Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Tony Lindback | North Chicago native Sgt. Jose Rojas, a helpdesk information management officer with...... read more read more
By Staff Sgt. Tony M. Lindback
3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault)
CAMP STRIKER, Iraq – To get the Minutemen ready for the Revolutionary War, Paul Revere waited for a signal. Army communications, or "commo," has come a long way from hanging one lantern for attack by land, two if by sea.
Keeping the lines of communication up and running for the Rakkasans are Soldiers of the automations section, 3rd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), and Soldiers working in the joint network node from Company C, 3rd Special Troops Battalion, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT).
Telephones, e-mail, instant messaging, video teleconferencing, radio and computer local area networks enable today's war fighters to send clear, concise messages in real time. Soldiers in the Rakkasans' operating environment rely on the automations section to keep their information flowing.
"Automations is important to the modern battlefield because it's pretty much the wave of the future," said Sgt. 1st Class Keith Buczko, a Madison Heights, Mich., native and 3rd BCT automations noncommissioned officer in charge. "That's where everything is going nowadays. If you don't know something about a computer you're just going to be left behind."
In most cases, what automations specialists do is not seen by the average user. But when someone fails to refuel a generator that supplies power to network servers or when anything else brings a system down, the importance of automations specialists becomes clear.
"E-mail – that's the biggest thing around here," Buczko said. "As soon as e-mail goes down everybody and their brother gets antsy about it."
Another key to efficient, modern communication in the war is known as the Command Post of the Future.
Among CPOF's capabilities is an interactive map with up-to-the-minute information about the past, present and future of individual events in the area of operations. Anyone who has CPOF access, even in other locations, can use that information to make informed operational decisions.
While the automations section provides many services to the entire brigade, the bulk of information flow to and from the brigade headquarters would not be possible without the joint network node.
"We provide the pipe and the water for communications," said Chief Warrant Officer Lynn LaFever III, a brigade network technician who works in the JNN from 3rd STB.
"In layman's terms the JNN is the heart and soul of the communications network for the brigade," said LaFever, a self-described military brat who calls Nashville, Tenn., home. "Without it, the brigade combat team can, basically, only function on radio."
The JNN connects patrol bases, brigade and division together through the Internet. It also makes telephone communication possible. With its 11 Soldiers and three network technicians, the JNN staff handles it all for more than 5,000 people in the Rakkasan operating environment.
Through use of an Internet protocol router network, Soldiers are also able to email and phone family and friends, pay bills online and keep up on local news.
"While I think 15 months is unbearable to begin with, I think it would be horrible if we didn't have that kind of access to the families back home," said Staff Sgt. John Abeln, a St. Louis native and data systems integrator with the automations section, 3rd BCT, 101st Abn. Div. (AASLT).
Time away from home cannot be replaced, but use of modern communications can soften the blow. In previous conflicts, Soldiers waited weeks to get letters from home. Without the Internet or regular telephone access, it was difficult to stay connected.
"You miss a lot," Buczko said. "You have a 1-year-old child when you leave and when you come back he's 3. It's like ... where did the time go? If you don't have the phone calls and the e-mail you just miss out on a lot. By having all that stuff and setting up a VTC you can actually see your family, and hopefully you don't miss out on as much as you would have a few years ago."
LaFever said giving Soldiers the ability to stay connected with home is important to morale and overall mission readiness.
The automations section and the JNN are providing the communication tools for today's warfare. Providing real-time communication that reaches an ever-broadening audience increases efficiency and the war-fighter's ability to make decisions, LaFever added.
"Today's Army is definitely all about communications," Buczko said. "Without automations and without the radio, I can only imagine what today's battlefield would be like."
| Date Taken: | 04.06.2008 |
| Date Posted: | 04.06.2008 15:28 |
| Story ID: | 18126 |
| Location: | BAGHDAD, IQ |
| Web Views: | 478 |
| Downloads: | 409 |
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