the Act, when it becomes fully
effective, is for the FAA to absorb the bulk of the air traffic control
functions now being performed by the military departments. The
Department of Defense is in complete agreement with this principle.
Once in operation, the system will offer better service for all
users, increased safety through personnel stability, greater economy
through a savings in overall :manpower, and increased combat capability
for the military. The transfer will be one of considerable magnitude
and will have to be handled on a gradual basis.
We initiated Project Friendship last May to determine in
consultation with the Defense Department which military functions
pertaining to air navigation and air traffic control - - both domestically
and overseas -- should be transferred to the Agency, when the transfers
should be made, and the time-phasing necessary. Of key importance in
this project has been the support and understanding of the Defense
Department as well as all civil aviation interests.
Project Friendship has involved nine major tasks:
1. To identify air navigation and air traffic control facilities and
services suitable for FAA assimilation.
2. To develop personnel training requirements.
3. To develop a support program.
4. To study the requirements for assimilating DOD flight inspection
functions.
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
5. To develop a program for assimilating certain military
flight service functions.
6. To design a program for performing appropriate DOD
activities in overseas areas.
7. To determine FAA's research and development requirements
in connection with the transferred military activities.
8. To develop budget estimates.
9. Finally, and most critical to the success of the project, the
preparation of adequate personnel legislation that is necessary before the
military services can relinquish certain of their facilities.
The accomplishment of these tasks has brought out a number of
complex problems that will have to be overcome before we can fully
implement the project. We have found solutions to some, others have
been elusive.
Agreements must be reached with the Defense Department and
with foreign countries, or compromises effected, before certain segments
of the overall project can be carried out. The program will remain
flexible in application until the final plan is set and coordinated with all
parties concerned. Even then, alternate courses of action will be
developed and held in the event modifications are necessary. The project
is still subject to a wide range of imponderables ranging from political
considerations to budgeting limitations. For this reason we have
concentrated on a planning program that will meet almost any contingency.
The functions scheduled for transfer fall into four specific areas:
flight inspection, flight services, air traffic control training, and air
traffic control services.
Our analysis of the project to date has revealed that there are
some 2095 military air navigation and air traffic control facilities spread
out over 337 global locations. Of the 337 locations, 98 are in 17 foreign
nations. We also discovered that the operation of these 2095 facilities
currently required approximately 20, 000 military personnel. We have
estimated that we can do the job with one-third fewer people, or about
13, 300, of whom 3500 will be needed to man the overseas facilities.
V
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
To illustrate the economy envisioned by Project Friendship,
Andrews Air Force Base in Washington handles about 234, 000 traffic
operations a year, utilizing 105 personnel to man tower, RAPCON, and
GCA facilities. We estimate the same workload can be handled by a
total of 68 FAA controllers, maintenance and administrative people
since civilian employees do not require the support services the
military need. To the government, Project Friendship in the long run
will represent many millions of dollars saved in operating and maintenance
of such facilities.
In considering the kind.of military air traffic control and flight
service functions suitable for assimilation, we concentrated on prime
military locations where civil and military traffic was intermixed, or
where the service to be delivered would provide greater benefits to
users. Naturally, the locations possessing radar approach control
service fulfilled this requirement, so that was given prime consideration.
Certain functions, facilities and equipment peculiar to air
warfare training, or which are tactical in nature, will remain under
military authority.
With regard to military flight services, the scope of our study
was limited to functions where FAA and Military Flight Service are
engaged in similar activities. This would include such things as handling
non-tactical military flight plans, provision of air traffic control and
military approval flight clearances, and handling military flight movement
data. The functions we selected were VFR and IFR flight plans, alerting
of Search and Rescue, and direction finder coordination. These were
considered to be largely air traffic management activities.
The tentative time phasing for absorbing military facilities will
be a coordinated FAA-DOD responsibility. The transfer of facilities
could be accomplished at the rate of about 20 military locations per
quarterly period. The project provides for assimilating a proportionate
number of overseas facilities at the same time we take over domestic
stations. This will give military commanders a domestic operations and
training base for meeting their overseas requirements until such time as
these overseas facilities can be manned by FAA.
We will be faced with. meeting heavy recruitment and training
requirements. We hope to conduct the entire training program at the
Oklahoma City center. To do this, and speed it up, we may have to go
to night classes. If necessary, we will also use military training
facilities. We plan to construct two new school buildings at the Aeronautical
Center: one for facilities training, the other for air traffic management.
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
Our target date for building construction is July 1, 1961. Project
Friendship personnel requirements over a 5-year period--assuming
a 100 percent transfer of military facilities--call for training 9000
controllers and 6000 maintenance technicians.
