BAGHDAD - Communications Soldiers in Iraq have to constantly work closely with their counterparts to maintain the communication needs of their fellow Soldiers.
The Joint Network Node 7768 "Knights" Platoon of Company B, Brigade Special Troops Battalion, 2nd Heavy "Dagger" Brigade Combat Team, 1st Infantry Division, Multi-National Division - Baghdad is no different.
The "Knights" work hand in hand with the communications Soldiers serving with the 1st Combined Arms "Vanguards" Battalion, 18th Infantry Regiment, 2nd HBCT, headquartered at Forward Operating Base Justice, Iraq.
"The JNN [Platoon] provides the backbone for our network," explained Baltimore, Md. native 1st Lt. William Lee, communications officer-in-charge, Vanguard Battalion. "The high capacity line of site and satellite channel a signal through the JNN to all the digital voice, data, and internet subscribers in the 'Vanguard Nation.'"
Some of the duties the Vanguard communications section takes on include ensuring the re-imaging of computers, installation of software and external devices, functionality of e-mail accounts, and radio operations.
The JNN Platoon programs phones, allocates users and troubleshoots and maintains the network.
"All in all, we have our responsibilities and they have theirs," said Spc. Jeremy Carroll, a native of Reno, Nev., the Local Area Network manager, for the Vanguards. "There are some things, such as conducting battalion and brigade radio checks and running and testing cable, which we do together."
He said since a signal Soldier's job never truly ends, it helps to work together with the fellow "signaliers" in the JNN platoon to accomplish the communication mission on FOB Justice.
"They are an endless asset and help me exceed in my job to provide for our users in the best way possible."
The reason the Vanguards has a JNN on site in the first place is for continuity purposes.
The 502nd Battalion, 2nd Brigade Combat Team, 101st Airborne Division (Air Assault), who was relieved by the Vanguards, "had installed a JNN at FOB Justice in order to have the proper amount of resources and bandwidth in place to provide communication support to the users," said Maj. Patrick Wells, a native of Winston-Salem, N.C., communications officer-in-charge, 2HBCT. "We fell in on the same-size mission with 1-18."
Wells said he enjoys a sense of confidence and reliability in the teamwork executed by the JNN Platoon and the Vanguard communications shop that he would not have if one of the two elements were missing from the equation.
"Their professional and mission-oriented relationship makes my life easier at the brigade-level and ensures that I don't have to worry about the communication mission in the 'Vanguard Nation,'" he said. "I am very proud of their combined effort and teamwork."
With six months of the deployment complete, the JNN Platoon and the Vanguard communications section continue to focus on executing a successful maintenance program, understanding the environment and system limitations, and keeping a pulse on the ever-evolving communication needs of users.
"Complacency kills; we must constantly work together and remind ourselves of the scope and end-state of our mission because what we do affects the war fighters outside the wire," said Sgt. Michael Cannon, a native of Garland, Texas, high capacity line of sight team chief.
The Vanguard communications section and the JNN Platoon will continue to push forward one day at a time with their assigned communications mission until redeployment to Fort Riley, Kan. in the fall of this year.
Social Sharing