Military Tower

Military airfields operate differently from the civilian airports most pilots are familiar with. While they also have a control tower and a radar unit comparable to an approach controller, the vertical extent of the radar-controlled airspace is significantly lower than in civilian operations. Before addressing radar services in more detail, this section focuses on the responsibilities of the Tower position.

Reference Documentation
Charts and airspace information for German, English and many more military airfields can be found in the Mil AIP at www.milais.org/

Weather Information

Airfield Color States

Unlike civilian control towers, military towers do not provide an ATIS. Instead, weather conditions are communicated using a standardized color code system. In addition to the color state, pilots must be informed of the current QNH and the runway in use.

The color codes and their corresponding weather minima are listed below. If the reported visibility and cloud ceiling would result in different color states, the color representing the more restrictive conditions is applied.

BLU+: Cloud ceiling below 20,000 ft with more than half of the sky covered (excluding BKN or OVC below 20,000 ft)
BLU: Visibility at least 8,000 m, cloud ceiling at or above 2,500 ft
WHT: Visibility at least 5,000 m, cloud ceiling at or above 1,500 ft
GRN: Visibility at least 3,700 m, cloud ceiling at or above 700 ft
YLO1: Visibility at least 1,600 m, cloud ceiling at or above 500 ft
YLO2: Visibility at least 1,600 m, cloud ceiling at or above 1,600 ft
AMB: Visibility at least 800 m, cloud ceiling at or above 800 ft
RED: Visibility below 800 m, cloud ceiling below 200 ft, or vertical visibility unknown (VV//)
BLACK: Runway closed for reasons other than weather

The White color state is still considered sufficient for VMC operations, where as Green conditions require IFR procedures.

An example may sound:

ETNT_TWR

PACK21 Nörvenich Tower moin QNH 1001, Active Runway 22, colorcode BLU+