Air Force Communicators, Air Traffic Controllers Association to meet in September Published July 8, 2011 By Lori Manske 2011 Convention Host St. Louis, Ill. -- When Air Force communications and air traffic control veterans meet in St. Louis in September to relive memories and swap stories, they will share a bond that few understand. This band of brothers and sisters includes members from around the nation who have proudly served this country since World War II through current missions in Iraq and Afghanistan. The annual convention is the premiere event for members of the Air Force Communicators and Air Traffic Controllers Association, and it's held in a different area of the country each year. This year they will meet in St. Louis from Sept. 21-25. The gathering will serve as a living history of military communications and air traffic control. Many in this association saw air traffic control take a technological leap forward with the introduction of radar in the 1950s. Some saw air and ground radio stations transform from continuous wave Morse Code to radio telephone. Many of the veterans witnessed the advent of the computer. They all helped the military increase the quantity and quality of communications and air traffic controls systems to meet the changing needs of modern warfare. The group includes a retired general officer who began his Air Force communications career in 1968 after completing 500 Vietnam combat missions as a pilot. Another member managed the largest communications security account in the world at Tan Son Nhut AB, Vietnam. In 1971, he served his second tour in Vietnam at Pleiku Air Base, terminating all communication activities within 80 days and earning the Bronze Star. Another veteran, a retired chief master sergeant often called a "one-of-a-kind" air traffic controller, served from 1962 to 1991, and is credited with six aircraft saves--two in combat situations. Still another retired chief was sent to Korea in 1968 to install a secure voice network at all bases there after the USS Pueblo was attacked by North Korean forces. One of the group's members entered the Air Force in 1948. He completed a crash course for cryptographic operators before being assigned to Germany in support of the Berlin Airlift--the largest humanitarian campaign the world had ever seen. The Association is comprised of communicators, information/cyber, space operations, air traffic controllers, air field managers, maintenance, engineering and installation and other support personnel who have served or are serving in any communications or air traffic control unit. The group welcomes new members. This event is a unique opportunity to honor and remember those who served alongside each other to protect and defend our country's freedom.