1st Combat Comm supports Arctic Challenge Exercise 19 in Sweden

LULEå, BD, SWEDEN

05.24.2019

Story by Lt. Col. Jim St. Clair 

169th Fighter Wing

U.S. Air Force Airmen with the 1st Combat Communications Squadron, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing have hit the ground running supporting Arctic Challenge Exercise 19 in Sweden. A special 11-person team whose motto is “first in – last out” arrived over a week ago from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to set up all of the communications infrastructure at Kallax Air Base in Luleå for the U.S. forces participating in ACE 19 over the next two weeks.

ACE is a biennial Nordic aviation exercise which aims to build strong and strategic relationships and increase global response and interoperability between multinational forces. The U.S. Air Force and U.S. Marine Corps are joining eight other allied and partner militaries during ACE 19 across Sweden, Norway and Finland.

Master Sgt. Nathan Loura, a member of the 282nd Combat Communications Squadron, Rhode Island Air National Guard, serves as the 1st Combat Communications Squadron NCOIC and site lead for ACE 19. Loura is on assignment with 1st CBCS as part of the National Guard’s Total Force Program. “We augment USAFE because they have a very high ops tempo. We come out and integrate ourselves into their structure and then we deploy as a member of the 1st [CBCS],” Loura said.

The 1st CBCS is designed to operate as an autonomous unit. “It’s everything communications related so you have radio, operations, client services technicians, and power personnel. We’re a self-contained team that can sustain all communications. We provide satellite communications (SATCOM), Non-secure Internet Protocol Router/Secret Internet Protocol Router (NIPR/SIPR) [unclassified/classified] services, air-to-ground radios, and LMR [land mobile radios] as well,” Loura explained.

Late last week when U.S. Air Force Airmen and F-16C Fighting Falcon aircraft with the South Carolina Air National Guard arrived at Kallax Air Base, the 1st CBCS was already set up and waiting for them. They had everything ready to go for their ‘customer,’ the 169th Fighter Wing, known as the Swamp Foxes, from McEntire Joint National Guard Base, South Carolina.

“When we arrived on site, we collected the equipment and then we were ‘comms hot’ completely within six hours,” Loura said. “We had SIPR and NIPR services, SATCOM was up, and air-to-ground radios. We had our LMRs programmed. The only thing we needed were the customers to hand everything off to.”

1st CBCS has been preparing for several months to support ACE 19. U.S. Air Forces in Europe initially requested 1st CBCS support last fall. Once the team was notified, the 11-person roster was assembled and then they started the preparation phase for their mission to Sweden. “That’s when we start the equipment work. We break out what we’ve decided from an engineering aspect what equipment will support the requirements of the exercise. We then bring out all that equipment and we start to configure and get all the stuff there. We test power, we run configurations and we’re running actual services through and hook up every single computer we’re taking with us to that kit to make sure it’s working. We then pack it all up,” Loura said.

Once ACE 19 is in full swing this week, a typical day for the 1st CBCS follows a set timetable. Backing up from the time the first jets take off, they will arrive before everyone else to make sure their customer can operate seamlessly.

“We will do a full comms check. We’ll then do a safety check. We’ll check the guy-wires on the [antenna], make sure nothing is loose, nothing is broken, and nothing is frayed. We check the cables and make sure nothing is disconnected. And then from there we will engage with the customer,” Loura explained.

But if anything does go wrong, or as systems break down, Loura’s team is standing by to troubleshoot and get them working as quickly as possible.

Asked about how things were going so far, Loura said: “It’s going very well. We use a specific kit that’s unique to the 1st called a ‘BRE’. It allows us to connect anywhere in the world [regardless] of any infrastructure we have in the background. Right now we are using a Swedish commercial internet service provider. What the BRE allows us to do is create a tunnel back to Ramstein and we extend that domain outwards. It makes things super easy and the kit has a small footprint.”

• Date Taken: 05.24.2019
• Date Posted: 05.28.2019 02:18
• Story ID: 324092
• Location: LULEå, BD, SE