Keeping the skies safe over Troy's twin 5,000-foot runways is a job best left to the specialists.

A team of Army air traffic control specialists, that is.

This team of soldiers, detached from Fort Rucker, staff the air traffic control operations at the airport.

"We're here every day, five days a week," said Sgt. Greg Crawford. "We provide service to anyone who flies into Troy – military, civilian or state."

Mostly, though the team provides assistance to military aircraft using the airport as a training and refueling facility.

Monday, for example, a C-130 cargo plane was on a training mission, it's student pilot undergoing instrument flight training.

Atop the tower, a four-person crew directs in-coming and out-going traffic on the field.

Specialist Chris Wright said there were some harrowing times in the tower.

"We had a crop duster doing barrel rolls, with no radio communications and two Cessena 182's and military traffic," he said. "He did a barrel roll over a UH-60 (helicopter).