In his father's boot steps

Photo By Sgt. 1st Class Andrew Gates | Capt. Randolph Witt, 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron, left, points out some of the improvements made in network server operations to his father, retired Brig. Gen. Randy Witt.  

ALI BASE, IRAQ

05.22.2006

Courtesy Story

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ALI BASE, Iraq -- The former commander of an Air Force tactical communications group got a chance to see the latest advancements in the field, literally, during a May 14 stop at Ali Base's 407th Expeditionary Communications Squadron.

His tour guide: his son, who is assigned to the same tactical communications unit he commanded nearly 20 years ago.

Retired Brig. Gen. Randy Witt visited the 407th ECS while heading to Afghanistan. While here, he visited and got a tour from his son, Capt. Randolph Witt, deployed to Ali from the 3rd Combat Communications Group, Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. General Witt commanded the 3rd CCG from Jan. 1986 to June 1988.

The retired general was going through the theater as a guest of the Army " his company has a contract for deployable cell phone technology in Afghanistan. General Witt was heading to Afghanistan to meet with his staff, and touch base with the Army team managing the contract.

"On the way, I decided to try to visit Ali to see my son," General Witt said.

"I wasn't expecting him to get here when he did, since we are in the middle of a rotation," Captain Witt said. "He sent me an e-mail from his Blackberry (May 14) that said he was on his way."

As part of the visit, Captain Witt gave his father a quick run down on the communications unit at Ali.

As commander of the 3rd CCG, General Witt was quite familiar with establishing communications in austere environments.

The 3rd CCG is one of the Air Force units responsible for deploying to a bare-base at the beginning of operations and establishing the initial command and control, computers and communication infrastructure, said Captain Witt.

As the contingency continues, the deployed communicators replace that initial " or tactical " infrastructure with more permanent " or fixed " equipment.

"Fixed communications are much more easily supported," Captain Witt said.

The face of tactical communication has changed significantly over the past 20 years, General Witt said.

"All the equipment we used needed huge vans of support equipment," said General Witt. "Now, it's fair to say that all the communications equipment is commercialized off-the-shelf equipment. We've gone from military-developed to commercially-developed equipment."

Modern communicators still use a few pieces of equipment from the general's stint as commander of the 3rd CCS, he said, including a good deal of the equipment combat communications units bring in to set up a new airfield.

Although the general left the 3rd CCG, or "3rd Herd," more than 20 years ago, he did leave a legacy which continues to this day. Originally, the unit's nickname came from its size, since it was the largest unit of its type at the time, said the captain.

"When we first got to Oklahoma, I saw a number of unit stickers with an owl," said Captain Witt. "It seemed a little strange to have a unit with the nickname "3rd Herd" and an owl for a mascot."

"The group logo was old " and the motto was "World-wise Comm," said General Witt. "I had never heard of a herd of owls, so we held a contest to develop a new logo " one involving a more appropriate mascot."

The eventual winner, a bull, was named after General Witt's given first name " Buford. The general also changed the group's motto to "Oldest. Biggest. Best."

This reunion is the first of two " the second within about a month as Captain Witt returns to Okla. and the 3rd Herd.

"I was sure happy to see my son doing a good job here," said General Witt. "It was a pleasure to meet the team who is here with him. It was great to meet my son in a forward deployed area like this."

• Date Taken: 05.22.2006
• Date Posted: 05.22.2006 09:46
• Story ID: 6448
• Location: ALI BASE, IQ