Narrative:

I was assigned a detail; with overtime scheduled to cover for my absence. I signed in for my scheduled detail and was told by the supervisor in charge (who is actually a supervisor from another area assigned to cover our area) that I was needed to split a sector. I noticed two sectors were showing 'red' and I asked which of the two I should split. I split my sector and watched the other red sector become extremely busy. There was nobody available to split the sector or work the D side. Luckily; the supervisor from another area who was watching our area used to work our area as a controller years ago; so he was able to assist the controller a little. I doubt this was a legal thing to do; but it was practical and he really needed the help. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Our staffing has become so low that any tiny thing causes a situation where people cannot get help. If we take a sick call in the morning; or there is weather early or late there simply are not enough people to safely conduct the operation. In fact; today our schedule was dropped under the 'normal' staffing numbers and we did not take a sick call. Supposedly our traffic management unit helps with slowing the traffic; but it always seems too little too late to actually help. We need to get more controllers in the area. Short term; we need more controllers here on overtime or we need traffic slowed on a regular basis.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: Jacksonville Center Controller reported staffing problems associated with no one available to assist another Controller whose sector was in the red.

Narrative: I was assigned a detail; with overtime scheduled to cover for my absence. I signed in for my scheduled detail and was told by the Supervisor in charge (who is actually a Supervisor from another area assigned to cover our area) that I was needed to split a sector. I noticed two sectors were showing 'red' and I asked which of the two I should split. I split my sector and watched the other red sector become extremely busy. There was nobody available to split the sector or work the D side. Luckily; the Supervisor from another area who was watching our area used to work our area as a Controller years ago; so he was able to assist the Controller a little. I doubt this was a legal thing to do; but it was practical and he really needed the help. This is not the first time something like this has happened. Our staffing has become so low that any tiny thing causes a situation where people cannot get help. If we take a sick call in the morning; or there is weather early or late there simply are not enough people to safely conduct the operation. In fact; today our schedule was dropped under the 'normal' staffing numbers and we did not take a sick call. Supposedly our Traffic Management Unit helps with slowing the traffic; but it always seems too little too late to actually help. We need to get more controllers in the area. Short term; we need more controllers here on overtime or we need traffic slowed on a regular basis.

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.