TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Col. Kenneth Voigt, Commander of the 552nd Air Control Wing (ACW), joins us on the latest edition of the Tinker Talks Podcast.
Voigt assumed command of the 552 ACW in June 2023 and is no stranger to the wing, as 23 years ago he came to the 552 ACW as a 2nd Lieutenant air weapons officer and more recently served as the commander of the 552nd Air Control Group.
In this podcast, hosted by Mark Hybers, Voigt discusses the significance of the 552 ACW to the overall Department of Defense mission, the E-3’s replacement and why in the day in age of technology, that people are still at the heart of the mission.
The mission of the 552nd Air Control Wing, also known as America’s Wing, is to train, develop, and employ combat-ready Airmen and weapons systems to deliver decisive Command of the Air supporting America's national security priorities.
It is home to an icon in Oklahoma skies, the E-3 Sentry (AWACS), a modified Boeing 707/320 commercial airframe with a rotating radar dome. The dome is 30 feet (9.1 meters) in diameter, six feet (1.8 meters) thick, and is held 11 feet (3.33 meters) above the fuselage by two struts. It contains a radar subsystem that permits surveillance from the Earth's surface up into the stratosphere, overland or water.
Listen to the latest Tinker Talks podcast on iTunes or Spotify.