TOBYHANNA ARMY DEPOT, Pa. -- A handful of Tobyhanna employees rallied round the Army's Enterprise Information Systems (EIS) office to complete a critical hardware refresh seven months ahead of schedule.
The technicians helped the EIS Installation Information Infrastructure Modernization Program (I3MP) finish the first Home Station Mission Command Center (HSMCC) Initiative hardware technical refresh. I3MP oversaw the installation of the innovative and cost-saving information technology solutions, which enable mission command warfighting functions to be performed at the 25th Infantry Division (ID) Command Center at Schofield Barracks, Hawaii.
Other depot electricians and electronics workers were dispatched to Fort Carson, Colorado, to conduct an identical refresh of the audiovisual and data network infrastructure and equipment in one of the 4th ID buildings. Employees there are in the final stages of testing and should be headed home soon.
"Team Tobyhanna continuously went above and beyond to ensure the HSMCC program exceeded its milestones and goals regardless of the project's many obstacles during the first two missions," said Jennifer Pilant, Integration and Remanufacturing Project Management Branch chief. "Their exceptional performance and commitment to excellence resulted in a technical and logistical solution, which provided upgraded video teleconferencing capabilities (VTC) and heightened the level of service for command and control VTCs worldwide."
I3MP, part of the Army's Program Executive Office for EIS is the program management office responsible for the overall project management, system design, procurement, technical oversight, information assurance assessment, system integration, and testing and system transition of the hardware tech refresh.
The refresh is associated with the HSMCC Initiative, the Army's evolutionary approach to providing corps, divisions and select other commands with the capability to host and operate mission command systems at home station.
Depot personnel went to school to learn the finer points of a number of refresh procedures, including running cable, installing components, terminating fiber optics, working with low voltage, and installing audio visual components.
"Tobyhanna Army Depot deployed a team of highly capable professional installers to the 25th ID and, once the leadership [there] saw the speed and precision at which the Tobyhanna team was able to perform, they granted the installers full access to all six conference rooms, allowing for parallel installations instead of the planned serial installation," said Maj. Aleyzer Mora, assistant product manager for command centers at I3MP.
The tech refresh upgrades the IT infrastructure at command centers to meet requirements and provide operational systems enhancements and equipment sustainment.
One installer, a 28-year veteran electrician, never thought he'd be able to expand his skill set to include networking. "The world of an electrician is opening up and branching off into a dozen different directions," said Mike Gallagher, electrician lead who works in the Systems Integration and Support Directorate's Electrical Cable Branch. He explained the team was responsible for installing electronic clocks, touch screens, microphones, speakers and monitors around the room.
At Fort Carson, team members also installed electrical panels, laid conduit and ran power circuits to the various conference rooms, according to Electrician Wilber Heffelfinger.
"I installed receptacles supplying power to the racks and various devices we had upgraded," Heffelfinger said, adding that he also helped the team upgrade fiber optic devices, rack components and pulled new cables in the overhead cable tray.
Additional technical refresh responsibilities included reading blue prints, organizing materials and equipment, deconstructing floors, and installing cameras, projectors and monitors, according to Heffelfinger.
"It's always very rewarding to work for the warfighter," he said. "I believe I speak for the team when I say we all learned something during this project and enjoyed the experience. It's rewarding to learn how to build new systems and technologies that can help us keep America safe."
The joint efforts of Tobyhanna Army Depot, the 25th ID, 30th Signal Battalion, U.S. Army Information Systems Engineering Command, the U.S. Army Communications-Electronics Command and industry partners from Net-Centric Enterprise Solutions Associates all contributed to the project being completed early.
Tobyhanna Army Depot is a recognized leader in providing world-class logistics support for command, control, communications, computers, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance systems across the Department of Defense. Tobyhanna's Corporate Philosophy, dedicated work force and electronics expertise ensure the depot is the Joint C4ISR provider of choice for all branches of the Armed Forces and industry partners.
Tobyhanna's unparalleled capabilities include full-spectrum logistics support for sustainment, overhaul and repair, fabrication and manufacturing, engineering design and development, systems integration, post production software support, technology insertion, modification, foreign military sales and global field support to our Joint Warfighters.
About 3,200 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 Communications-Electronics Command. Headquartered at Aberdeen Proving Ground, Maryland, 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.
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