Unit: Marine Wing Support Squadron 274
Job Title: Radio operator
Home town: Mentor, Ohio
Date Joined: Aug. 2008
Age: 26
CHERRY POINT, N.C. - Cpl. Nicholas J. Lorber tunes and sets up radio equipment, establishing the communications networks between higher headquarters issuing orders and operational elements getting the job done. As a radio operator for Marine Wing Support Squadron 274, he ensures everybody on the battlefield is aware of what everybody else is doing.
“When we're out on a field op, my job is to make sure my Marines who are on post know what they're doing, and they understand what is going on at that post as far as how to talk on the radio. I make sure that if the radios go down they get back up and running in a timely manner.”
Lorber said the biggest challenge in maintaining a radio network is working the radio. Each radio can perform five functions and radio operators need to switch from one function to another on muscle memory. As a corporal, it is Lorber’s job to make sure his Marines can perform.
Lorber gets a lot of satisfaction from his job. He feels important because Marines miles away can hear what they need to hear and exchange information that needs to be known.