Spectrum AEW&C?

[The Unknown Angel]

Studying up on real-life fighter squadrons, one of the key elements in any squadron is a Airborne Early Warning and Control Operator, or AEW&C (Often know as a AWACS.) Their function is command and control of the squadron. (Identify targets, and making sure the squadron is aware of any threats.)

So...who does AEW&C on Cloudbase? One assumes Lieutenant Green fills that role, but there's also the radar watch to consider.

I've considered creating a Lieutenant Cream as the Angel's dedicated AEW&C, to take some of the load off Green. But I'm still in two minds about it. Lieutenant Green is a very competent guy, who I'm sure can do AEW&C just fine, but I kinda feel the girls deserive someone who's a little more keyed-in to the command and control needs of the Angels, and handle radar watch sometimes.

So, would the Angels benefit from a dedicated AEW&C Operattor?

[Isabelle]

In NCS, Serena does assume the role in Enigma and she's directing the squadron even sometimes without White's input, so I figure Seymour would be doing the same. However, they do have a flight director and flight crew to work the FRED robots on Skybase.

Unless a new character is really required, I'd use the existing ones. Just remember that the more OCs you bring to the story, the farther you get from the canon characters that the readers want to read about, so you must choose your OCs wisely and use them wisely.

[Marion]

The 1967 CS annual gives a tour of Cloudbase (as made daily by the colonel on his inspection round )
It refers to a Monitor Room as 'the real nerve-centre of Cloudbase' it houses a 'vast complex of computers' and collects and collates global information that is then filtered so that only urgent information is transmitted to the Control Room. It is managed by a 'chief of computer staff', who is obviously not Lieutenant Green. There is also an Observation Room, which is a 'mass of telescanners, videoscanners, astroscopes, spacemascopes and Spectragram'. The Spectragram is described as the 'radar defence of Cloudbase. If any object enters a 500 mile radius... the Spectragram will register and immediate action will be taken'.

So, I would hazard a guess that there are at least two teams of people working to ensure that Green isn't swamped with unnecessary information, but that anything relevant gets sent to him and Colonel White for action to be taken. It is possible that one of these un-named officers specifically deals with the AWACS side of things. Control and command of the Angels seems to me to lie with the colonel, as it is he (or whoever is acting in his place - eg Captain Blue in 'White as Snow') who orders Angel launches.

As I think has been said, you may wish to drill down into the arcane workings of Cloudbase/Spectrum in order to ground your story in your own imagination - I did as much when I wrote about the 'housekeeping' staff in one of my stories - but unless these characters have a part to play in the plot/adventure/story narrative, it might be advisable to keep details to a minimum. Handling a 'cast of thousands' (as we say) creates problems of its own and most readers will be hoping to read your take on the canon characters - that is, the ones they recognise and like.
I have created characters in my stories that are there simply to allow me to have them killed by the Mysterons (killing off the main characters isn't a good idea!) and a few that I reuse to allow canon characters to get away from their designated posts (eg when Green goes off duty) or to provide some relevant details or point of view from outside of the circle of canon characters, which, hopefully, gives the reader a fresh insight because it allows you to put different slants on situations.

[Skybase Girl]

So, would the Angels benefit from a dedicated AEW&C Operattor?

Seems to me that would be your decision, Parker. I’m not sure why you feel you need our input on all this. If it makes sense to you, then create it and write it! We’ll look forward to seeing what you come up with.