Photo By Tech. Sgt. Wesley Jones | First Lt. Jon Whitcomb, 253 Combat Communications Group, Cape Cod, Mass., talks to the...... read more read more
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VOLK FIELD, Wis.- Airman and soldiers from multiple units integrated on land and in the air to coordinate a unique mission that tested communication equipment during Patriot Exercise 2013, Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center, Wis., July 18.
Operation: Marco Polo, named by 253rd Combat Communications Group Air National Guard Cape Cod, Mass., required three ground teams to carry radios equipped with interference beacons designed to jam communications used by the military.
The air team used a Spectrum Analyzer with a log periodic antenna, usually used on the ground, to track the location of the interference.
“We are training with this radio direction equipment from the air to see if we can increase its speed,” said Master Sgt. Christian Fiore, 253 CCG. “When you are trying to find teams dispersed out in the woods, you can get better readings from the air craft and get zeroed in much faster.”
Soldiers from Headquarters and Headquarters Company 1-376 Aviation Battalion Army Reserve, Grand Island, Nebraska, used the UH-60 Black Hawk helicopter to transport the ground teams into a controlled zone. The ground teams were made up of both Airmen and Soldiers from both units. Army Reserve pilots then flew back to pick up the teams tasked to find the transmitters from the air.
“In a real world situation, if we were getting interference from either friendly or hostile forces, this team can go in, figure out where the interference is coming from and mitigate it,” said Fiore. “If it’s friendly, we can communicate with them to fix the problem or if it’s hostile forces, we can let operations know and they can take direct action.”
Cadet Matthew West and Anthony Starke, seniors at the University of Nebraska Kearney were tasked with planning the mission from the ground.
“We were ordered to design a plan on the ground and make sure it was successful. It was a joint effort by Cadet Starke and myself,” said West.
Over 2,000 Army and Air National Guard members from 26 states joined members from a variety of local, state and federal agencies to train on responding to a large-scale domestic emergency.
| Date Taken: | 07.18.2013 |
| Date Posted: | 07.19.2013 12:18 |
| Story ID: | 110477 |
| Location: | VOLK FIELD AIR NATIONAL GUARD BASE, WI, US |
| Web Views: | 83 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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