TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, PA. - On his first deployment to Southwest Asia, Larry Trygar found the rewards far outweighed the sacrifices.

"As site lead, I was responsible for day-to-day operations of the shop," said Trygar, explaining that he and other employees repaired computer systems, which includes anything that is a desktop or laptop-based system or office automation equipment. Trygar is an information technology specialist at Tobyhanna.

His duties during the seven-month deployment included scheduling incoming and outgoing work, repairing equipment, ordering parts for repairs, and shipping and receiving.

"Working in the field with the Soldiers and being genuinely appreciated was one of the most rewarding aspects of the job," Trygar said. "It's an awesome experience everyone should feel for themselves."

Warfighter support and a desire to serve their country is what draws many people to support a variety of wartime missions.

"It's a rewarding opportunity to experience the great support and services which Tobyhanna provides for our service men and women," Trygar said. "Deployment provides an opportunity to experience the front line support.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is the largest full-service Command, Control, Communications, Computers, Intelligence, Surveillance, and Reconnaissance (C4ISR) maintenance and logistics support facility in the Department of Defense. Employees repair, overhaul and fabricate electronics systems and components, from tactical field radios to the ground terminals for the defense satellite communications network.

Tobyhanna's missions support all branches of the Armed Forces. The depot is the Army Center of Industrial and Technical Excellence (CITE) for Communications-Electronics, Avionics, and Missile Guidance and Control Systems and the Air Force Technology Repair Center (TRC) for ground communications and electronics.

About 5,700 personnel are employed at Tobyhanna, which is located in the Pocono Mountains of northeastern Pennsylvania.

Tobyhanna Army Depot is part of the U.S. Army CECOM Life Cycle Management Command. Headquartered at Fort Monmouth, N.J., the command's mission is to research, develop, acquire, field and sustain communications, command, control, computer, intelligence, electronic warfare and sensors capabilities for the Armed Forces.