Keeping you connected

Photo By Zachary Harris | Fredarika Fefee, a senior network engineer with the J-6 department at Joint Task Force Guantanamo, reroutes a Local Area Network line in an office in Camp America, April 7. Fefee is one of the contractors and military personnel who maintain Internet connectivity at JTF Guantanamo. JTF Guantanamo conducts safe, humane, legal and transparent care and custody of detainees, including those convicted by military commission and those ordered released by a court. The JTF conducts intelligence collection, analysis and dissemination for the protection of detainees and personnel working in JTF Guantanamo facilities and in support of the War on Terror. JTF Guantanamo provides support to the Office of Military Commissions, to law enforcement and to war crimes investigations. The JTF conducts planning for and, on order, responds to Caribbean mass migration operations.  

GUANTANAMO BAY, CUBA

04.23.2010

Story by Petty Officer 2nd Class Zachary Harris 

Joint Task Force Guantanamo Public Affairs

You're sitting at your computer reading your e-mail. You reply to one, hit "send" and your e-mail zooms off into cyberspace. Then you try to reply to another e-mail. This time, you receive an error message, stare blankly at the screen, your computer and back to the screen. What now?

If you are like every other Joint Task Force Guantanamo Trooper, you dial the J-6 help desk and pray the problem will be fixed before the day's end. What you probably fail to realize, however, is the complexity of troubleshooting such issues.

"We are responsible for all communications," said Air Force Lt. Col. Joseph Tichich, J-6 director. "That includes radios, internet and telephones."

Communication is one tool used by every service member. Whether it's the radios guards use to communicate within the detention facilities or the e-mail services we use to send e-mail back home, communication is a big part of our daily lives. The mission of J-6 is important to the JTF because they support all communication issues.

According to Tichich, because the service members assigned to J-6 rotate out routinely, contractors are relied on heavily to maintain network functionality.

"Our contractors are our lifelines," Tichich said. "[They] are doing the stuff behind the scenes, providing continuity."

The J-6 doesn't face any issue so challenging they can't handle it. They do, however, find it challenging to serve such a large group of people and such a diverse array of daily problems with a relatively small group of on-site technicians.

"There's nothing really hard to deal with," said Brian Hutchinson, a J-6 help desk technician. "Satisfying everyone at once can be difficult, though."

For members of J-6 that serve the Commissions Support Group, connectivity can mean the difference between smooth operations that support JTF's mission or complications that imperil mission success. The group runs its own help desk specifically for the Office of Military Commissions, CSG and trial personnel.

"We coordinate all [technology] aspects for commissions," said Air Force Capt. James Gorsuch, information technology officer-in-charge for CSG. "[Connectivity] becomes a big issue when a lawyer needs it."

While all of this may seem like a job that is larger than life, Tichich has every confidence in his people, their intelligence and their technical savvy.

"They're smart," Tichich said. "[The personnel] in J-6 are true, hard-working professionals that I'm proud of."

• Date Taken: 04.23.2010
• Date Posted: 05.03.2010 12:42
• Story ID: 49050
• Location: GUANTANAMO BAY, CU