Narrative:

I was working traffic management unit when [military special use airspace facility] called and wanted to give back their airspace. They called and said they would keep [warning area X] and [warning area Y] active surface to 15000 feet. I asked them if that was it; they responded yes and the coordination was complete. I then went through our checklist and made all of their airspace cold except for [warning area X] and [warning area Y]. I then called the areas including [the adjacent center] to advise them of the change. After that I was relieved and went on break. Less than an hour later [military special use airspace facility] called and wanted to verify their airspace which is when the traffic management unit learned that they had intended to only change [warning area X] and [warning area Y] and keep the rest of their airspace active as it had been. So for about an hour we were showing their airspace cold while they were showing it hot. I am not sure how many aircraft flew through the military airspace because of it. The amount of coordination and work that is involved in the traffic management position at ARTCC is unsafe. There is so much airspace going active and cold all the time and the workload involved in coordinating the airspace is so much that things do get missed from time to time. I am not sure if I have a fix to the position but there has to be an easier way to coordinate in real time the active military airspace. I think that [military special use airspace facility] needs to be clearer when they are communicating with the mission's position what they need when they are calling up or down airspace.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ARTCC Traffic Management Controller coordinated military special use airspace status with the military controlling facility. Due to a miscommunication; the ARTCC controller and the military facility were not aligned as to what airspace was under military control.

Narrative: I was working Traffic Management Unit when [Military Special Use Airspace Facility] called and wanted to give back their airspace. They called and said they would keep [Warning Area X] and [Warning Area Y] active surface to 15000 feet. I asked them if that was it; they responded yes and the coordination was complete. I then went through our checklist and made all of their airspace cold except for [Warning Area X] and [Warning Area Y]. I then called the areas including [the adjacent center] to advise them of the change. After that I was relieved and went on break. Less than an hour later [Military Special Use Airspace Facility] called and wanted to verify their airspace which is when the Traffic Management Unit learned that they had intended to only change [Warning Area X] and [Warning Area Y] and keep the rest of their airspace active as it had been. So for about an hour we were showing their airspace cold while they were showing it hot. I am not sure how many aircraft flew through the military airspace because of it. The amount of coordination and work that is involved in the Traffic Management position at ARTCC is unsafe. There is so much airspace going active and cold all the time and the workload involved in coordinating the airspace is so much that things do get missed from time to time. I am not sure if I have a fix to the position but there has to be an easier way to coordinate in real time the active military airspace. I think that [Military Special Use Airspace Facility] needs to be clearer when they are communicating with the mission's position what they need when they are calling up or down airspace.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site and automatically converted to unabbreviated mixed upper/lowercase text. This report is for informational purposes with no guarantee of accuracy. See NASA's ASRS site for official report.