GALLIPOLI BARRACKS, Australia - Exercises such as Talisman Sabre 15 rely heavily on the ability to communicate, both internally and with units at different locations.
To accomplish this, a special group of Soldiers work diligently behind the scenes to ensure the phone line has a dial tone and the computer screen always boots up.
For I Corps, this task falls to communication specialists from the G6. These Soldiers arrived in Australia a week prior to the staff, laying down 15.5 miles of cables, installing 512 computers and 170 phones, and setting up eight satellites. All this to communicate with Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Washington, and other command post locations in Hawaii and around Australia.
"The cables was the most challenging part of this exercise," said Spc. Elliot Calderon, G6 helpdesk technician, I Corps. "It took five days to run, splice and test all the cables."
Once the miles of cables were laid and tested, the team set up the phones and computers. This involved creating user accounts and testing each piece of equipment for proper operation.
"Because the magnitude of work we needed to complete, we worked together to accomplish setting up the necessary systems," said 1st Lt. Justo Caraballo, a platoon leader in the signal company. "We give each other feedback on how to get the communication running effectively."
Once finished with the operations center, the G6 Soldiers then turned their attention to maintaining the systems and working through user issues.
According to Calderon, the G6 helpdesk received approximately 90 requests for assistance during the first 3-4 days of operation. These issues ranged from users needing help setting up emails to understanding their phones.
The helpdesk works diligently to address and fix any issue that comes their way, said Carabello. He added the biggest challenge communication Soldiers face is those issues dealing with communicating from point A to B.
"Despite the intellectual capacity of my Soldiers, we still deal with a machine," said Caraballo. "(The machines) don't agree and don't talk back when we are trying to fix the issue. Many times, it's that young specialist who has to figure it out without any help or guidance."
Caraballo's Soldiers work around the clock to ensure every issue is addressed and completed in a timely matter.
"The Soldiers have performed extraordinarily," Caraballo said. "They were creative in coming up with different courses of action with minimal resources to complete the mission. I am proud of what they have accomplished during this exercise."
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