Photo By Staff Sgt. Gabrielle Winn | U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. John Diggs, 422nd Communications Squadron cyber operations...... read more read more
RAF CROUGHTON, England –
Airmen assigned to the 422nd Communications Squadron’s Cable and Antenna team performed an antenna repair to a High Frequency Global Communications System (HFGCS) antenna located at a geographically separated unit attached to Royal Air Force Croughton, England, March 2021.
The unique repair was prompted after a rotatable log-periodic antenna thrust bearing broke during a routine inspection at RAF Barford, rendering it unable to perform at full functionality.
“This kind of repair rarely happens and was a new experience for everyone,” said Master Sgt. John Diggs, 422nd Communications Squadron cyber operations section chief. “Lowering an RLP happens once every five years, so many Airmen in this career field will never see it.”
HFGCS is a radio network, which is used to communicate with military assets across the globe, from aircraft in flight, ships at sea, to surety assets as well as transmitting emergency action messages and providing back-up command and control for the state department within certain countries in Europe.
“There was large difficulty in using the winch to pull the leaning portion of the tower in to join vertically with the other half, and the winch at the bottom had to be hand turned with very little leverage and even had to be replaced part-way through,” said Airman 1st Class Benjamin Patton, 422nd CS network infrastructure technician. “While assisting in the repair, I learned how the HFGCS antenna operates and how important it is to our mission at RAF Croughton.”
While the repair served as a valuable opportunity to gain practical experience for the 422nd CS Airmen, it also gave them a chance to build their skillset while overcoming unfamiliar challenges.
“From my experience working on the antenna I gained insight into the function of the job, but also the innovation and dedication required for such projects,” said Airman 1st Class Elijah Uffelman, 422nd CS network infrastructure technician. “Particularly challenging was the equipment breakdown that occurred requiring new tools and creativity to accomplish raising up the antenna.”
Although this was a new experience for some of the less seasoned cable and antenna team, their adaptability successfully got the job done.
“I was lucky I was with Airmen that were just on it,” Diggs explained. “…They were adaptable and every time we ran into a problem they said ‘okay, how can we fix it?’ and go around it. It was amazing watching them work.”
RAF Croughton is one of 13 sites worldwide that host the HFGCS mission, and through the efforts of the 422nd CS they ensured the critical communication network remained intact for operations occurring around the world.
| Date Taken: | 09.22.2021 |
| Date Posted: | 10.18.2021 05:49 |
| Story ID: | 407430 |
| Location: | ENG, GB |
| Web Views: | 163 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Comm Airmen restore vital capabilities, by SSgt Gabrielle Winn, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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