Narrative:

This event started earlier in the morning when we found out that valmont atcaa was being used FL180-FL600; even though it is not supposed to be used by itself; it's supposed to be used with raptor airspace. They said they were using it for transitioning uav's. Our supervisor didn't want to let them have all of raptor just for a small section of airspace holloman would be using; and it differed from our LOA's. So our supervisor says raptor is cancelled. No one put it in the uret; and holloman approach never called. So I sit down on sector 21/23/87 as a d-side. There is training on the r-side. The aircraft calls us in the air looking for an IFR clearance. The r-side cleared him direct cnx as filed; and climbs him to FL340. About 5 minutes later; I'm looking through the uret to update our special use airspace and see that R5103B and R5103C are active to FL600 which is common for raptor. I ask the controller in charge and he says to call holloman. I call holloman and they say raptor is active. At this point I'm not sure what's active or not; but we're protecting for it as it's hot. I don't believe the aircraft came close to any in the airspace; but am not sure. It is our understanding on the floor holloman has to apreq raptor with us; which they didn't. After this; our supervisor; the mos; tmu; the airspace person; are making phone calls; having telcons trying to get this figured out. If we would have known raptor was active we would have just leveled the aircraft off at 120; and kept him under raptor airspace. Recommendation; I'm not sure the using agency; holloman approach; understands the LOA. Every single time that we have raptor go active they do something different or wrong. It really has to be clarified. Maybe it falls on our military liaison. As a controller we just want to know what airspace is active or not. This is very confusing when no one knows; and when our higher ups and the military are having emergency meetings all day; especially when F22's/uav's are working in the same area that we're clearing (passenger carrying) civilian aircraft through.

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Original NASA ASRS Text

Title: ZAB Controller described a confused coordination event involving the active/in-active status of the Raptor restricted airspace; indicating the airspace coordination between the FAA and the military must be improved.

Narrative: This event started earlier in the morning when we found out that Valmont ATCAA was being used FL180-FL600; even though it is not supposed to be used by itself; it's supposed to be used with Raptor Airspace. They said they were using it for transitioning UAV's. Our Supervisor didn't want to let them have all of Raptor just for a small section of airspace Holloman would be using; and it differed from our LOA's. So our Supervisor says Raptor is cancelled. No one put it in the URET; and Holloman Approach never called. So I sit down on Sector 21/23/87 as a D-Side. There is training on the R-Side. The aircraft calls us in the air looking for an IFR clearance. The R-Side cleared him direct CNX as filed; and climbs him to FL340. About 5 minutes later; I'm looking through the URET to update our Special Use Airspace and see that R5103B and R5103C are active to FL600 which is common for Raptor. I ask the CIC and he says to call Holloman. I call Holloman and they say Raptor is active. At this point I'm not sure what's active or not; but we're protecting for it as it's hot. I don't believe the aircraft came close to any in the airspace; but am not sure. It is our understanding on the floor Holloman has to APREQ Raptor with us; which they didn't. After this; our Supervisor; the MOS; TMU; the airspace person; are making phone calls; having Telcons trying to get this figured out. If we would have known Raptor was active we would have just leveled the aircraft off at 120; and kept him under Raptor airspace. Recommendation; I'm not sure the using agency; Holloman Approach; understands the LOA. Every single time that we have Raptor go active they do something different or wrong. It really has to be clarified. Maybe it falls on our Military liaison. As a Controller we just want to know what airspace is active or not. This is very confusing when no one knows; and when our higher ups and the military are having emergency meetings all day; especially when F22's/UAV's are working in the same area that we're clearing (passenger carrying) civilian aircraft through.

Data retrieved from NASA's ASRS site as of April 2012 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.