The air traffic control Marines from Marine Corps Air Station Futenma are serving at landing zones in Muzaffarabad and Shinkiari in an operation to provide medical treatment and humanitarian aid to those affected by the massive Oct. 8 earthquake. They have coordinated more than 2,500 helicopter take-offs and landings and have helped in the delivery of 9.5 million pounds of humanitarian supplies via helicopter.

“I’ve never seen anything like this,” said Lance Cpl. Lewis Dever, an air traffic controller at Muzaffarabad. “We are seeing about 200 operations between 8 a.m. and 4:30 p.m. everyday. MCAS Futenma operates from 7 a.m. thru 11 p.m. and sees about 50 operations a day.”

The Marines are there to coordinate air traffic control procedures which includes communicating radio contact procedures with the tower and the altitudes to maintain when arriving or departing the airfield, according to Staff Sgt. Eric Grussing, the Marine Corps air traffic control mobile team leader. They are working with Pakistani air traffic controllers to ensure safe landings and departures of all aircraft entering or leaving Muzaffarabad and Shinkiari.

Grussing said he has been an air traffic controller for 16 years and has never seen an airfield as busy as Muzaffarabad.

“I’ve seen some amazing things get done over here,” Grussing said. “In one day, two humanitarian aid helicopters moved 180 tons of supplies. I couldn’t believe it.”

The amount of supplies being moved daily has run smoothly and is the result of a multi-national effort to help the people of Pakistan, according to Grussing.

“We’ve had about 10 different types of helicopters from close to 10 countries running out of Muzaffarabad and there hasn’t been a mishap thus far,” Grussing said. “That is a testament to the dedication of everyone who is here helping.”

Grussing said when his team arrived in Pakistan they were kindly welcomed by their Pakistani counterparts.

“I was surprised at how professional and knowledgeable the Pakistanis are at air traffic control,” Grussing said. “The men we work with could operate anywhere in the States and be successful.”

The air traffic controllers said they didn’t realize how important their Job was until they flew on a helicopter delivering humanitarian supplies and witnessed the devastation first-hand.

“Some people had nothing,” Dever said. “Looking around and seeing the people receiving the supplies really hit home and made us realize how crucial these flights really are to the Pakistani people.”