Photo By Staff Sgt. Coltin Heller | U.S. Army Capt. Frank Brown, communication officer with Headquarters and Headquarters...... read more read more
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CAMP RAPID, S.D. – Any training exercise presents challenges to soldiers participating in them. While the word challenge means something different to each soldier, one challenge remains across the board - communication - one, if not, the most vital requirements to all soldiers, regardless of their military occupational specialty.
Capt. Frank Brown, communications officer with Headquarters and Headquarters Detachment, 213th Regional Support Group, Pennsylvania Army National Guard, faced the challenge of setting up and maintaining the various means of communication used by 213th RSG soldiers during Golden Coyote, an annual training exercise, held in the Black Hills of South Dakota.
The exercise provides U.S. service members from 11 states and four foreign nations training opportunities in logistical and tactical environments in addition to real world missions such as bridge construction and humanitarian aid.
“We’re charged with providing voice and data communication assets to the Regional Support Group,” said Brown, who calls Harrisburg, Pa., home. “We’re also pulling voice and data from the signal support elements from the 443rd signal, providing [non-classified Internet protocol router] and [secret Internet protocol router] voice and data through those services.”
Brown accepted the position of brigade signal officer, prior to Golden Coyote, after being approached by Lt. Col. Robby Robinson, Executive Officer for 213th RSG.
“I’ve only been in the position for two to three months, so I’m still assessing my soldiers and their capabilities and we’re trying to find common ground, who’s good at what, and task them accordingly and share that knowledge amongst the soldiers so that we all learn from each other,” said Brown.
Brown and his soldiers began their work in a building on Camp Rapid the 213th RSG used as a headquarters. He established a working network within the building before heading out to the field with his team. While in the field, Brown and his team faced several obstacles.
“We have several FOB’s displaced by hundreds of miles, so the communication challenges are going to be unique,” said Brown. “The learning curve of some of the communication assets we’ve had to deploy, due to the displaced locations, is something that some of us haven’t touched in several years.”
Brown assisted his soldiers setting up various communication equipment such as a radio antennas, which widen the range on military radios and multiple systems such as the deployed digital training campus and a mobile satellite dish enabling Internet connectivity for units in the field.
Spending time in the field is nothing new to Brown who enlisted into the Marine Corps after he graduated high school in 1993.
“I joined the active duty Marine Corp as a parachute rigger […] then I joined the Marine Security Force in Washington state, served out there for a couple years, and I transferred up to Maine to a cold weather infantry unit up there,” Brown said.
During his time in Maine, Brown went to college majoring in criminology. After spending some years in Maine, Brown transferred to Pennsylvania to attend Indiana University of Pennsylvania.
“At that point I was going to the University of Maine, in the Marine Reserves up there as an infantryman, and I wanted to transfer to IUP for criminology program, they had one of the better degree programs for criminology there.”
Brown transferred to the Pennsylvania Guard during his time at IUP, leaving the enlisted ranks and joining the officer corps with a direct commission he received from IUP.
My friend’s dad was a first sergeant in the signal battalion, so the transition was easy, added Brown.
Despite the challenges he and his soldiers faced, such as weather and technical issues, Brown looked forward to the training during Golden Coyote and had confidence in his soldiers.
“I’m looking forward to the challenges out here. I’m looking forward to getting to collaborate with my soldiers’ and build a cohesive team there so we can overcome the challenges that the signal community is going to bring us in the future,” said Brown. “I have a good group of soldiers in the section, so we are going to do the best we can to support the [213th RSG].”
| Date Taken: | 06.05.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 06.10.2013 01:12 |
| Story ID: | 108375 |
| Location: | CAMP RAPID, SOUTH DAKOTA, US |
| Hometown: | HARRISBURG, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 167 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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