FORT HOOD, Texas – Division West is training its computer help desk technicians to support the new operating system being phased into use by the military to replace Microsoft Vista.
“The Department of Defense and the United States Army are migrating to the Windows 7 operating system, so they want to make sure that all system administrators … are certified to be able to work Windows 7 systems,” said Lt. Col. Kevin Litwhiler, Division West chief information officer.
Attendees of a two-week training course held in March at Division West headquarters learned to troubleshoot Windows 7 systems, repair them, and “get them back out to the user as quickly as possible,” Litwhiler said.
Nine computer specialists who attended the Windows 7 course at Division West headquarters in March are from either Division West headquarters, the 120th Infantry Brigade, 479th Field Artillery Brigade or 166th Aviation Brigade, all at Fort Hood; or the 181st Infantry Brigade at Fort McCoy, Wis. Two more students work for Fort Hood’s Network Enterprise Center.
The purpose of the Windows 7 class, said instructor Richard Lyda, a senior trainer with U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command, is to train help desk technicians to resolve computer issues as quickly as possible, ensuring that Department of Defense personnel remain battle- and mission-ready.
“The end users interface typically with the people who are in this class by calling them for support – something breaks, something’s not working right,” Lyda said. “Those supporting staff have to know how to support the end users on Windows 7.”
Sgt. 1st Class Joseph Walker, information technology non-commissioned officer with the 181st Infantry Brigade, said he will be able to help users at Fort McCoy more efficiently with the Windows 7 remote desktop feature, which allows a help desk technician to operate and troubleshoot a user’s computer remotely.
“I’ll be able to see what you’re doing on your computer and take over the mouse and click to where you might need to go to fix a certain problem,” Walker said. “Instead of having to run around, the remote desktop will allow [system administrators] to be more business-friendly, accomplish more tasks and use their time more wisely.”
At the end of the Windows 7 course, students took a test to become Microsoft certified technology specialists. If they choose to, they can take a second test at another time to become Microsoft certified information technology professionals.
“It’s good for us to learn the changes from Vista to Windows 7, so that we can help the customers with their desktop applications and setting [the system] up,” said Marlo Rice, system administrator with Division West headquarters. “Some of the applications that we use have changed where they’re located, so now I know exactly where the applications are. I’ve learned a lot about Windows 7.”
Since Division West trains tens of thousands of Army National Guard and Army Reserve soldiers for deployments every year, the unit’s Windows 7-trained system administrators will not only help computer users in the division, Litwhiler said, but they will be able to pass on their skills to computer specialists in deploying units.
“There are a lot of changes inside Windows 7 that are confusing and can cause problems as you’re bringing in the networks,” Litwhiler said. “[The Windows 7 class is] going to help these guys do the mission and do it much better.”
Military computer users may not even notice the difference between the Vista and Windows 7 operating systems, just by looking at them, Lyda said.
“The visual differences between Vista and Windows 7 are very small,” Lyda said. “Most people won’t recognize it.”
Although the Department of Defense normally tests a computer operating system for six to eight months before implementing it, testing of Windows 7 took about a year, according to Litwhiler. “Windows 7 was a lot longer because of how much it changed from Microsoft Vista,” he said.
Division West is just beginning to migrate from Vista to Windows 7, Litwhiler said. The change should be complete for the unit’s headquarters and three brigades at Fort Hood by June 2013. The division’s five brigades at Fort Bliss, Texas, Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., and Fort McCoy, Wis., will complete the migration a little later.
| Date Taken: |
03.27.2012 |
| Date Posted: |
03.30.2012 17:20 |
| Story ID: |
86041 |
| Location: |
FORT HOOD, TEXAS, US |
| Web Views: |
60 |
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0 |
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