FORT RILEY, Kan. - Fort Riley will celebrate the official opening of its newest air traffic control service, the Airspace Information Center, with a ceremony at 10 a.m. Jan. 14 in Bldg. 732 on Marshall Army Air Field.

The purpose of the center is to provide support to the 1st Infantry Division Combat Aviation Brigade and to act as an en route air traffic control service to Army aircraft operating within the boundaries of the CAB's flying area.

Additionally, the center will be able to provide live-fire range updates to aircraft in the Fort Riley training area; monitor aircraft progress in flight and provide weather updates; and de-conflict multiple aircraft in the same area. The center is one of only four Army traffic control service facilities which uses an Information Display System-5, cutting edge technology for communications, said Ralph Millard, chief, Air Traffic Control.

This service will be transparent to local civil aviators, unless they choose to contact the AIC for information regarding military flights in the area. The facility purposely uses a frequency accessible to civilian aircraft for that reason.