Photo By Don Veitch | CIEBA, Puerto Rico - (From Left) Army Sgt. William Planas, Spectrum Manager, 131st...... read more read more
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Story by Command Sgt. Maj. Don Veitch, 65th Press Camp Headquarters
CIEBA, Puerto Rico - A joint team of U.S. service members working to enhance the communications capabilities of the Puerto Rico National Guard have provided a means of ship-to-shore transmissions for maritime forces here, Nov. 2, 2017.
The Puerto Rico National Guard Landing Craft Detachment stationed at Ceiba has been without a means to communicate back to shore since Hurricanes Irma and Maria disrupted power. The four-boat detachment normally uses VHF Radios for ship-to-ship transmissions with limited range. Longer communications were normally handled via traditional cellular technologies, which have been down since the power loss.
The island of Vieques and Culebra normally receive supplies through the ferry system which visits the islands regularly. The normal supply methods are not sufficient to keep up with the demand since the hurricanes damaged much of the electrical infrastructure. The Army landing craft routinely augment the ferry system for supply distribution when needed.
The landing craft detachment's mission to provide additional shipping to the islands has been intensified due to the extra need to bring relief supplies in addition to the normal ferry’s capacity. The lack of ship-to-shore communications and heavier mission load place the small craft at sea with greater frequency and no means to call for aid in an emergency, placing the craft and its personnel at risk..
“During their missions they weren't able to communicate back to any other asset,” said Army Sgt. Jesse Espaillat, Information Assurance Support Officer, 44th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, New Jersey National Guard. “We needed to mitigate that risk, so they could have positive communication in case of an emergency.”
Soldiers and Airmen from the New Jersey National Guard, Massachusetts National Guard and the Air National Guard Readiness Center are working together to use existing PRNG equipment and focus on creating lasting capabilities to meet mission requirements.
Air Force First Lt. Christian Fiore, a communications specialist with the 212th Engineering Installation Squadron,102nd Intelligence Wing, Massachusetts National Guard, is a member of the joint team which came up with the solution of providing the landing craft with working radios.
“The LCMs now have three layers of communication,” said Fiore. “In addition to the VHF boat-to-boat they have a VHF repeater based on the mountain top nearby and a high powered line-of-sight capability from the newly mounted SINCGARS radios.”
Fiore’s work as a systems engineer at Mitre Corporation mirrors his mission here. Fiore said in his civilian job he takes existing capabilities the government already has and provides them solutions for additional uses.
Fiore said the SINCGARS is the standard vehicle mounted radio for the U.S Army and Soldiers are familiar with the equipment and won’t require additional training.
“All of the equipment came organically from the Puerto Rico National Guard,” said Fiore. “Our goal was to come up with a solution from the equipment found on the island.”
With the installation of the new equipment and infrastructure the landing craft now have the means to transmit as far as the U.S. Virgin Islands by using land-based repeaters.
“My main job was to get all the repeaters up, there are a total of eight repeaters throughout the island,” said Army Sgt. William Planas, Spectrum Manager, 131st Troop Command, Puerto Rico National Guard. “One of the repeaters at the FAA site at El Yunque is the one covering from Puerto Rico to Vieques”
Communications are vital to the missions here, the addition of organic capabilities will allow for the freeing up of external assets for use elsewhere on the island.
“The Joint Incident Site Communications Capability from the Connecticut National Guard has been supporting the landing craft detachment,” said Fiore “Providing them with their own abilities frees up the JISCC to respond to other areas of need.”
The team has enthusiastically embraced the extensive work required to help rebuild Puerto Rico’s devastated infrastructure. With the knowledge they were able to improve the safety of their fellow service members as they continue to support the citizens of Vieques and Culebra has the team feeling extremely positive about their mission.
Planas said team effort from the service members from the mainland has been critical to the success the group has had.
We have worked side-by-side, hand-by-hand and it has been great,” said Planas.
“I feel great about the mission,” said Fiore, “We train back home to this mission and it’s a big part of why we join the guard. I’m glad I got a chance to come down and get a chance to use my training to help out Puerto Rico.”
“This has been a reminder of why I enlisted in the guard,” said Espaillat.
| Date Taken: | 11.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 11.08.2017 15:09 |
| Story ID: | 254660 |
| Location: | CIEBA, US |
| Web Views: | 367 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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