Extender (KC-10A)
Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Air Traffic Control Time Certified In Pos 1 (yrs) 12
Communication Breakdown; Situational Awareness; Troubleshooting
ATC Issue All Types; Airspace Violation All Types; Conflict Airborne Conflict; Deviation - Altitude Excursion From Assigned Altitude; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Clearance
Air Traffic Control Issued Advisory / Alert; Air Traffic Control Provided Assistance
Procedure; Airspace Structure; Human Factors
I had just taken over sector 43. There was a re-fueler (Aircraft X) with a couple of flights. The flights had been difficult to deal with all day. (Cowboy Control works the Mountain Home Range Complex and they are not FAA certified Controllers; so we have to do a transfer of flight for each aircraft/flight entering or exiting the airspace.) Many were flights of 4 but when 2 of them were done re-fueling; they had been requesting to go back into the airspace then. There were no flight plans in the system for them; and they had been difficult all day going in and out the airspace without clearances.The Aircraft X was in the block 270B290 along with a couple flights. Aircraft Y was northwest bound at FL280. The previous controller had descended him from FL300 because the re-fueler had some aircraft that weren't RVSM capable. Aircraft Y was unable FL320. The previous controller and I had talked about this during the briefing and in the next couple minutes. We had thought Aircraft X would remain west of Aircraft Y; but it soon became apparent that it wasn't going to work. I turned Aircraft X to a heading of 300; then turned Aircraft Y 20 right; even though I knew that was going to make it difficult to keep him clear of the airspace. I maintained 5 miles; I believe; but probably not the required 6. Also; by the time I could turn Aircraft Y back to the left; I think they probably got within the protected airspace of the Mountain Home Range Complex. I didn't notice the closest point.Somewhere during this mess; there was a flight of 2 that called me wanting clearance into the range. They were supposed to be with Aircraft X but took it upon themselves to break off and fly over just south of the range; oh; and climb to FL300 also. None of that with a clearance. There was a lot of conversation off the line about what was happening; what was supposed to be happening; and trying to figure out which flight plans we needed to put in or update.I should have been more proactive separating the Aircraft X and keeping him out of the way. He had filed for FL200B220 and that would have worked much better; although the coordination would still be a pain. They need to either re-fuel in the airspace; or activate SADLE airspace and the corridor that goes between the range and SADLE; eliminating 90% of the coordination.
Aircraft X was orbiting at FL270B290. Aircraft Y; a flight of 4; and Aircraft Z also a flight of 4 were both inbound to the tanker at FL270B290. This altitude was at the tanker's request. I gave Aircraft X; Aircraft Y's position and asked him if he was Military Authority Assumes Responsibility for Separation of Aircraft (MARSA) since the flight was getting closer and was at the same altitude as the tanker. Aircraft X said no and asked me to have Aircraft Y contact him on the tanker frequency. The aircraft were separated laterally so I asked Aircraft Y to contact the tanker. Soon after I was told by the Front Line Manager (FLM) that two aircraft in the Aircraft Y flight had split off the flight and turned into the Mountain Home Range Complex (MHRC) without any clearance from me or my D side. Aircraft Z was still inbound to the tanker so I asked Aircraft X if he was going to refuel with Aircraft Z at the same time as ROGUE. He said yes; so I gave him the position of the Aircraft Z flight and asked him if he had MARSA. He said no because he wasn't talking to the flight. Soon after Aircraft Z said he needed a squawk code for his wingmen because [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] were going into MHRC and [2 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] were continuing on to the tanker. There was no flight plan on file for [the 2 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft]. My D side had to request a code and put in a new flight plan. Aircraft X still had not declared MARSA with the Aircraft Z flight so I had to turn them south out of he way since they were at the same altitude as the tanker. Aircraft Z asked me if he and [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] could continue their left turn into MHRC. I told them no because we were still trying to put in a flight plan for [2 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft]. The flight plan was finally entered and I had Aircraft Z flight maintain FL290 and [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] maintain FL270. My D side coordinated with Cowboy Control and I had [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] continue their left turn into MHRC. I then asked Aircraft X if he had MARSA on [2 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft]; he said negative and asked me to have the flight come up on tanker frequency. I did this and he finally declared MARSA. I terminated [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] radar service and told him frequency change approved. [1 of the 4 Aircraft Z aircraft] then climbed to FL290 with no further clearances from me. Aircraft Y was northwest bound at FL300 and was in conflict with the refuelers due to them being negative RVSM. I asked Aircraft Y if he was able FL320 for traffic. He said negative so I descended him to FL280 thinking I needed to get him underneath FL290. Soon afterwards I was offered a break. I felt like I had everything cleared up at this point so I briefed the oncoming controller on the sector and the mess that was the military mission. During the briefing I realized that Aircraft Y was still in conflict with the refueling flight and said that he needed to either be descended to FL260 or Aircraft X needed to be given present heading. I ended the briefing and stood behind the oncoming controller to make sure that he didn't have any other questions or that I didn't miss anything in he briefing. He realized the headings weren't working with Aircraft and Aircraft X; and descended Aircraft Y to FL260 and turned Aircraft X to a 300 heading. He then turned Aircraft Y right to ensure separation. I am not sure if he lost separation or not. I asked the D side to call Cowboy Control to let them know that Aircraft Y would be within the 3 mile protected airspace of MHRC before he was turned back on course. The complexity of the sector was very high at this point due to the military jets doing whatever they wanted without clearances from ATC. They were all negative RVSM and were not on the routes that their flight plans said they should have been. It was very distracting trying to figure out what they were doing as well as to keepup with the rest of the sector. When I was offered a break I thought that I was in a place where I could give a thorough position relief briefing. I should not have given the position up until I knew that Aircraft Y and Aircraft X were separated. Aircraft X was RVSM capable but the receivers were not so I should have updated the flight plan to show that the flight was now negative RVSM to allow for EDST [En-route Decision Support Tools] alerts. I also could have asked Aircraft Y if he was able to climb to FL310 until he was clear of the flight.
Salt Lake Center Controllers reported problems associated with a refueling operation and air traffic close proximity to a Restricted Airspace.