Photo By Timothy Koster | U.S. Army Spc. Jacob Kittrell, a cable system installer and maintainer with the 41st...... read more read more
WARRIOR BASE, South Korea– Sgt. Brad Converse spends a lot of his time towering over the Korean landscape, literally.
Converse, a tower and safety non-commissioned officer with the 41st Signal Battalion Maintenance Support Team (MST), is one of a handful of soldiers who install satellite dishes on top of buildings, water towers and any other high objects that make for good line-of-sight communications.
“I’m not gonna lie,” Converse says with a broad grin. “I have a really cool job. I have the best view of Korea you can possibly get.”
Converse and the 41st Signal Battalion MST are currently supporting Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) 2013, one of the largest joint military computer simulation training exercises in the world.
Such a large computer exercise obviously requires the ability to transmit a lot of data and that’s where Converse and his crew come in.
Recently, the team was tasked to install a satellite dish that is a critical communications link for UFG 13 on top of a water tower on Warrior Base. The operation involved Converse and several other Soldiers scaling the water tower using harnesses and ropes, and lugging the satellite dish hundreds of feet to the top of the tower.
“It’s not unusual for us in this job to carry gear weighing as much as 200 pounds on our backs,” Converse said. “Sometimes we’ll carry all that gear up the side of a mountain so that we can then climb a tower with it all on our backs.”
It’s a physical job that requires a lot of strength, stamina and agility, Converse said. And it’s not without its hazards. But he said one of the job’s rewards is finishing installing a satellite dish on top of some high point and then taking a moment to soak in an amazing view of the lush Korean landscape.
“It’s such a rush,” Converse said. “But if you follow the proper procedures, it’s not dangerous at all. It only becomes dangerous if you get cocky and don’t respect the hazards. You just have to check and recheck your climbing gear and treat every climb just like it’s your first.”
Spc. Jacob Kittrell, a cable system installer and maintainer with the unit, is also a qualified tower climber. He helped to install, then adjust and maintain the satellite dish on top of the water tower.
“Luckily, I’m not really afraid of heights,” Kittrell said with a smile. “This is such a great job because I love to climb. To me, there’s not really a better job in the Army than what we do.”
| Date Taken: | 08.19.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 08.22.2013 04:58 |
| Story ID: | 112374 |
| Location: | SEOUL, 11, KR |
| Web Views: | 113 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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