Doug Church : dchurch@natcadc.org ; 301 - 346 - 8245
Associate Director of Communications, Art & Design
Laura Roose: lroose@natcadc.org ; 202 - 220 - 9814
Communications Specialist
Sarah Zilonis : szilonis@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9844.
Multimedia Specialist
Chris Ray : cray@natcadc.org ; 202 - 266 - 9875
Senior Social Media Associate
Meagan Roper : mroper@natcadc.org ; 202 - 220 - 9813
WEEKLY UPDATE FROM FAA ATO COO TERI BRISTOL
Technical Operati ons Across the Caribbean
Hi everyone.
The non - stop nature of the national airspace system provides our Technical Operations
professionals with a constant set of ever - changing challenges to keep the lights on and
our systems humming.
Combine that work wi th providing for the long - term maintenance of critical aviation
infrastructure, fighting an ongoing battle against the dual forces of nature and time, the
construction of new facilities , and countless other electrical, mechanical, and structural
engineerin g projects and programs – and we're not even close to covering everything
these talented men and women do every day for the NAS.
A short message like this isn't the best place to list the wide scope of work performed by
our Technical Operations team. But it is the place to recognize the Miami District and
Puerto Rico Group in AJW for their amazing work under some remarkably challenging
conditions in the Caribbean.
The Miami District maintains equipment on 13 different Caribbean Islands through U.S.
agreem ents with six different governments, Puerto Rico , and the U.S. Virgin Islands. A
team of 260 ATSSs, engineers, managers, and administrative personnel are responsible
for 3,159 FAA facilities and supporting communications, navaids, surveillance, and
environ mental systems spread across more than 1,400 miles of open water from Florida
across the Caribbean Sea and Atlantic Ocean.
They operate in a variety of highly humid and corrosive environments ranging from
mountaintop rain forests to wetlands, swamps and w aterfront locations, with associated
flora and fauna and the annual threat of hurricanes and tropical storms. If the logistics of
moving people and equipment across islands and international borders wasn't
complicated enough, these technicians work under c onditions where basic services
(water, electricity, roads, telephones) are not guaranteed.
What we can guarantee are more operations and demand for air traffic navigation
services as trade and tourism in the region continues to increase. The key to our
