‘Good comms’: 1-152 CAV Soldiers establish communications in Slovakia

Photo By 1st Lt. Jonathan Padish | U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Lohmiller, a Lawrenceburg, Ind. resident and Soldier assigned to the 1st Squadron, 152nd Cavalry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 38th Infantry Division, Indiana Army National Guard, checks the communications on an AN/PRC-150 multi-band radio in a field at Lešť military training center in Slovakia, Oct. 29, 2019. Soldiers from 1-152 CAV, 76th IBCT, 38th ID, Indiana ARNG, deployed to Slovakia to participate in Slovak Shield 2019, a war-fighting exercise involving five NATO countries. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Jonathan W. Padish)  

SLOVAKIA

10.30.2019

Story by Senior Airman Jonathan Padish 

Indiana National Guard Headquarters

LEŠT, Slovakia (Oct. 30, 2019) — For the average person, having access to communications of some sort, whether through cell phone or by computer, is an essential part of daily life. For U.S. Army Soldiers in the field, having communications is critical to mission success.

To that end, Soldiers with the Indiana Army National Guard worked to ensure commanders have communications capabilities with troops in the field as part of Slovak Shield 2019, a multi-national NATO war-fighting exercise held in Slovakia.

“We established a high frequency antenna setup,” said U.S. Army Spc. Josh Southerland, a Seymour, Indiana native and signal support systems specialist assigned to the 1st Squadron, 152 Cavalry Regiment, 76th Infantry Brigade Combat Team, 38th Infantry Division, Indiana Army National Guard. “It is meant to provide communications between the command site and the exercise site.”

The AN/PRC-150 multi-band radio, commonly referred to as a Harris radio, has unique capabilities.

According to Southerland, the AN/PRC-150 is capable of transmitting both voice and data over difficult terrain. Instead of requiring a line of sight to transmit information, the AN/PRC-150 is able to send signals off of the earth’s ionosphere. In other words, it reflects a signal off the atmosphere from one point on the earth’s surface to another, including over mountains, trees and other terrain.

Soldiers with 1-152 CAV recognized the importance of establishing good communications.

“The mission would fail without comms,” said U.S. Army Spc. Dillon Devore, a Seymour, Ind. native and signal support systems specialist assigned to the 1-152 CAV, 76th ICBT, 38th ID, IN ARNG. “It’s the only way we can talk to each other.”

Slovakia’s mountainous terrain provided new challenges for the Soldiers.

“It’s hard because we can’t set up easily,” said Southerland. “We can’t just call the person on the other side.”

Despite that challenge, the Soldiers were able to establish communications between the training sites. After all, the Soldiers had one goal in mind when setting up the antenna.

“Good comms,” said Devore.

• Date Taken: 10.30.2019
• Date Posted: 10.30.2019 13:27
• Story ID: 349851
• Location: SK