Our plans for taking over air traffic control services will
necessarily remain tentative until such time as adequate personnel
legislation is passed. We can, however, start assimilating. some flight
inspection functions by the end of this year and probably complete the
entire transfer in two years. Military flight services could be absorbed
within the present FAA structure by mid-1960.
To get the program off the ground and meet requirements for
initial training and manning of the first group of facilities we will
operate, we will initially establish 2109 new positions. Of these, 393
will be in training, 1071 will be in air traffic. management, 545 in
facilities, and 100 in supporting services such as personnel, supply
and accounting.
inherent in the functions of the Agency and making legislative recommenda-
tions to the Congress on or. before January 1, 1960, with regard to these
problems. This study must consider various personnel needs including
the requirements for special qualifications and training; retirement and
hours of service; and special provisions to assure -- and I quote from
the Act -- "availability, responsiveness, and security status of essential
personnel in fulfilling national defense requirements."
Federal Aviation Act of 1958 with making a study of personnel problems
lengthen the training period. With respect to controller personnel, we
will look to the military services for assistance.
As the Administrator, I am charged by Section 302 (g) of the
The establishment of air navigational facilities will require
additional flight inspection aircraft, facilities training equipment such
as VORs ILS, ARSR, ASR,TACANs and communications equipment.
In addition, we will put up a number of buildings to house this equipment
. The problem of recruitment will be one of our biggest headaches.
We expect virtually no maintenance personnel to be available for transfer
from the military services. We will therefore have to go to a labor
market in which electronic technicians and engineers will be in very short
supply. If necessary, we may have to reduce qualification standards and
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
Now, the crucial significance of this personnel legislation can
be found in the legislative history of the Act. This clearly indicates
that the transfer of the military aviation functions we have been discussing
cannot take place on any comprehensive basis unless the personnel
structure of the FAA is stable enough to guarantee service under all
conditions.
It is my intention to propose legislation to the Congress that
will not only satisfy national defense as well as civil aviation requirements,
but will offer the kind of inducement for career service that would be
attractive enough in itself to guarantee a stable personnel structure for
the Agency.
I realize that the 'job of the controller is highly technical and
is subject to great pressures over long, nerve-wracking hours of
service. I am familiar, too, with the frequent disruptions an air
traffic controller encounters in his personal life, especially in the case
of those who work in high. density areas. Factors with regard to
various employee benefits are considered in our legislative planning
along with the more technical requirements that must be satisfied.
The FAA is for the most part the sole civil employer of the
kind of technical specialists that are needed for essential FAA operations.
After- Project Friendship has been fully implemented, the military
services will no longer be any significant source for the recruitment of
trained air traffic control .personnel. Controllers and technicians will
have to be recruited from among people capable of becoming effectively
qualified in such jobs. Developing a proficient controller or maintenance
technician requires two to three years of the kind of training and experience
that will be obtainable only in the FAA. With such a major training
investment, the Agency should be able to retain such people for an extended
period of time, if only to amortize its investment. We are, therefore,
interested in creating the framework for rewarding and useful careers
in air traffic control.
There is still another consideration -- an overseas personnel
rotation program. This will be necessary to operate and maintain the
overseas facilities we plan to absorb under Project Friendship. Sometime
during their careers, most FAA employees will have to be prepared to
take on extended tours of overseas duty. Without a stable personnel
structure, the overseas program could well fold up.
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
 Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5
An effective personnel structure is, in the. final analysis, always
based upon a mature sense of responsibility, a dedication to duty, and
high esprit de corps among the employees involved. An organization with
such a structure is characteristically competent, respected, well-paid,
and thoroughly disciplined --- a "blue-ribbon" organization in which
membership is both an honor and a privilege.
In sum, the kind of personnel legislation we plan to submit to
Congress will include elements intended to attract qualified FAA
employees to a distinct career se_rvi?ce within the Agency. Such a
service would offer appropriate benefits in return for which employees
might be expected to accept :limitations on certain personal privileges.
We must, in any event, insure the Agency's capability to continue
its essential functions in war and peace. We must be able to make
necessary transitions from normal to emergency operation, if need be,
without loss of effectiveness, or unnecessary disruption to essential
operations.
In summary, Project Friendship makes military aviation a
special partner in a common venture for the better use by all users of
the nation's airspace. In this respect, it represents the most progressive
step taken to date to attain an air traffic control service that this country
needs and deserves.
#########
Approved For Release 2004/07/09 : CIA-RDP91-00965R000400040008-5