Photo By Staff Sgt. Adam Keith | Capt. Joshua Liley, commander of C Company, 51st Expeditionary Signal Battalion,...... read more read more
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JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, Wash. – Soldiers from C Company, 51st Expeditionary Signal Battalion, took the first steps in their nine-month deployment journey when friends, families and fellow soldiers gathered for a send-off ceremony at the McChord Air Force Gymnasium Jan. 29.
The unit, which is trained to support worldwide contingency operations, will assist the Combined Joint Task Force Inherent Resolve in Iraq with secure and non-secure voice and video communications capabilities.
“A commander is not a commander without communications or signal support. They can’t relay their intent if they don’t have a way of communicating with their forces,” said Lt. Col. John Meek, 51st ESB commander. “We will enable the commanders on the ground to conduct mission command so that they can build capacity for the Iraqi Security Forces.”
Meek said he was confident the unit was ready to execute the mission because battalion leadership stresses a two-fold training priority: force protection and common soldier tasks and core competency in all signal-related military occupational specialties. All soldiers are trained to engineer, install, operate, maintain and defend network capabilities – in addition, C Company was trained to meet theater-specific training objectives as outlined by U.S. Central Command.
In short, he said, “They’re ready to get on the airplane and get after this mission.”
For the soldiers of C Company, the turnaround on the notice and preparation for the mission was a brief 30 days, but with expeditionary in their name and part of their training philosophy, the soldiers were ready to deploy and their families adequately prepared for the deployment. The unit hosted a town hall, where unit leadership walked the soldiers and their families through a general timeline and installation representatives outlined resources available on the installation throughout the deployment.
“The morale is very high,” said Staff Sgt. Zachary Berghammer, C Company headquarters platoon sergeant. “It’s a mix of soldiers who have been to Iraq before, but with the drawdown it has been several years, and they’re ready to go back to help out, and soldiers who have never gone before, and who are looking to earn their ‘stripes.’”
Berghammer has deployed three times to Iraq and once to Afghanistan. This is his first deployment as a signal soldier. He said that each deployment was different, and he looks forward to improving his own technical skill while continuing to lead soldiers.
“My biggest advice was to stay flexible. Some of them are nervous. Maybe a little scared because it’s new; I told them when you get boots on ground, things are going to change. Just keep track of each other, and we’ll be fine,’” said Berghammer.
| Date Taken: | 01.29.2015 |
| Date Posted: | 02.03.2015 12:15 |
| Story ID: | 153392 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE LEWIS-MCCHORD, WASHINGTON, US |
| Web Views: | 414 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, 51st ESB soldiers host send-off ceremony, deploy to Iraq, by SSG Jennifer Spradlin, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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