332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron provides communication

Photo By Maj. Rusty Ridley | Senior Airman Jeremiah Henry, 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron cybertransport apprentice, runs communication lines for newly built maintenance tents at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia Oct. 25, 2011. Henry is deployed from the New London Air National Guard Base, N.C., and is a native of Ft. Mill, S.C.  

(UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)

11.04.2011

Story by Senior Airman Amber Kelly-Herard 

332d Air Expeditionary Wing

SOUTHWEST ASIA - The 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing team expands with the arrival of the Navy at an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia.

But not without communication.

"Anything involving communications that is needed, we're setting up," said Senior Airman Brenton Briggs, 332nd Expeditionary Communications Squadron network infrastructure technician.

Less than a week ago, the 332nd Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron built tents and then followed trenches for the 332nd ECS. Airmen of the 332nd ECS are now responsible for establishing thousands of feet of cable so that another 332nd ECS team can come in with computers.

"We worked with the Navy in the planning phase," said Briggs, who is deployed from New London Air National Guard Base, N.C. "I could tell that their culture was a little bit different from ours, but they also had the 'one team, one fight' mentality which facilitated us getting our job done."

To start, the 332nd ECS prestaged pull thread that they connected to the cables so the cables could be run underground between the tents. Then 332nd ECS had to pull the cables up and over each tent between the inner and outer layer.

"Once we pull it through, we have to make sure they all work, because if one doesn't work, they all don't work," said Briggs, who is from Wake Forest, N.C. "That was the most time consuming because we had to figure out which cable was going where and each tent has several cable drops."

The 332nd ECS airmen also faced another challenge.

"We have a limited number of resources," said Briggs. "We had to engineer our own solution on how to bring in phones and still provide room for expansion in the future."

Despite the challenges, Briggs has seen the benefits of his work.

"We did the same for the Air Force maintenance tents, and I walked in there Saturday and saw 100 people using communications seamlessly," he said. "Seeing everybody using communications and not needing to call us is a job done right.

"The fewer calls we get means we did our job right," he continued.

• Date Taken: 11.04.2011
• Date Posted: 11.04.2011 04:01
• Story ID: 79545
• Location: (UNDISCLOSED LOCATION)