Photo By Barry Bena | Tech. Sgt. Andrew Batson, 202d Engineering Installation Squadron, 116th Air Control...... read more read more
Subscribe
Personnel from the 202d Engineering Installation Squadron, Georgia Air National Guard, deployed to Muñiz Air National Guard Base, San Juan, Puerto Rico, Aug. 12, 2019 to assist the Puerto Rican Air National Guard’s renovation of their medical and dining facility building.
The role of the 202d EIS in San Juan is to route and provide the communications infrastructure to the remodeled building and its offices, to include CAT 6 Ethernet and RG6 coaxial cable outlets. The 11-man team has approximately 14 days to install almost 75,000 feet of cable and 100 work area outlets.
“We here are able to sustain our base, but we cannot build it from the ground up,” said Air Force Col. Humberto “Tillo” Pabon, vice commander, 156th Airlift Wing, Puerto Rico Air National Guard. “Our network has been challenged since Hurricane Maria hit in 2017. 202d personnel are going to help us rebuild and safeguard our network capability.”
Air Force Master Sgt. George Harvey, the non-commissioned officer in charge of the 202d EIS cable shop, and a 30-year member of the 202d EIS said, “This is a great opportunity to help out our fellow ANG units while honing our skills. In addition, it gives us a way to help train our people for new leadership roles.”
One of those new roles is of the team chief. The role of team chief would be equivalent to a foreman. He is in charge of the mission, the equipment and his team on, and off duty. There is a substantial amount of responsibility placed in the team chief so the path to being qualified is a lengthy, but rewarding one.
“I started the qualification process almost a year ago as a staff sergeant,” said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andrew Batson, a 202d EIS cable/antenna systems craftsman, and team chief nominee. “I finally feel have enough experience to run this mission with some guidance.”
That guidance is coming from Air Force Master Sgt. Jorge Carabajal, a fully qualified team chief with the 202d EIS. Carbajal has been Batson’s trainer and mentor since he began his team chief qualification a year ago.
“I think it all comes down to 3 things to succeed as a team chief: learn how to manage your time, your personnel and your resources,” said Carbajal. “Additionally, finding new and innovative ways of handling stressful situations is a must!”
Carbajal is set to retire from the Air Force after 27 years. He knows leaving all his knowledge and wisdom into the next generation of team chiefs, like Batson, will ensure success at the 202d.
“The folks here are my friends, my brothers even,” said Carbajal. “I want to make sure they’re well taken care of after I’m gone. That’s why I pour all my knowledge into Batson to make sure he is on the right course for success.”
Batson said he thinks he’s doing well so far in the qualification process but admits there are certain areas he struggles at.
“Organization!” he said. “Just being able to pull so many different areas together is difficult for me so I make it a point to jot down notes every day and review them every night. Ultimately, it helps me better organize all the team roles and functions every step of the way.”
Once the project is complete, Batson will submit all worksite documentation to his command for review. They will then consult with Carbajal and his peers and determine if Batson has satisfactorily met the requirements to be a fully qualified team chief. Though optimistic, Batson said if he is not deemed qualified yet, he is eager to take their feedback to improve to ensure the team’s success.
“What I’m learning in the process as I transition from [cable] installer to leader is shifting my mindset from my personal goals to team goals,” Batson said. “At end of day it’s rewarding to see my team work longer hours on their own to pull 50,000 feet of cable in three days! I can only be successful because team successful.”
| Date Taken: | 08.17.2019 |
| Date Posted: | 10.01.2019 11:06 |
| Story ID: | 344907 |
| Location: | CAROLINA, PR |
| Hometown: | CAROLINA, PR |
| Hometown: | SAN JUAN, PR |
| Hometown: | ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, GA, US |
| Web Views: | 41 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, From Georgia Peach to the “Isla del Encanto”, 202d EIS Support in the Caribbean, by Barry Bena, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
No keywords found.
LEAVE A COMMENT