Photo By Capt. Patrick Montandon | Capt. David Sanders and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Calanni of the 130th Field...... read more read more
The 130th Field Artillery Brigade, deployed to the Central Command (CENTCOM) region, have developed improvements over the last several months for commanders to detect enemy air activity. A commander, at any level, needs timely and accurate information regarding enemy activity to make effective decisions on the battlefield. Decreasing any delays or errors in this process is worth every effort. The 130th Field Artillery Brigade, Air Defense and Airspace Management (ADAM) Cell, put in that effort to achieve valuable results. Several other organizations within the Central Command (CENTCOM) region assisted them, to include Task Force Spartan and the Combined Air Operations Center. Their work has led to radar and defense systems that were never suspected to be compatible, assessing threats at a higher capacity, enabling commanders’ operability. This includes greater vision of the growing threat of Unmanned Ariel Systems (UAS). The brigade ADAM Cell’s current air picture is now shared theater-wide, providing an up to date, near real-time, air picture for commanders.
Capt. David Sanders, ADAM Cell Officer in Charge, and Chief Warrant Officer 2 Anthony Calanni, Command Node System Integrator, were the right people to lead this effort. Calanni holds a rare military occupational specialty, 140 alpha, and came to the 130th from the Army Reserve. He is referred to as a Link 16 expert, which specializes in how all U.S. military branches, to include international partners and allies, speak to each other across data networks.
Casually pointing to a nearby radar from a neighboring unit, Calanni described, “this radar right here. I have no idea what it is. But if you give me a couple hours with it, I could find a way to make it talk to one of my computer systems and give you some kind of information.”
Even before coming overseas, Calanni expressed his desire to make a difference as the new ADAM Cell team was created and prepared to deploy with the 130th.
“I want to be able to show what a 140 alpha can do and show them all our capabilities.”
Capt. Sanders always planned to join the military as he's had multiple generations serve before him. The only reason he entered air defense artillery was due to this branch being connected to the local unit in his native South Carolina. Sanders claimed, "I knew I wanted to go National Guard because I'm a homeboy.” Ironically, he has now deployed in an air defense or counter UAS capacity three times to the Middle East within the last couple years and works full-time in Florida for the Joint Staff J6 section.
The ADAM Cell deployed motivated to learn and make progress within their domain, but their success didn’t come without several hurdles and complications. The team had a grueling, yet worthwhile, process to see the payoff from their meticulous efforts.
The Q-53 radar, employed by the 130th, does not inherently communicate with other air defense systems such as the Forward Area Air Defense Command and Control (FAAD C2) system. These systems are both used to detect enemy activity and display radar sectors and acquisitions. But they were never initially designed to work in tandem. This was all new territory, and there was no established method to move forward. No previous attempts had been made to integrate these radars into the theater air picture until now.
The 130th ADAM Cell recognized this opportunity to explore and got to work. They dug into the regulations, manuals and technical specifications for every system and piece of equipment related to what they were trying to achieve – an integrated and enhanced sight picture of low-level air space threats. Restrictions due to COVID-19 along with 2nd and 3rd order effects, finding and waiting on the proper points of contact, dissecting outdated tactical and field manuals, reconciling software updates, and a myriad of other issues all stood as obstacles to reach their intended end state.
Sanders, recalling the rigorous process, described, “It’s constantly getting your nose in the books and FM’s [Field Manuals] and knowing how to appropriately articulate that… My face was in the TM’s [Tactical Manuals] and FM’s and his [Calanni’s] nose was in his documents…living and breathing in the Link 16 world.”
The manuals and policies alone would never have provided the breakthrough they were looking for. The solutions came as they coupled their newfound book smarts with the wisdom of other experts in the field. That’s when the creativity kicked in. Once again, people proved to be the Army’s greatest asset to find solutions to even the most complex and technologically packed problems. When asked about the most important resources they utilized Calanni gave the sure answer.
“My fellow Soldiers really have been my biggest assets. I really got stumped a lot, and I was able to look over my shoulder and call any 140 alpha or 14 series…retired, active duty, Reserve, National Guard… and that helped me get to my next step. It definitely wasn’t one person’s knowledge. It was reaching out and getting knowledge from everybody else and getting those different bits and pieces to find the right parts of the puzzle,” said Calanni.
Generously providing a couple dumbed down descriptions of the problem, he continued, “I have a triangle piece, and I can fit it into a square hole. I just need to figure out how to get it in there,” or “The flathead screwdriver is not meant for the star Phillips head, but it can work, and we made it work!”
Sanders, explaining the importance of getting everyone’s input, said, “I’ve been able to rely heavily on my ADAM Cell team. It’s been a combined team effort and it wouldn’t have been possible without those guys.”
Other key leaders of the team saw the incredible progress that the section has made on this mobilization.
Staff Sgt. Johnathan Bustamante, the protection and ADAM Cell noncommissioned officer in charge, said, “We continue to make it a better foundation. We refined the process so future field artillery headquarters ADAM Cells are set for success.”
The systems have been integrated and now provide a higher level of confidence in detecting low level air tracks and UAS. The battlespace continues to be contested on many levels as enemy use of UAS repeatedly probe for reconnaissance or attacks against United States or Coalition Forces. The 130th ADAM Cell has delivered advanced protection capabilities, providing a huge step forward in the anti UAS fight. Their commitment to teamwork has paid off and led to several tactical and operational improvements that will continue to provide increased base defense.
“The big so what to those senior leaders is to maximize search capability,” says Sanders. “We have to be able to see something before we can engage it.
“At the end of the day, if what we’re doing saves a life on the ground, that’s what it means to me personally. The best thing we can do is stay focused on the guy that’s on the ground. If we save a life, and we may not know about it, but if that’s what we’re able to do, then it’s been worth all the heartburn, heartache and headache that it took to go through it.”
“We’ve done everything we possibly can. I can sleep good at night,” said Sanders.
Hopefully, U.S. and Coalition commanders within the region can enjoy some rest as well knowing they have enhanced protection capabilities.
| Date Taken: | 06.14.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 06.14.2021 03:26 |
| Story ID: | 398821 |
| Location: | JO |
| Web Views: | 713 |
| Downloads: | 2 |
This work, 130th Field Artillery Brigade Develops New Solutions to Track Air Threats, by CPT Patrick Montandon, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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