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JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq – While on mission, soldiers constantly update their headquarters as events take place. Commanders, planners and support soldiers rely on radio, phone and Internet networks to receive these updates and respond to them, ensuring they are able to advise and assist soldiers on the ground.
The 2nd Advise and Assist Brigade, “Black Jack,” 1st Cavalry Division, U.S. Division-North, relies heavily on it’s communications shop—known as S6—to keep networks up, radios operating and phones ringing, so that information is never more than a phone call away.
All the information we get from troops on the ground, unmanned aerial vehicles, helicopters and fixed wing aircraft comes to us over the communication networks that are set up by the S6 at the brigade tactical operations center, said the Black Jack Brigade’s chief of operations, Maj. Thomas Jones, a Killeen, Texas, native.
Our S6 shop sets up communications equipment and maintains it, which gives us the communications assets we need to talk with soldiers on the ground, along with the assets that support them. We also rely on this equipment to receive guidance from our higher headquarters and to disseminate information and orders to our subordinate units.
“This is a hub of information, and we need to be able to pass information to the right people at the right time,” he continued.
No matter how far soldiers are from their headquarters, S6 personnel ensure that soldiers can always communicate back to it.
“We maintain tactical communication across the battlefield,” said Spc. Jared Berman, signal support systems specialists with the Black Jack Brigade.
Berman’s specific job is to maintain and repair radio systems that allow for communications between vehicles on mission and the brigade headquarters.
Radio communications allows for soldiers in different vehicles along a convoy to stay in touch with one another and to relay pertinent information to their leaders, explained Berman, a Midlothian, Texas, native. “That way the command stays informed.”
Modern war zones also rely heavily on phone and email communication to keep operations running smoothly.
“Just about everything that happens communications wise—email, video teleconference, voice traffic—goes through our network,” said Staff Sgt. Matthew Garcia, a nodal operations systems non-commissioned officer with 2nd BCT.
“We tie everything on the [contingency] operating bases together,” continued the Riverside, Calif., native.
From tactical communications in the field, to communications security at the headquarters, to Internet and phones in offices, all of it goes through S6, said Master Sgt. Stephen Peterson, an Axtell, Kan., native, and the brigade S6 non-commissioned officer in charge. “We are the backbone of the entire daily operations of the brigade.”
Because of the need for constant communication, the S6 shop is required to man 24-hour operations.
“We don’t have the ability to shut down and close the doors at anytime of the day,” said Peterson.
As small bases transition and units consolidate at larger areas, communications personnel are usually amongst the first to arrive to help set up networks and equipment to facilitate a smooth transition.
“You can’t go into any position without communications,” said Peterson.
Peterson said at one point his S6 shop was running operations at three different locations as the Black Jack Brigade prepared to leave Contingency Operating Base Warhorse for Joint Base Balad, with S6 personnel operating at both bases. The third group was setting up communications networks in Kuwait for the brigade’s eventual move there.
Long before the main group of soldiers arrives at a base, S6 personnel are there setting up and preparing so that the unit can move right in and be fully operational as quickly as possible, said Peterson.
No matter where we go or when, S6 personnel are there providing the communication networks we need, said Jones. “S6 is the technical fiber that integrates all the cells together…they’ve been crucial to mission success.”
Even as Black Jack soldiers continue to transition bases and move around Iraq and Kuwait, the S6 shop ensures that communications are reliable between units and that commanders can give guidance with just a phone call.
| Date Taken: | 10.05.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 10.06.2011 03:18 |
| Story ID: | 78097 |
| Location: | JOINT BASE BALAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 116 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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