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BAGRAM, Afghanistan - Soldiers from the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division, are part of the Military Intelligence Security Forces Assist and Advise Training Team (MISFAT) that is designated to train the Afghan National Army, on the proper use of the Wolfhound counter-insurgency man-pack system.
The Wolfhound is a radio direction finding system that targets Very High Frequency (VHF) and Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radio bands. The Wolfhound, finds enemy transmission points, which allows the operators to track down their transmissions and eliminate the threat. Over the last few months the Afghan National Army have begun training on the Wolfhound version 10.0. The Soldiers from the MISFAT are responsible for training, advising and assisting them with operational functions.
"The Wolfhound system was developed in response to Soldiers saying, 'we can hear them – we need to be able to locate them,'" said John Lynch, Wolfhound product manager. "Soldiers can master the 'buttonology' of the Wolfhound in about 20 minutes and can learn to use and gain a concept of operation in about 16 hours."
The Wolfhound system may seem like the latest gadget in hide-go-seek, but it has proven itself a valuable asset on the battlefield.
“This training is imperative in this type of combat theater,” said Staff Sgt. Stephen Coppick, an intelligence analyst, for the 2nd Brigade Combat Team and native of Ontario, Calif. “This Wolfhound system takes the majority of the guess work out of the mission. When Soldiers are operating in these dangerous mountains they need something accurate, mobile and capable of seeking out the enemy and essentially aiding in neutralizing the enemy’s communication threat.”
The Wolfhound system train-the-trainer course is a two-day instructional course that is designed to train the Wolfhound instructors as they pass their knowledge to the Afghan National Army.
“The Wolfhound training is pretty straight forward, but since it is only a two day course, it can get a bit overwhelming for the troops to learn in such a short time,” said William Newnham, field service representative for Wolfhound and Meiser systems and a native of Anchorage, Alaska. “This training is broken into phases to expedite and aid in the training. The First phase is the inventory phase; next phases are radio frequency theory and ‘buttonology.' The RF theory phase explains how radio frequencies work and how they propagate. The ‘buttonology’ phase is basically how the system is used. In this phase we cover the main screen operations and how to triangulate and set markers.”
“This training is quick, easy and straight to the point,” said Spc. Michael Medina, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, and 101st Airborne Division. “When we train the Afghan army, we like to make the training easy for them to understand. The Afghan army training is very successful. I have trained a few classes and they are very receptive to the training and the effectiveness of the man-pack. When used properly, the Wolfhound man-pack can save lives.”
“The Wolfhound System has become more user-friendly over the years and a lot of the ‘system bugs’ have been found and fixed, which makes the operation so much more accurate,” said Newnham. “The system has evolved, and it is a valued asset to the war fighter here in combat theater, especially during the fighting seasons. Warriors can accurately seek out threats before they cause harm to military personnel, civilians or equipment. I can honestly say the Wolfhound training program is a comprehensive joint training effort that will aid in combat operations and survivability here in theater.”
| Date Taken: | 04.07.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 04.09.2014 03:58 |
| Story ID: | 125068 |
| Location: | BAGRAM, AF |
| Hometown: | ANCHORAGE, AK, US |
| Hometown: | ONTARIO, CA, US |
| Web Views: | 1,180 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Wolfhound takes it to the enemy, by Matthew Veasley, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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