Meet 1st Lt. Tanner Barbon. This Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, native is a signal officer with Bravo Company, 98th Expeditionary Signal Battalion. He is an Army Reserve Soldier on active duty serving as permanent support in Eastern Europe training areas. During Immediate Response 24, Barbon is directly responsible for communication connectivity here in Ustka, Poland, May 9, 2024.
Barbon is a marketing specialist in his civilian life and hopes to keep growing in that field. He currently enjoys the duality of his life. When not in uniform, he is helping his clients develop their messaging. While in uniform, he has a critical role in maintaining radio communications throughout Eastern Europe. His expertise includes very high frequency and ultra high frequency radio waves, microwave, Starlink and cellular long-term evolution telecommunication.
“I’m here to serve,” said Barbon. “Without us on the ground, our troops and Allies wouldn’t be able to move, coordinate or even text in a secure environment.”
Barbon handles normal maintenance and security and is able to work through environmental challenges, such as weather and terrain obstacles. During training, the world experienced a severe solar storm that interfered with communications.
“About 20 percent of capacity was down because the solar winds are causing too much interference,” explained Barbon. “That means that our working nodes have to work harder, but we got it working. We are getting it done.”
DEFENDER is the Dynamic Employment of Forces to Europe for NATO Deterrence and Enhanced Readiness and is a U.S. European Command scheduled, U.S. Army Europe and Africa conducted exercise that consists of Saber Strike, Immediate Response, and Swift Response. DEFENDER 24 is linked to NATO’s Steadfast Defender exercise, and DoD’s Large Scale Global Exercise, taking place from 28 March to 31 May. DEFENDER 24 is the largest U.S. Army exercise in Europe and includes more than 17,000 U.S. and 23,000 multinational service members from more than 20 Allied and partner nations, including Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Georgia, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Netherlands, North Macedonia, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, Spain, Sweden and the United Kingdom. (U.S. Army Reserve photo by Sgt. Rigo Cisneros)
| Date Taken: | 05.09.2024 |
| Date Posted: | 05.12.2024 16:27 |
| Photo ID: | 8399944 |
| VIRIN: | 240509-A-TR678-3412 |
| Resolution: | 1080x780 |
| Size: | 289.75 KB |
| Location: | USTKA, PL |
| Web Views: | 197 |
| Downloads: | 4 |
This work, Know Your Defender - 1st Lt. Tanner Barbon, by SSG Rigo Cisneros, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
