Courtesy Photo | FORT STEWART, GA - Soldiers of 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Theater...... read more read more
B Company, 63rd Expeditionary Signal Battalion, 35th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade will assume the Defense Chemical, Biological, Radiological, Nuclear Readiness Force (DCRF) mission in support of U.S. Army North, January 2018.
This prepare to deploy order (PTDO), requires B Company, also known as the “Big Dawgs”, to have 13 signal assemblages and 80 Soldiers ready to deploy within 24 hours at any given moment.
The 63rd ESB has been on readiness status for several weeks. This status means Soldiers knew they would be alerted but did not know when and what the operation would be. When the Soldiers get to their mission destination they are expected to hit the ground running, breaking into teams providing both secure and unclassified networks to various agencies who need communication support.
On the morning of Dec. 4 , B Company, was alerted to come into the battalion area of operations packed and ready to work as part of a no-notice emergency deployment readiness exercise(EDRE).
An EDRE, is a rapid-deployment exercise designed to test a unit's ability to alert, marshal, and deploy forces and equipment to an emergency disaster or for contingency operations. Units usually have several stages of preparedness they go through before they depart for a deployment, but B Company Soldiers have a 24-hour window to complete the tasks, including receive their operation order, complete personal, medical and administrative readiness, establish communications, draw ordinance, conduct maintenance and load vehicles.
In addition to communications support teams the 63rd ESB sent a maintenance support team to keep equipment operating at optimum levels. Besides that it’s business as usual for the Soldiers of the 63rd ESB, helping where they can and giving the support they're most notably known for.
This was not the first time 63rd ESB Soldiers were called upon to rapidly deploy. Over the past two months, B Company deployed a number of signal assemblages in support of humanitarian disaster relief efforts during Hurricane Harvey, Irma, and Maria.
“Many of these teams just came back from Puerto Rico,” said 1st Lt. Kristopher Knotts, B Company, executive officer. “This real world experience proved invaluable during the exercise.”
During the EDRE, the company validated its alert procedures, updated their immunizations, and trained on center of balance, joint inspection, air load and pallet building. The exercise concluded with a Command Post Node (CPN) and 40 Soldiers departing Hunter Army Airfield (HAAF) for an hour flight that culminated with a node readiness certification. “The training that we conduct in garrison is absolutely critical to ensure success during real world deployments. EDREs are a great tool to ensure the unit’s readiness remains at the highest possible levels,” said Knotts.
The 35th Theater Tactical Signal Brigade is “One Team” of proud and trusted professionals delivering responsive, reliable, and operationally relevant network capabilities to our fellow warfighters -- on time and on target, regardless of location or mission. Anytime requested the Lion Brigade will answer the call, supporting the nation we call home and the providing the first class support expected of the Lion Brigade.
| Date Taken: | 12.04.2017 |
| Date Posted: | 12.29.2017 09:37 |
| Story ID: | 260002 |
| Location: | FORT STEWART , GEORGIA, US |
| Web Views: | 322 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, 63rd ESB Assumes U.S. Army North DCRF Mission, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
