Just over a year into the 21st century, the son of an Elmont woman is involved with a one-of-a-kind unit that is revolutionizing the way we do business on the battlefield. In the face of the recent attacks on American soil, and peacekeeping missions in strife-torn areas such as Kosovo and Bosnia, fresh and accurate information is critical to military commanders who need to make quick, decisive responses.

Air Force Staff Sgt. Richard O. Whittington, son of June Marcos of Elmont, is a member of a unique unit with the responsibility of giving commanders just that. Whittington is a member of the 112th Airborne Command and Control Squadron involved with the joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System or Joint STARS, designed to locate, identify and track ground targets, even under the most severe weather conditions.

The Joint STARS aircraft are Boeing 707s totally gutted and refitted with state-of-the-art surveillance and tracking equipment that give commanders almost immediate information on enemy troop movements and locations. The modified planes, called E-8C Joint STARS, are equipped with a series of consoles that are, in essence, digital processors that allow operators to track moving targets. The workstations and graphics displays on the consoles transform the various high-tech radars into both moving dots and visual images that show stationary targets as well as terrain features from more than 100 miles away.

Whittington plays a part in the Joint STARS mission as a communications systems technician evaluator. "I evaluate the job performance of the unit's communications systems technicians and report the results to the commander," he said. "The information I give the commander lets him know how well his people are doing."

Whether a pilot, communications technician or an administrative specialist, training for the Joint STARS mission requires both airmen and soldiers to go beyond the norm.

"I completed Joint STARS academic training, in-flight training on the Joint Tactical Information Distribution System and a system reliability course. I've also taken instructor and evaluator upgrade courses," he said.

Whittington and his fellow service members are in a unique unit that began operations in 1996 in Southwest Asia, Bosnia and Kosovo, flying hundreds of real-world sorties and compiling thousands of flying hours. The Joints STARS surveillance has taken on an increasingly important role in military operations.