Photo By Pfc. Kelly Middleton | A communications specialist with C Company, 449th Aviation Support Battalion, prepares...... read more read more
CAMP SWIFT, Texas -- Every mission has multiple components working together to complete the task at hand, each element playing a vital role to support the end-state. C Company, 449th Aviation Support Battalion enhances its parent organization as one such component, providing invaluable services to the mission. They supply their battalion with complete telecommunications capabilities built upon the most up-to-date technology in the military.
Applying this skill set to National Guard training requirements, the elite team of the Texas Interoperable Communications Package supported the 449th ASB for the brigade-level annual training, held June 2011 at Camp Swift in Bastrop, Texas.
“Our real mission is to provide communications any way possible,” said 2nd Lt. Zachary Moore, OIC for the TICP Trailer 6141, a modern communications shelter within C Company 449th. “We’re supporting the full battalion of 449th ASB with communications so they can do their annual training. We’ve given out the FM hand-helds here; they’re using the phones, the Wi-Fi [and] the internet. In a civilian situation or disaster, they’d be using the same things.”
The TICP, while supporting 449th ASB, participated in the traditional Army drills and classes at Camp Swift to maintain their warrior skills.
“We like to stay busy, so once we’re up, we have shifts,” said Moore. “We try to keep two people on shift and if there’s more people at our site, we’ll send them out for training. There are ruck marches going on and HEAT training.”
HEAT refers to Camp Swift’s specialized HMMWV Egress Assistance Trainer, which simulates a vehicle rollover for the driver and passengers.
Although the TICP personnel supported the Camp Swift AT with signal capabilities, their primary mission focuses on immediate response to any natural disaster within their area of coverage.
“We’re really a hurricane-bound team,” said Moore. “We do missions like this every once in a while but the real reason for the TICP is for Hurricane emergencies. They call us up if there’s an emergency and within 24 hours we should be en route to the emergency site.”
The signal-qualified soldiers have extensively trained on their equipment, always preparing for real-world exercises in which they can fully employ their facility.
“We are looking forward to it,” said Staff Sgt. Zachary Hamilton, team chief for TICP, about the opportunity to support the state directly. “The equipment is excellent and we really want to get out there and try it out.”
When C Company is unable to report for a natural disaster, there are other teams ready to support the mission in their stead.
“There’s about six or seven teams,” said Hamilton. “So at any given time, they’re never going to be using all six.”
Training at Camp Swift has prepared TICP to respond to natural disasters while working with the military. The real test will be the civilian sector.
“In a real-world event, we’d have to rely on the civilian agencies and this isn’t a test of the civilian agencies,” said Hamilton. “We know we can get fuel and food from the military but when we get out with civilians are we going to have the same access, and that’s the real test.”
The battalion signal company, as one element of the complete organization, keeps the rest of 449th ASB connected. Without TICP capabilities, the mission would falter and the outfit would suffer an incalculable loss. The team’s contribution to the workflow remains an invaluable service that enables and promotes complete success for everyone.
“When a natural disaster takes out the civilian infrastructure,” said Hamilton, “it will be units like the TICP team that provide stability for the government agencies to better support the victims of the incident.”
| Date Taken: | 06.15.2011 |
| Date Posted: | 07.27.2011 13:33 |
| Story ID: | 74390 |
| Location: | CAMP SWIFT, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: | 208 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
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