Civilians Aid Mission in Afghanistan, Elsewhere

KABUL, AFGHANISTAN

02.01.2005

Courtesy Story

DVIDS Hub       

Story by: Staff Sgt. Jeff Troth

KABUL, Afghanistan - Americans constantly see and hear about U.S. and coalition military forces fighting the global war on terrorism in Afghanistan and Iraq. What they don't hear about are the numerous civilians working so the military can complete its mission.

Unheard of is the 30 Department of Defense and contracted civilians that Network Enterprise Technology Command/9th Army Signal Command has deployed to Southwest Asia to support the troops. Their mission is to improve and maintain communications for the military.

Two of NETCOM's civilian warfighters, Edward Griswold and Sylvester Payne, were recently awarded the Superior Civilian Service Award for their contributions in Afghanistan. This is the third highest Department of the Army award granted to civilians.

The two project managers, who work for NETCOM's Information Technology Integration Directorate, began traveling to Southwest Asia in August 2002 to conduct a site survey to determine what was needed to commercialize the tactical communications sites in that country. In 2003, they started five- to six-month trips to upgrade the existing systems.

"We commercialized it to free up the tactical assets for redeployment," said Payne. "This way, as units come and go, we don't have to worry about switching out equipment. Thatmeans the system will have to be down during that time period."

Facilities were set up in Afghanistan, Kuwait, Djibouti and Uzbekistan, that provided better unclassified, classified and coalition networks as well as Defense Switching Network services.

"In Afghanistan, we improved service at the U.S. Embassy, Kabul Compound, ISAF (International Security Assistance Force) compound, Kabul International Airport, and Camp Phoenix," said Griswold. "At the embassy, we put up a 100-foot monopole that improved their communications by 1,000 percent."

This increase was accomplished by mounting new and existing antennas on the pole. By moving one of the embassy's antennas to the monopole, the range of their walkie talkies was doubled.

The new system has also increased the bandwidth from 1 megabyte to 45 megabytes for the embassy and Kabul military compounds. All these changes help the embassy personnel communicate better amongst themselves and with the rest of the U.S. and coalition forces, and thus do a better job helping the Afghan people, according to Griswold.

Griswold said the improvements he and his team made in Afghanistan are important because "commanders rely on them heavily for command and control of their troops."

The new systems do not only have an impact on tactics, but also morale.

"During Desert Shield, we didn't have any of this available to us," said Payne, who was an infantryman during the first Gulf War. "Now, they have Internet café and phone centers to keep in touch with their loved ones. It is a big change in quality of life."

"Now, the Soldiers can call home a lot easier and the quality of service over there has increased greatly," said Griswold. "Before, if you called someone in the states, it used to be scratchy.

Now, I can call from over there and talk to someone here (in Arizona) and it sounds like I am right next door."

Griswold, Payne and 30 other employees that ITID has in Afghanistan face the same dangers as the deployed military members they are there to help.

Both remember the day the embassy was attacked by Anti-Coalition Militia forces. Half the team was in the compound working, but Griswold, Payne and the others were on their way to Bagram Air Field. When Payne remembered he had left his security badge back at the safe house, they turned the convoy around.

"If we hadn't have gone back to get that badge, we would have been driving by during the attack," said Griswold.

Along with sharing the dangers of Afghanistan, the civilians are also separated from their families.

But a couple of main differences between the two groups are that civilians do not carry guns and they all volunteered to be there.

"Someone had to do it," said Payne. "And I wanted to make sure that it was done right."

This attitude and their actions in Southwest Asia is why their boss, Sherry Garcia, chief Special Projects and System Support Division, ITID, recommended them for the Superior Civilian Service Award.

"I am not going to force anyone to go and put themselves in harms way," Garcia said. "They volunteered to be NETCOM's liaison for all the communications over there. It is their job to prioritize what needs to be done and, when the equipment gets there, to get it installed.

One of Payne's responsibilities in Southwest Asia is to review equipment orders and ensure everything needed is ordered and that it will integrate into the existing communication plan. He saved the government time and money by recommending more efficient materials or methods of installation.

Last year, more than 400 tons of communications equipment was ordered and shipped to Afghanistan, where it was stored in warehouses in Bagram and Kabul.

"It is a real team effort and no one does the job on their own," said Griswold. "You have to support each other to get the job done."

Both know that getting their mission in Afghanistan accomplished has not only had an impact on the military forces there, but also the local civilians.

"Probably about 95 percent of (Afghans) are glad that Americans are there," said Griswold. "Now, it is not unusual to see girls going to school, which is something you wouldn't have seen seven years ago.

"People in the states don't understand what a big deal it is. I do and am glad I had a part in it."

• Date Taken: 02.01.2005
• Date Posted: 02.01.2005 15:52
• Story ID: 994
• Location: KABUL, AF