Date: 201702
Local time of day: 1201-1800
Location: ZBW.ARTCC, NH
Aircraft: DC-10 Undifferentiated or Other Model
Operator: Military
Flight plan: IFR
Mission: Refueling
Flight phase: Cruise
Airspace: Class A ZBW
ATC / advisory: Center ZBW
Second aircraft: Military
Reporter organization: Government
Reporter function: Enroute
Reporter qualification: Air Traffic Control Fully Certified
Human factors: Human-Machine Interface; Situational Awareness; Time Pressure; Workload
Anomaly: ATC Issue All Types; Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
Detector: Person Air Traffic Control
When detected: In-flight
Contributing factors: ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings
Primary problem: ATC Equipment / Nav Facility / Buildings

Narrative: Aircraft X was a training flight for Air Refueling. Came up for the [Aerial Refueling Route] track with Aircraft Y. Partway up the track Aircraft Y became the lead; was tracked; and track was dropped on Aircraft X. At end of refueling Aircraft Y was going to refuel with another aircraft and Aircraft X wanted to return to ZZZ. Traffic was right on the edge of the sector being worked by a single controller. As staffing is short I said I was fine with the current traffic situation.The breakup happened at the end of the track and both aircraft were given appropriate clearances to terminate Military Assumes Separation of Aircraft (MARSA); with Aircraft Y remaining on the track to meet up with the next aircraft and Aircraft X being cleared via radar vectors back to ZZZ while I got routing for them into the computer. However; ERAM (Center ATC operations software) would not allow a route amendment to be made. The aircraft was route keyed HTO direct ZZZ to allow the aircraft to be tracked on the radar. This was successful but ERAM would still not allow the flight plan route to be placed into the computer.At this point a trainee came into the aisle and sat down on the assist position. The trainee attempted to enter the route into the computer several times but was unable; despite attempting several different methods. Eventually the aircraft had to be pointed out to another sector while we attempted to fix the route. At some point using the route key entry seemed to fix the problem and the route was able to be entered into the computer. This entire process took approximately five minutes with moderate traffic volume and complexity.This is a somewhat routine problem with refueling since aircraft tracks need to be dropped on formation flights but continue to be flight plan processed. ERAM gets confused on where the aircraft actually is. Instead of allowing the controller to update the position information when tracking the aircraft; ERAM thinks the aircraft is in a different place and seems to override the controller's inputs to the contrary. This creates a workload-intensive situation as the controller attempts to fix the route while still moving traffic through the sector. Additionally; as staffing continues to deteriorate and Assist positions are no longer available; Radar Controllers must look away from the radar display for extended periods of time while attempting to fix these issues.ERAM software needs to be updated so track messages and route amendments update the position of the aircraft and allow route amendments to be made via normal processes.




Synopsis: A Center Controller reported not knowing how to update the flight plans for military aircraft in a refueling track.