Photo By Master Sgt. Daniel Palermo | Staff Sgt. John Keenan (left) of Ebensburg and Sgt. 1st Class Donald Goss of...... read more read more
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By Staff Sgt. Doug Roles
28 ID Public Affairs
MOURMELON, France — Just like employees in a corporate setting, the 28th Infantry Division soldiers training in their tactical operations centers (TOCs) at French military camps Mourmelon and Mailly rely on an intranet to communicate with peers as well as Internet connectivity to the outside world. The division headquarters signal and maintenance soldiers team up to make that mission possible during the French-led NATO exercise Rochambeau 2014.
During the three-week exercise, the signal soldiers establish the communications links and string wire. The maintenance soldiers ensure the trucks and generators that move and power that equipment stay operational.
“We provide phone and internet service for both TOCs,” said Sgt. Maj. Robert Melego of Monroeville, NetOps sergeant major.
Part of the “commo” plan includes an impressive FM line-of-site shot of nearly 38 kilometers, from the main TOC in Mourmelon to a retrans site near Vertus.
“We’re pushing the envelope. When you plan, you plan for 30 kilometers,” Melego said.
At Mourmelon, a joint network node (JNN) communications hub is connected to a high capacity line-of-site (HCLOS) antennae and an FM antennae. That equipment provides a datalink and radio communications to the Vertus site, which relays signal to a site atop a knoll at Peley. From there, signal is retransmitted to the Mailly TOC.
A two-soldier maintenance team visits the sites daily to ensure generators are running. Signal soldiers work 12-24 hour shifts at the relay sites, sleeping in the back of a special Humvees filled with communications equipment. They rely on the daily maintenance run for supplies and a ride back to the TOC when their shift is over.
“We just come out and make sure there are no problems. We do preventative maintenance. And if the guys need anything we bring it to them,” said Sgt. 1st Class Donald Goss of Mifflintown while driving a Humvee back the muddy path to the Vertus site.
“We maintain the power for the entire exercise,” added Staff Sgt. John Keenan of Ebensburg. “If the generators go down, communications go down.”
The exercise presented a new set of challenges for the signal team. Many of these soldiers have performed their jobs in multiple overseas deployments. But each type of landscape requires unique signal planning. Spc. Raymond Parrish of Pittsburgh, a HCLOS operator, said the Rochambeau exercise is his first time operating in this type of topography — mostly flat lush land with hills and ridge lines interspersed.
“Without the glitches, we’ll never learn how to fix them,” Parrish said.
The division team worked for nine days to accomplish the complete operational setup. The retrans sites were established on day two and the TOCs were wired by day four.
“And it’ll take us a day to tear it down,” Melego said.
The “Iron Soldiers” will return from Exercise Rochambeau 2014 to Pennsylvania over the Memorial Day travel period.
| Date Taken: | 05.20.2014 |
| Date Posted: | 05.20.2014 10:17 |
| Story ID: | 130436 |
| Location: | MOURMELON, ARDENNES, FR |
| Web Views: | 130 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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