Photo By Spc. James Wilton | U.S. Army Spc. Andrew Johnson, a signal support systems specialist from Bronson, Iowa,...... read more read more
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PARWAN PROVINCE, Afghanistan – Guardsmen often wear two hats when it comes to their civilian and military careers, which gives them a wider range of training and skill sets to draw upon when they tackle a project or problem.
The Iowa National Guard soldiers with the Information Technology and Communications section or S-6, Headquarters and Headquarters Troop, 1st Squadron, 113th Cavalry Regiment, Task Force Redhorse, proved this during the building of a new Joint Defense Operations Center on Bagram Air Field, Afghanistan.
The previous S-6 unit started the plans and construction in July 2010 andfinished the foundation before they redeployed.
U.S. Army Capt. Eric Eggers, the 1st Sqdn., 113th Cav. S-6 officer-in-charge from Marshalltown, Iowa, learned about the project when the Cavalry, a part of the 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 34th Infantry Division, Task Force Red Bulls, began their deployment.
Eggers, who works as a project manager in Iowa, said he used his experience to complete the project as quickly and efficiently as possible.
“Having that experience [in project managing] helped me to better run the project here,” said Eggers. “The knowledge and experience I gained in Iowa helped me to better assess the project and know what needed to be done, how the project needed to be run for it to work and happen in a timely manner.”
The soldiers completed the project April 15 and transferred operations from the old JDOC the following week.
The younger enlisted soldiers benefited from the experience of those appointed above them.
U.S. Army Sgt. 1st Class Russell Steffen, the non-commissioned officer-in-charge of the 1st Sqdn, 113th Cav. S-6 from Sioux City, Iowa, and a member of the Local 231 Electricians Union, took a lead role in completing the project correctly.
“He brought a lot of experience with him, and it is blatantly obvious when he is instructing or teaching that he has done this before and everyone really listens to what he has to say,” said U.S. Army Spc. Andrew Johnson, a signal support systems specialist with HHT. “When he was showing us how to lay the terminated ends into the boxes under the workstations, he was showing you have to go [a certain distance] into the terminated end to make a good connection, he was very specific and very detailed about it.”
The project itself also lent one soldier skills toward a future career.
“I did extensive work with physically laying the cable and working with the patch panels, so it is a trade that I now know and can implement, which opens up several job fields when I get back home,” said Johnson of Bronson, Iowa, who is studying computer science at Morningside College in Sioux City.
Understanding the infrastructure and layout of buildings like the operations center will help Johnson do his job better in the future, said Eggers.
Experience and knowledge go a long way helping soldiers in their civilian and military careers, but that is not all the JDOC did for those involved in the construction.
“I look at it as an accomplishment. I can take this project and say ‘I did something today,’” said Eggers. “Or, when we go home these guys can say ‘I built this fantastic JDOC and the guys that came in after us will be able to use it and know that they have it way better than we had it, and that’s because of me.’”
| Date Taken: | 03.20.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 04.24.2011 16:08 |
| Story ID: | 69277 |
| Location: | PARWAN PROVINCE, AF |
| Web Views: | 356 |
| Downloads: | 1 |
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