Operations Room

Aeronautical Control Room Officers

Aeronautical Control Room Officers are essential to coordinating search-and-rescue efforts and are based at HM Coastguard's Joint Rescue Coordination Centre.

Aeronautical Control Room Officers

The role of an Aeronautical Control Room Officer (ACRO) involves the efficient coordination of aeronautical search and rescue (SAR) incidents, and the efficient and effective tasking, deployment and coordination of UK SAR aviation assets, within the land and sea areas of the UK search-and-rescue region.

Two fixed-wing HMCG aircraft

Responsibilities of an Aeronautical Control Room Officer:

  • Receiving, logging, and assessing requests from authorised stakeholders and emergency services for Search and Rescue (SAR) aircraft assistance.
  • Identifying, tasking, and deploying the most suitable SAR aviation asset(s) to all supported requests.
  • Coordinating the response to aeronautical incidents and those incidents requiring SAR aviation assets, as assigned to them by the Team Leader (Aviation) or JRCC Commander (Air), to support maritime, aeronautical, and inland SAR requests.
  • Providing continuation services and casualty care pathway services to tasked and deploying SAR aircrew, as needed.
  • Participating in post-incident reviews and hot debriefs as required.
  • Assisting operational management in accurate data capture and reporting requirements by ensuring all incident and post-incident data reporting is accurate and updated.
  • Charlie Boyle - Aeronautical Control Room Officer
    Charlie Boyle
    Aeronautical Control Room Officer
    5 Years of Service

    Hear from one of our Aeronautical Control Room Officers

    What do you enjoy most about the role?
    I think the job satisfaction, knowing that you're helping to rescue people and save lives. There is a great team that you work with and often deal with really interesting situations.

    What are you most proud of in your role?
    Just helping people. I think the fact that I contribute to helping save lives is a massive thing. It's pretty cool to say I coordinate search and rescue helicopters as well, I'm proud of what I do.

    What advice would you give someone looking to apply to become an Aeronautical Control Room Officer?
    Go for it! It’s a challenging but rewarding role. Sometimes you are very busy and have to deal with a lot of things at once, so you need to be able to keep calm under pressure and be able to multitask. But there are also lots of periods of down time when you might not have any jobs. Be open minded and keen to learn. 

    Also, the shifts are great, don’t let the idea of night shifts put you off as you quickly get used to them and you get lots of time off, making for a great work/life balance.

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