Operation CALUMET: MFO flight-following services, courtesy of Canada

By Captain Kathy Falldien

Canadian peacekeepers play a pivotal role in the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO), the organization that supervises the security provisions of the Egypt–Israel Peace Treaty in the Sinai Peninsula. The largest group of Canadians is the six members of Flight Following Section at the MFO’s North Camp (also known as El Gorah), an airfield about 20 km southwest of the point where the borders of Egypt, Israel and the Gaza Strip meet.

The largest unit provided by the Canadian contingent, Flight Following Section consists of four junior non-commissioned members, one aerospace control operator at the rank of sergeant, and one aerospace controller at the rank of captain. Canadian flight followers have worked at El Gorah since the early years of the MFO, identified on the radio as “Centre North”,

Flight followers use radio communications to track MFO aircraft, provide alerting services when an MFO aircraft experiences a problem anywhere in the vast Sinai region, and provide weather reports. They also inspect the runway to ensure that it is functional and clear of debris — and livestock, and they are famous for brewing excellent coffee around the clock during flight operations.

Flight following in the Sinai region differs from air traffic control in Canada in several ways. Like flight service station operators in Canada, who are civilians, flight followers do not provide clearances or any other type of positive control to aircraft. Flight followers work without radar and have almost no direct view of the local airfield, so they have to rely on information from other MFO personnel to maintain situational awareness of fixed-wing flying operations.

As well as working shifts as they do at home, the Canadian flight followers fill their time with secondary contingent duties, periodic combat skills training, and MFO activities. If they’re not sitting behind a radio, they are driving in convoys, participating in other contingents’ parades, or helping out with events such as the annual Terry Fox Run.

It’s quite a privilege to be a flight follower in the Sinai — the job is a matchless opportunity to work with the multinational contingents of the MFO and aircrews from all over the world, and to experience the culture of the host countries, Egypt and Israel.