'Iron Knights' more than just armor

By Spc. Gregory T. Summers, 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div., Public AffairsMarch 6, 2015

Relaying Signal
1 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Cpl. Nicholas L. Dye (left), satellite transportable terminal operator, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and Spc. Emmanuel L. Ta... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL
Testing
2 / 2 Show Caption + Hide Caption – CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait - Spc. Emmanuel L. Tate, signal support systems specialist, Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, and Cpl. Nicholas L. Dye, satellite t... (Photo Credit: U.S. Army) VIEW ORIGINAL

CAMP BUEHRING, Kuwait -- The "Iron Knights" of 1st Battalion, 66th Armor Regiment, 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, arrived at Camp Buehring, Kuwait over the last several weeks, and while preparing their armored vehicles and motor pools was a priority, so was establishing communications.

Signal Soldiers of Headquarters and Headquarters Company, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div., didn't waste any time after their arrival to begin testing their communication assets, Feb. 28.

"We are out here early, putting in hard work and testing our equipment now so that we can establish what changes we might have to make later down the road," Spc. Emmanuel L. Tate, signal systems support specialist, HHC, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. said. "We want to make sure we will be mission ready and fully operational for the duration of our deployment."

The "Iron Knight" communicators set up their Satellite Transportable Terminal (STT) and pulled out their Command Post Node (CPN) stacks to begin testing signal strengths for the voice and data capabilities they will provide. These Soldiers are tasked with providing communications support within the battalion.

Sgt. Brian M. Bicek, communications noncommissioned officer, HHC, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div., said he and his Soldiers were gauging their equipment for the battalion's mobile, tactical operations center (TOC). "We are validating our operating systems for the mobile TOC," Bicek said. "With the mobile TOC communications systems in place, we can uproot and move it with ease, allowing us to communicate wherever we go on the battlefield."

Communicating on the go is a mission priority for the "Iron Knights," whom roll out their Soldiers and armored vehicles frequently for training.

"The voice and data that we are providing allows our commanders to have the capability to communicate and fight the mission, wherever that might be," Cpl. Nicholas L. Dye, satellite transportable terminal operator, HHC, 1st Bn., 66th Armor Reg., 3rd ABCT, 4th Inf. Div. said. "We just want to make sure everything is working properly now, before we start our field exercises."

While checking the signal strengths of their equipment is important to the mission of getting established at Camp Buehring, it's also valuable training.

"We are hitting the ground running so to speak and setting up this equipment now is great training for our Soldiers and myself," Bicek said. "For most of the Soldiers, this is their first time deploying. Getting them out here and more familiar with the equipment in this environment, will help us be more successful."

"Safe, reliable and dependable communications is what we provide for our battalion's commanders," Tate said. "If we are successful at doing that, our battalion is successful."